Finding the need to address the longstanding waste pollution, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco pushes for the speedy approval of a bill that would utilize waste-to-energy (WTE) technology.

Citing that it is “high time” to implement the bill, Velasco called on the Senate to expedite its passage.

House Bill 7829 or the “Waste Treatment Technology Act” was granted an approval by up to 200 representatives in November 2020. Its Senate counterpart, authored and Sponsored by Senator Win Gatchalian, has yet to be approved on second reading.

Its promising features include the conversion of waste to energy, which in turn, would be efficient in reducing the country’s waste that is exponentially increasing by the second.

Despite the measure giving way to incineration through its amendment of the Clean Air Act of 1999, the bill assures that it will only be practiced for WTE purposes.

Aside from the Clean Air Act of 1999, the country also implements the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which promotes proper solid waste management. However, the law entails a dedicated budget for the construction, maintenance, and operation, which Velasco describes “expensive”.

WTE was proven to be effective in keeping the streets and waters of Japan and Singapore free of waste.

“The huge amount of waste that we produce threatens to overwhelm our landfills and create worse garbage disposal problems,” Velasco said.

“Before this happens, we must now look for cleaner and more sustainable method to treat and dispose of solid waste, such as WTE,” he appealed.

Philippines produces around 43,700 tons of garbage daily—a figure that cannot cater to the mere 30 percent that has access to sanitary landfills, many of which are soon going to be all filled up.

Photo Credit: Facebook/House Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco