by Cabigao;Paranga;Viado
Last September 25, we visited the City Environmental Management Office of Marikina to discover how they manage the centralized Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) of the city. Marikina City, on average, generates about 318.73 tons of wastes per day (based on Conduct of Waste Analysis and Characterization Study, December 1-4, 2014). All of these wastes from households and establishments, which are mandatorily segregated before collection, are delivered and sorted by type in the city’s MRF. The collected dry wastes such as scrap metals, plastics, paper are recovered and then sold to the junk shop to be later used as raw materials in remanufacturing and reprocessing. Other dry wastes that cannot be sold such as plastic bags and waste sytro are transformed into bricks, pavement blocks and garden pots through the device called Styro/Plastic Densifier, which basically melts the mentioned dry wastes into used vegetable oil at a controlled heating .The waste classified as wet such as market, yard, and food waste goes to the MRF’s composting facility, which utilizes a bio-reactor apparatus, converting wet wastes to organic fertilizers. The produced fertilizers are used in maintaining landscapes in city parks, schools, and barangays while some goes to private individuals. All the other remaining wastes, the residuals, are then brought straight to Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill. The measures done by the City Environmental Management Office of Marikina in managing the city’s MRF has assisted in reducing the amount of solid waste transferred into landfills, thus reducing the emission of methane. Also it has helped in recovering recyclable materials to generate income, beautifying the city, and providing employment.