Improper Disposal of Solid and Toxic Wastes in the Philippines
The Philippines is found between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea east of Vietnam. Its population has approximately reached 75 million with 57% considered urban and the remaining 38% below the poverty line. The economic growth that is accompanied by rapid industrialization and a growing population have put a lot of pressure on existing resources resulting into a variety of environmental problems. These environmental issues have been grouped into three parts by Anabelle E. Plantilla, Executive Director of Haribon Foundation:
a) brown - describes the pollution caused by industrial, urban, transport and energy sources and their single or collective impacts;
b) green - describes the environmental impacts caused by agriculture, deforestation, land conversion and the destruction of protected species; and
c) blue describes all forms of water resources management.
I would be focusing on one of the major problems in the brown environmental issues which is the increasing solid and hazardous waste generation and improper management.
The alarming increase of improper disposal of solid and hazardous waste in our country is due to a number of reasons. Plantilla finds several causes of this such as: increasing population, lack of integrated solid waste management system, lack of environmentally sound disposal system, lack of public awareness & support and lack of toxic/hazardous waste treatment facilities. According to a research made by Christian Bryan Bustamante, solid waste is a perennial problem of every society in this planet and is the "granddaddy of all environmental problems" (Wells, 1996: 127). Melosi, a garbage historian once said that, "since human beings inhabited the earth, they have generated, produced, manufactured, excreted, secreted, discarded and otherwise disposed of all manner of waste." Apparently, Melosi was right in saying that human beings really have taken the Earth for granted by producing more and more waste. Plantilla said that
a) brown - describes the pollution caused by industrial, urban, transport and energy sources and their single or collective impacts;
b) green - describes the environmental impacts caused by agriculture, deforestation, land conversion and the destruction of protected species; and
c) blue describes all forms of water resources management.
I would be focusing on one of the major problems in the brown environmental issues which is the increasing solid and hazardous waste generation and improper management.
The alarming increase of improper disposal of solid and hazardous waste in our country is due to a number of reasons. Plantilla finds several causes of this such as: increasing population, lack of integrated solid waste management system, lack of environmentally sound disposal system, lack of public awareness & support and lack of toxic/hazardous waste treatment facilities. According to a research made by Christian Bryan Bustamante, solid waste is a perennial problem of every society in this planet and is the "granddaddy of all environmental problems" (Wells, 1996: 127). Melosi, a garbage historian once said that, "since human beings inhabited the earth, they have generated, produced, manufactured, excreted, secreted, discarded and otherwise disposed of all manner of waste." Apparently, Melosi was right in saying that human beings really have taken the Earth for granted by producing more and more waste. Plantilla said that