Solid Waste Management (RA 9003), Biodegradable-vs-non biodegradable, and other hazardous wastes

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H. No. 10651
S. No. 1595
Republic of the Philippines
Congress of the Philippines
Metro Manila
Eleventh Congress
Third Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-fourth day of July, two
thousand.
[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9003 ]
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR AN ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM, CREATING THE NECESSARY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS AND
INCENTIVES, DECLARING CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED AND PROVIDING
PENALTIES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

CHAPTER I
BASIC POLICIES
Article 1
General Provisions

Section 1. Short Title. -- This Act shall be known as the “Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act of 2000”.
Section 2. Declaration of Policies. -- It is hereby declared the policy of the State to
adopt a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program
which shall:
(a) Ensure the protection of public health and environment;
(b) Utilize environmentally-sound methods that maximize the utilization of
valuable resources and encourage resources conservation and recovery;
(c) Set guidelines and targets for solid waste avoidance and volume reduction
through source reduction and waste minimization measures, including
composing, recycling, re-use, recovery, green charcoal process, and others,
before collection, treatment and disposal in appropriate and environmentallysound
solid waste management facilities in accordance with ecologically
sustainable development principles;
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(d) Ensure the proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment and
disposal of solid waste through the formulation and adoption of the best
environmental practices in ecological waste management excluding
incineration;
(e) Promote national research and development programs for improved solid
waste management and resource conservation techniques, more effective
institutional arrangement and indigenous and improved methods of waste
reduction, collection, separation and recovery.
(f) Encourage greater private sector participation in solid waste management;
(g) Retain primary enforcement and responsibility of solid waste management
with local government units while establishing a cooperative effort among the
national government, other local government units, non-government
organizations, and the private sector;
(h) Encourage cooperation and self-regulation among waste generators through
the application of market-based instruments;
(i) Institutionalize public participation in the development and implementation of
national and local integrated, comprehensive and ecological waste
management programs; and
(j) Strengthen the integration of ecological solid waste management and
resource conservation and recovery topics into the academic curricula of
formal and non-formal education in order to promote environmental
awareness and action among the citizenry.

The term biodegradable is used to describe materials that decompose through the actions of bacteria, fungi, and other living organisms. Temperature and sunlight may also play roles in the decomposition of biodegradable plastics and other substances. If such materials are not biodegradable, they remain in the environment for a long time, and, if these same substances are toxic, they may pollute the soil and water. Some nonbiodegradable pollutants may be capable of causing harm to organisms in the environment.

Common, everyday substances that are biodegradable include food refuse, tree leaves, and grass clippings. Many communities now encourage people to compost these materials and use them as humus (an organic-rich material in soil) for gardening. Because plant materials are biodegradable, composting is one way to reduce amounts of solid waste that towns and cities otherwise have to dispose in landfills.

In many cases, scientists can come up with biodegradable alternatives to non-biodegradable products. For example, when household detergents were developed and came into wide use, foam began to clog streams and sewage treatment plants. The foam was caused by the presence of a complex phosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, an ingredient in the detergent that reacted with, and removed dirt from, the surfaces of clothes. These complex phosphates, collectively called surfactants for their actions on material surfaces, were not biodegradable, and appeared to be harming plants and fish in streams. Detergent manufacturers responded to the problem by replacing phosphates with enzymes like protease and amylase, which are biodegradable.

Non-biodegradable plastics are a particular problem, because they take up so much room in landfills or require special handling at waste incinerators. Most plastics are petroleum-based, meaning they are made from oil and other petroleum products. Until recently, plastics have been non-biodegradable. Today, however, various techniques for producing biodegradable plastics are being explored, developed, and marketed. In some cases, organic compounds like sugar, corn starch, silk, and bamboo are being incorporated into the plastic production process. This allows large pieces of plastic to break down into smaller units, but on a molecular level, many of these plastics remain nonbiodegradable. Other researchers have come up with non-petroleum based plastics, using bioengineered organisms, such as bacteria, to produce plastic. In some cases, enzymes produced by the same organism can be used to break down the biologically produced plastic. Currently, these plastics are expensive to produce, but as the technology becomes more readily available, they are likely to become much more common.

Governments and industries have taken various measures to replace nonbiodegradable materials with those that will degrade or decompose. For example, the plastic rings that bind six-packs of soda and beer are required by law to be biodegradable in Oregon and Alaska. Italy has banned all non-biodegradable plastics. The packaging industry continues to experiment with biodegradable packaging for food and fast food. Several coalitions have been formed to address biodegradable products in the oil and plastics industries, and to evaluate the benefits of recycling stable but non-biodegradable materials versus developing biodegradable substances that may be costly for both industry and the consumer. The Council for Solid Waste Solutions and the Council on Plastics and Packaging in the Environment are action groups led by industry. Environmental groups like Keep America Beautiful also advocate recycling out of concern that biodegradability tells consumers littering is acceptable, but really, toxic chemicals that may leach out of biodegradable substances can poison groundwater. Interestingly, grain growers and processors strongly favor biodegradable plastics because in some cases, corn starch is used to replace some of the plastic resin during manufacture.

Successful moves toward biodegradable substances have been made in some markets. Europeans have used degradable plastic shopping bags as mulch to cover new crops in the spring since 1975. Lawn bags that degrade would benefit the composting business because non-biodegradable bags have to be removed before yard waste can be composted. In landfills, where bagged yard waste occupies approximately 20% of the space, decomposing waste and degradable bags produce methane gas that can be recovered and sold for power generation. Marine and coastal environments can benefit from the use of biodegradable plastics in the fishing and boating industries; public outrage over the killing of dolphins, game fish, whales, and sea turtles fuels interest in these industries. In fact, the public is ultimately the driving force behind the development of biodegradable substances because litter on beaches, roadsides, and parks is an eyesore with apparent potential to harm the environment.

Hazardous wastes are by-products of human activities that could cause substantial harm to human health or the environment if improperly managed. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies liquid, solid, and gaseous discarded materials and emissions as hazardous if they are poisonous (toxic), flammable, corrosive, or chemically reactive at levels above specified safety thresholds. In the United States, the term hazardous waste generally refers to potentially dangerous or polluting chemical compounds; other potentially hazardous industrial, military, agricultural, and municipal byproducts, including biological contaminants and radioactive waste, are regulated by other government agencies than the EPA's hazardous waste division.

The handling of hazardous wastes became a major political issue in the late 1970s in the United States and other industrialized nations when a number of high-profile human health and environmental pollution crises focused public attention on the problem. Since then, many governments have greatly expanded regulation of hazardous waste management, disposal practices, and clean-up. In the United States, the EPA oversees hazardous waste regulations that attempt to prevent new cases of environmental and human contamination, as well as the so-called "Superfund" program that addresses clean-up of sites contaminated in the past.