- I take pride in Bayawan City
because the surroundings are clean, and our method
of waste disposal involves separating
biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. Every day,
we place them outside for the garbage collectors
to pick up. - The garbage crisis
is a global challenge, but in the Philippines,
it's an undeniable urgent reality. According to
an international study on plastic pollution
by the UK-based Utility Bidder, the Philippines is the world's
leading contributor to plastic pollution
in the oceans with an average of 3.3 kg
per person per year. That's a lot, considering
the Philippine population is currently
at over 119 million. Not only that, but according
to government data, our annual waste,
not just plastic waste, has been growing. At present, we are generating
as much as 61,000 metric tons of solid waste daily,
enough to fill up approximately 37 Olympic-size
swimming pools. The recent floods
in the Philippines highlight the blame on poor drainage
and potentially inefficient waste management. Thankfully, there's a spark
of hope in the example of one tiny city
in Negros Oriental— Bayawan City. - Everything started
way back in 2000 when the Solid Waste
Management Act or RA 9003 was passed,
requiring all LGUs to have a solid waste management plan. So, one of the things
we imposed is segregation at the source. Segregation at the source
is the challenging part because it requires changing
a person's behavior to properly segregate
their waste. - Having established
a waste management system and ecology center in 2004,
Bayawan City has become the envy of other towns
and cities for fostering a culture of cleanliness,
discipline, accountability, and deep concern
for the environment. This city has been successful
at implementing proper waste management
for over two decades with zero waste status
within reach. All this leads us to wonder,
could Bayawan City in Negros Oriental
be the cleanest city in the Philippines? - I am a SWM enforcer here
in Bayawan City. I make sure that the collection
of segregated waste is done properly, so I really accompany
the group. Because once
any biodegradable waste is mixed in, and we are collecting
non-biodegradable waste, they will incur a penalty. Aside from collecting,
we are also authorized enforcers who issue penalties. - A ticket is required. If you don't have a ticket,
there will be no collection. Then, non-biodegradable waste
is collected on Thursdays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays. As for vegetable waste,
it's collected in the afternoon. - Of course, it was difficult
for us at first because, naturally, you can't just impose
on people to follow this. What we did was gradual.
We conducted IEC (Information, Education,
and Communication) campaigns. So far, it isn't difficult
to make the people of Bayawan City
understand this. They have also accepted
that it's better to just follow because it's for the cleanliness
of the city. - We didn't hesitate.
I don't know about others, but I didn't hesitate. First of all, the ticket
is only two pesos. With that,
the surroundings are clean. - It's really clean.
The garbage collectors are not lacking
in their responsibility. You won't see any litter
on the streets. - I used to be a sweeper,
and by the grace of God, little by little,
I became an enforcer, and now I'm a leadman. I've only been a leadman
for two days now. I started as a sweeper
way back in 2021. That's when I realized
that our city truly deserves to be recognized
as the cleanest city because, by 5 am,
I'm already in the area, in the field. So as a sweeper,
it's my responsibility to keep my area clean,
which shows how well-disciplined our city is. - So all of us follow
the rules. It’s because it’s true,
it’s right, and we can see the results. If it weren’t right,
others wouldn’t follow it. You won’t see any litter
on our streets. It’s true—
our place is really clean. - There are a lot
of regulations in Bayawan that's doing really well. We have recyclable
and non-recyclable waste, it has to be separate. The government is running
our city well. We are happy and content
in our lives despite our situation. We are genuinely happy. Our livelihood is good,
we get to eat everyday with our families. That is really enough for us,
and we have a God that is guiding us. - When was the last time
you threw out trash at home? Did you segregate your waste? Did you even think
about the garbage collectors who handled it? Getting rid of garbage
might seem like a routine task
in the world. But without those
who help keep our communities clean,
things wouldn't run as smoothly. The next time you see
your local garbage collectors, let them know
that you appreciate their work, but more importantly,
thank them in the best way possible. Do your part
by segregating trash and keeping
the environment clean. Cultivate a culture
of discipline in your community and watch it ripple
everywhere you go. - In 2006, we conducted
an information and education campaign
to inform the people that a landfill
would be built here. It was difficult
because when people think of a landfill,
they associate it with being smelly,
so they didn’t want it. But we informed them
that it wasn’t just a landfill, but a waste management
area or facility. Yes, it is a landfill,
but it's not the kind of mixed waste
that is really smelly. With the help
of the barangay council, we also informed
the households, and they eventually
accepted it. So, the city acquired the area,
which is 27.4 hectares, and then they started
the construction. The construction
was completed in 2010, and it became operational. The plan was originally
for 30 years for Bayawan City alone,
but to help neighboring LGUs, Bayawan City entered
into a MOA allowing them to dispose of their
residual waste here with us. The first step is
for the compactor or garbage truck that arrives
to go to our scale house or weighing bridge. Data is collected on the weight
of the incoming waste. For biodegradable waste,
we handle about 8-10 tons per day. The non-biodegradable waste
that the city collects amounts to about
13-15 tons per day. There's more because
instead of each household paying to dispose of waste here,
they prefer to do backyard gardening
or composting. The next step is
for non-biodegradable waste to go to our central material
recovery facility. When non-biodegradable waste
arrives here, we still segregate it
because it can be divided into two types: residual waste
and recyclable waste. Here, our people sack
the recyclable waste, while the residual waste
goes to the lower part and is hauled to the landfill. Junkshops also collect
the recyclables, buying them from us. So the money paid
by the junkshop goes back to the city. It’s sustainable
because there’s really a cycle. So what they do
is haul the residual waste, and then the dump truck
brings it to our Cell 1. There’s not much smell
because it’s already dried up from being exposed
to the sun, so it’s okay. We are now here at our MRF
(Material Recovery Facility) for biodegradable waste. These are the wastes disposed
of by households. We let them
decompose naturally. After about six months
of decomposition, we bring them here
to be processed through our rotary screen,
which we call the "ayagan" or siever. The purpose
of the rotary screen machine is to separate
the finer materials. On the other side,
it collects plastics and coconut husks
that haven’t decomposed yet, and these are sent back
to decompose further. This is one of our storage areas
for glass bottles. The people you see
collecting bottles here are from private junkshops. They collect the bottles
and then purchase them from us. This is our
vermicomposting facility. We process
the bioscreen material further to enhance its quality
as vermicompost. We place the bioscreen material
in these beds and feed it to our worms. The worms we use
are African nightcrawlers. Within 45-50 days,
the compost can be harvested and put through another one
of our rotary machines to be sieved again. This way, the worms are separated,
and the material or vermicompost
improves in quality because it becomes finer. Vermicompost is excellent
for use in gardens, vegetables, or trees
as a soil fertilizer because it's organic
and chemical-free. Here at the landfill,
it is sacked in 50-kilogram sacks. We sell it at Php185 per sack. All the income generated
from this facility goes to the general fund
of our city. Our city allocates
a budget annually for the operation
and maintenance of our facility. We are now
at sanitary landfill Cell 1. This is where the residual waste
is dumped. These plastics,
if left to decompose naturally, would take about a thousand
or more years to break down. What happens is that
they eventually become microplastics,
which we can't see, but they can be inhaled
into our bodies, causing diseases,
and are also inhaled by animals. One plan is to cover it,
and another plan is to reuse the plastics. This cell is 6 meters deep,
so we plan to increase it by 6 more meters upwards
and then cover it with soil. This is why the city acquired
such a large area, as it is not just for Cell 1;
there will also be Cells 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6,
and so on. And it won’t stop there
because once we have the equipment we're procuring,
a plastic molder, it will significantly reduce
the waste going into the cells. Instead of the waste
being dumped in the cells, we can reuse it
to create plastic chairs or tables that we can donate
to schools and other institutions
in need. Actually, we don’t just handle
solid waste management; we also have
a wastewater treatment facility. From the household
septic tanks, our declogger trucks
collect waste and bring it here, where it is discharged
into our digester tank. The sludge or waste
from the septic tanks is stored in the digester tank. Once the digester tank is full,
the sludge is released and goes to our drying beds. Here, the solids are filtered,
and the liquid goes to our anaerobic baffled reactor. This reactor is a chamber
with baffles, where the first liquid to enter
is also the first to exit. In every division,
the liquid becomes more purified, with no solids left. After the anaerobic
baffled reactor, it moves to the aerobic ponds, where further treatment occurs. Our wastewater treatment
uses natural methods, primarily sunlight and aeration,
which are crucial for treating wastewater. We also ensure
a high retention time, which is why we have
multiple aerobic ponds. After the aerobic ponds,
the water flows into the engineered wetlands
or constructed wetlands. The wetlands contain plants
like reeds. We use Phragmites karka,
locally known as "abun-ak" or "tambo" in Tagalog,
which is our primary filter for wastewater. This buffer lagoon in our cell
has perforated pipes underneath, acting as drains. When it rains, the leachate
automatically drains into this buffer lagoon. This is why our cell
doesn’t smell bad— it’s always kept dry. All the leachate
from our landfill or Cell 1 goes to our buffer lagoon
through these perforated pipes. Once the water is treated,
we discharge it into the environment,
but we always test our samples to ensure they meet
DENR standards for water discharge permits. As you can see,
there are many trees around because they were planted
as a man-made buffer for our wastewater. People from other places
actually visit our landfill because it's considered
a role model. For example,
other LGUs come here to benchmark our area,
studying our landfilling system and solid waste management
to learn what the city is doing. We accommodate them,
they visit us, and we teach them
how we manage everything— from collection to disposal. We don’t keep
this knowledge to ourselves because it shouldn't be
kept secret. For us, it's very helpful,
and our leaders are very supportive
and generous in sharing this knowledge. It shouldn't be that
we're the only ones who know how to do this. Of course,
if you're an environmentalist, it should be your passion—
not just because it's your job, but because you genuinely want
to help the environment. The impact is much greater
if we can share our knowledge with others and teach them
how to do all of this. I think the ultimate goal
for the landfill is to turn it into a tourist destination—
not just as a waste management site,
but with an interactive aspect that promotes reduce,
reuse, and recycle. Because with landfilling,
it usually just ends there, with no further use. So to reuse it,
we need instruments or equipment that can make
that possible. That's the target of our city—
to achieve zero waste. - I take pride in Bayawan City
because the surroundings are clean, and you'll feel safe
when you visit here. - It's satisfying because our town
is well-maintained, making the environment clean. The people of Bayawan
would be happy about that. We are proud to be Bayawanos. - I’m really proud of us
because Bayawan is so clean. Additionally,
we are disciplined here. We are disciplined. - Everything is good—
the infrastructure, establishments,
the help received by people. Things are better here
compared to before. That makes us proud,
especially now that we receive more help. - As a resident of Bayawan,
it's very fulfilling for us because what we’ve done
has had an impact. It warms our hearts. We truly work hand in hand
with the LGU and as residents of Bayawan. We really strive together. Helping each other is a part
of being Bayawanon. We have a term we use—
Bayawanihan. The Bayawanihan spirit
is very much alive here in Bayawan.