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Tuesday, October 18, 2005
MEZ to promote waste management to locators
The Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ 1) will host the Eco-Industrial Expo 2005 on Environmental Management Services from Oct. 20 to 21 so locators and the public can meet the country’s top waste recycling, treatment and disposal service providers.
MEZ 1 Administrator Sansaluna Pinagayao said locators and all interested parties can submit to participating recyclers industrial wastes, such as papers, cartons, electronics, bulbs, used lead acid batteries, solder dross, lead, styropor, tires, juice packs, wood/sawdust, plastics, rubber and used oil.
Pinagayao said they are promoting recycling due to the problem of
industrial waste disposal in MEZ 1, where locators produce 14 dump trucks of waste daily. The volume is equivalent to 12,000 cubic meters of garbage every month, or 50 percent of garbage in the entire Lapu-Lapu City.
Dumpsite
He said the city’s dumpsite is open so it can be closed if the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will strictly enforce the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act or RA 9003.
Pinagayao said the eco-industrial expo will serve as a “one-stop” approach to address the economic zone locators’ concerns on other industrial waste and regulatory issues through the seminars and demonstrations of available environmental technology and services.
The topics to be discussed include the Mandatory Environmental Insurance Coverage, Clean Water Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations, Mactan Water Resource Management, Environmental Management Systems, Solid and Hazardous Wastes Management and Ozone Depleting Substances.
“We are harmonizing productivity growth with environmental protection,” Pinagayao said.
Dahlia Luna, zone manager for Mez 2 and special economic zones in the Visayas and Mindanao, said the Mactan Eco-Industrial Expo 2005 is not only for the locators in the zones but is open for local government units (LGUs).
“We are inviting LGU officials and their constituents to join the expo so they will know the recycling processes,” Luna said.
Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Director General Lilia de Lima will lead the expo opening.
Performance
Tonilyn Lim of Peza Environment Safety Group, said the expo culminates the cooperation project of Peza, the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the United Nations Development Pro-gramme that started in February 2004 and will end in November 2005.
Lim said the goal was to enhance both economic and environmental performance of Philippine economic zones.
Mez 1 was chosen as the pilot area for this project, and a baseline study identified wastes, water and power management as major concerns of the economic zone locators.
Martina Vahlhaus, GTZ program manager, said the Ministry of Development Corporation and Economic Cooperation in Germany will spend $1 million for the environmental protection project in the Philippines.
However, Vahlhaus said beneficiaries need to submit proposals with objectives they want to achieve in three years. (EOB)
Resourece:
SUNSTAR.com.ph
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2005/10/18/bus/mez.to.promote.waste.management.to.locators..html
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