The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the Sangguniang Panlungsod in coordination with the City Environment & Natural Resources Office will spearhead the conduct of a Public Consultation for the proposed “Solid Waste Integrated Management Ordinance of Malaybalay City” on November 26, 2020, at 8:00 a.m.

In consideration of the social distancing protocols, the activity will be held in six different venues (Office of the LIGA ng mg Barangay; Barangay 3 Covered Court; Barangay 7 Covered Court; Barangay 9 Covered Court; Barangay 10 Covered Court; & Barangay 11 Covered Court (the main venue) utilizing the video-teleconferencing (Zoom App).

Some crucial provisions of the proposed ordinance that will be focused on the public consultation will be the regulation on the use of plastic and polystyrene (styrofoam), the regulation on solid waste burning, the management of junk shops/recyclable buyers, and anti-littering. The said proposed ordinance will also consolidate into one comprehensive ordinance composing all the existing solid waste management ordinances of the city.

Once approved, the ordinance can help address the increasing volume of plastics/cellophane and styrofoam generated from all sources within the city since our Waste Analysis Characterization Study/Survey reveals that 13.71% of the composition of our waste are plastics and styrofoam.

On the other hand, the ordinance can serve as our climate change mitigation strategy with the prohibition of open burning of solid waste as well as agricultural wastes. Based on the MISS 2017 Survey Result, 51.72% of the total households of Malaybalay City are engaged in solid waste burning.

The public consultation aims to generate important inputs from the different stakeholders prior to the finalization of the proposed ordinance. It is hoped that it will be passed before the end of this year so that City ENRO, being the implementing office, can immediately start the information dissemination in January 2021.

By: Kris Guerrero B. Tabernero, NADA-City Enro