A.

Barangay Santiago Dumpsite

Dumping of Wastes at Brgy. Santiago
for more than 30 years already
According to our Public Services Division (PSD), it
has been dumping all the mixed wastes that it
collected from the 29 coastal barangays of Iligan City
since early 1970s or for more than 30 years already.
These 29 barangays are mainly located nearby and
along the coastal areas of the city from Dalipuga to
Buru-un. With this length of time, the open dumpsite
has accumulated volumes of garbage underneath
and covers large area at Barangay Santiago. The
people living nearby have suffered various illnesses
such as skin diseases and common diarrhea among
the children. The affected residents are using
mosquito net during mealtime even in broad daylight
because of the numerous flies and other insects
coming from the dumpsite.

Economically, the families without any means of livelihood are scavenging for any recyclable
materials and sell them to the junk stores. Despite this money-making contribution of the dumpsite it
cannot totally compensate the ill effects of the health condition of the people in the area.

B. Total Waste Generation

Through the Philippine Regional and Municipal Development Program or (PRMDP), a survey
was conducted last 2005 and it showed that each person or every one of us generates approximately
one-half kilo (.50 kg.) of solid waste everyday. When this was summed up, in one (1) day the total
solid wastes generated from the 29 coastal barangays is 162,000 kgs. In order to have a clear
picture of its quantity, let us divide the 162,000 kgs. by 50 kgs. and we will arrive at 3,240 sacks of
rice, which is more than enough to occupy a warehouse. But take note this is only for one (1) day of
collected solid wastes.

2005
Survey

1 day

29 Coastal
Barangays

162,000 kgs.
of Solid Wastes 3,240 sacks of rice

C. Total Waste Composition

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 As a whole, our total waste is composed of three (3) main
5% classifications namely:

1. Biodegradable (68%)

27% 2. Non-Biodegradable (27%) = 100%

3. Residuals (5%)
68%
The details of this waste characterization will be discussed in
Module 2.

D. Sources of Solid Wastes

Where do solid wastes come from? Actually there are three (3) main sources of our solid wastes.

1. Homes or Households - the most

common source particularly in the kitchen
area where our solid wastes are gathered.
Most wastes in this area are derived from
marketing, cooking and after meals.

Wastes at the Kitchen

2. Business Establishments – the next source of solid

wastes come from the commercial
establishments such as stores, markets
and Mixed Wastes at the Market restaurants.
PALA-O MARKET

3. Other Institutions – the other source of

our solid wastes such as churches,
schools and offices.

Construction Debris

E. Factors of Solid Waste Generation

There
generated and
Among these
.50 kgs. of Solid Waste DAILY
1. Population –
and wherever man exists, there are also
Based on the fact that each person
generates approximately half kilo of
daily, this means that as population
increases, more solid wastes are also
are major reasons why solid wastes are
piled up everyday in different places.
causes are:
The people are the originators of wastes
wastes.
wastes

IEC Trainer’s Manual (Module 1 – Overview of the Ecological Solid Waste Management) 2 of 6

Overpopulation
 generated. It shows then that the problem on solid wastes starts from the people and
can only be solved by the people also.

2. Hi-Tech Industrialization or Modernization – Whether we like it or not, more products are

being invented through the modern technology. Everyone desires progress because it
improves our economic condition. However, as new products are introduced, the old
model will become obsolete and will add up our ever-growing piles of solid wastes.
In fact, more surplus items from other countries
are being dumped in our country today. From worn-out
clothes (ukay-ukay), cars and more electronic products
such as computers, accessories & gadgets, cellular
phones are being discarded and form part of our solid
wastes.
Some foreign and local investors are also putting
up industries that contribute not only to our worsening air
pollution but also generate industrial solid wastes. Worn-out Computer

3. Change in Lifestyle – refers to the attitude and

preference of the consumer which are reflected in
choosing new products & goods for convenience or
personal comfort.

In today’s generation,
most parents especially the
working mothers are now using
diapers for their babies instead
of the traditional “lampin” or cloth
from used flour sacks. Even the Lampin
sickly old adults are also using
diapers and remember that these products
Disposable Diaper
are disposable items and would easily add up to
our solid wastes everyday.
It is also observed that more cases of kidney and urinary tract infections (UTI)
on baby girls are reported in our city hospital. The increasing incidence of these
complaints is attributed to unattended long use of diapers especially during overnight.

Progress has also affected the way we do our

work. In fact, in business “time is money”. Since time
is considered as an important resource in improving our
economy, businessmen also introduced products that
would help us cope with our fast-paced schedules.
Pre-packed food items are now flooding our shopping
stores such as canned goods, noodles & other
products in sachets.

Once these food items are consumed, their

Instant Foods, packaging materials such as the Styrofoam, plastic
Instant Basura and can materials will also be added in our solid
wastes. Prior to the production of these consumable
goods we have less generation of solid wastes because people were just using
banana leaves in packing their foods or “baon” at work or in school.

F. Effects of Improper Waste Disposal

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 Most people take for granted the ill effects of deliberate disposal of our solid wastes
improperly. There are three (3) areas that are directly affected of our lack of care as far as
throwing away of our solid wastes is concerned.

1. Personal – Primarily, the immediate effect of

improper disposal of solid wastes is towards us and our family.
Most likely our children get diarrhea or other sickness due to
foods or water contaminated by bacteria brought about by
insects and other pests such as rats, flies, and mosquitoes.
Solid wastes which are just thrown away anywhere will become
breeding ground of these insects that carry bacteria into our
homes especially in the kitchen.
Common Sickness

Fly Rat Cockroach Mosquito

If we will continue to disregard these unhealthy conditions, it would lead to death

to any member of the family that could have been avoided earlier.

2. Environment (Clogging of Canals) – Today our

canals and drainage are clogged up by mostly plastic wastes
particularly diapers. When heavy rain falls, the water would easily
overflows causing floods in low lying areas or those located in the
nearby canals.

Plastics and Diapers

Clogging up the Canals

Usually, these types of waste thrown deliberately into the canals will be swept away into
our rivers and seas that would harm the marine life. The immediate effect of this is the
contamination of poisons in our sea foods.

 Environment (Production of More Greenhouse

Gases) – Methane comes from the decomposing
organic wastes in landfills or dumpsite such as in
Barangay Santiago. Methane is lighter than air,
colorless, odorless, yet flammable and
considered as one of the natural gases that stays
in the atmosphere for several years when
released from the earth.

Burning of Solid Wastes

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 The energy that lights the Earth comes from the Sun. When this energy hits the
surface of the Earth, the energy changes from light to heat and warms the Earth. The
Earth’s surface, in turn, releases the heat in the form of infrared radiation back into
outer space. However, certain gases in the atmosphere, including water vapor, nitrous
oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane trap some of the heat and allow them to
concentrate in the atmosphere to maintain the warm of the earth which is known as the
Greenhouse Effect. All life on Earth relies on this greenhouse effect—without it, the
planet would be colder by about 33 Celsius degrees (59 Fahrenheit degrees), and ice
would cover the Earth from North pole to South pole – too cold for most living
organisms to survive.

But a growing excess of

greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere threatens to trap
more heat and scientists
considered methane gas as an
even more effective insulator,
trapping over 20 times more heat
than does the same amount of
carbon dioxide. This extreme
Production of Greenhouse Gases heat increases the average
temperature of the atmosphere
and earth’s surface and is now leading towards global warming.

This rising heat temperature is expected to melt polar ice caps and glaciers as
well as warm the oceans, all of which will expand ocean volume and raise sea level by
an estimated 9 to 100 cm (4 to 40 in), flooding some coastal regions and even entire
islands.

Some regions in warmer climates will receive more rainfall than before, but soils
will dry out faster between storms. This soil drought may damage food crops,
disrupting food supplies in some parts of the world. Plant and animal species will shift
their ranges toward the poles or to higher elevations seeking cooler temperatures and
species that cannot do so may become extinct. The potential consequences of global
warming are so great that many of the world's leading scientists have called for
international cooperation and immediate action to counteract the problem. (courtesy from
the Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.)

Melting Ice due to Global Warming Rising Sea Level

Raises Sea Level Flooding the Islands
 Environment (Ozone Layer Depletion) - Ozone is a
gas that blocks harmful ultraviolet (UV) sunlight
that causes skin cancer, eye cataract and
destroys food crops. Industrial chemicals and
those from air spray aerosol products, solvents
& refrigerants (liquids for cooling system) which
produced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are
released into the atmosphere have caused
ozone to break down, opening holes in the
ozone layer that tend to concentrate at the

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 North and South poles where icebergs or
glaciers are found.

3. Economy – One indicator of progress is our economic condition that shows fast exchange
of goods and services. But when cleanliness in the
market place is not maintained regularly it will certainly
create unproductive situation. Normally, consumers
will not buy products in the market when mixed wastes
are apparently cluttering at the entrance.

Untidy and unsanitary mixed wastes are also an

eye sore to the buying public and attract insects that
can contaminate the products on display with bacteria
which are transferred to the households.

Another negative effect of this unhealthy image is the dismayed local and
foreign tourists visiting or just passing by our city. The worst scenario is that these
discouraged visitors will report badly to other prospective tourists in other places who
include our place in their itineraries. The domino effect then would be a slow
economic growth and poor tourism industry.

Thirdly, the local government would incur higher expenses on health services
because more people are getting sick due to the deliberate improper disposal of
wastes most especially from the households.

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