DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, June 29 (PIA) -- Dumaguete City’s efforts on waste management to beat plastic pollution has slowly gained recognition for properly managing its garbage through its sustained operation of material recovery facility (MRF).

This was cited by Dumaguete City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Engr. Chilvier Patrimonio in a Kapihan sa PIA Forum in observance this month’s Philippine Environment with the theme “No to Waste: Advancing circular economy to #BeatPlasticPollution.”

Patrimonio said the city has been getting credit for its solid waste management.

With this, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Central Visayas lauded the City of Dumaguete for a commitment to ensure a clean and healthy environment through its integrated solid waste disposal management facility.

However, despite some initiatives to beat plastic litter and implementation of city Ordinance No. 231 that regulates plastic use, Patrimonio said it did not have much effect on the total volume of waste produced in the city due to some factors.

She said the ordinance needs to be amended as it only regulated the secondary packaging and not banning the use of plastic, while establishments and consumers use it liberally.

With that, Maria Theresa Quijano of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) has urged the public to practice the 5 R’s to prevent plastic pollution with four actions that need to be taken prior to recycling: refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and then recycle to minimize waste.

In the same forum, Quijano also pushed for a circular economy model to help solve the plastic crisis in the city as well as in the province.

“When we say circular economy, we talk about material life span of the waste we are producing and mitigating climate change,” said Quijano.

With the passage of Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR), the enterprises are obliged or liable to collect, recycle or reuse the product that it produced and are being sold to and used by consumers.

For his part, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Viernov Grefalde urged the public to practice or follow the 5Rs and support local government units to implement its own environmental ordinances.

He cited the importance of information dissemination on environmental protection through community engagement that will help the city and the province control their waste. (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental with reports from Maxine Breana Montesa and Jill Ingrid Cielo, SU Interns)