Improper Waste Disposal: A Major Societal Issue

     Waste disposal can be defined as any method used to discard unwanted substances or materials. Improper waste disposal is the unsustainable practice of discarding waste in a manner that’s harmful to the environment. 

     About 35,580 tons of garbage is generated every day in the Philippines. On the average, each person in the country produces about 0.5 kg and 0.3 kg of garbage every day in the urban and rural areas, respectively. (Castillo and Otoma, 2013) 

Picture © https://graphicriver.net/item/littering-garbage-around-the-trash-bin/16577196?

Negative Effects of Improper Waste Management 

     Garbages in landfills produced methane, a major contributor to greenhouse gases, and other hazardous chemicals that results to the following:

• Soil, Air, and Water Pollution
• Destruction of Marine and Wildlife
• Extreme Weather Caused By Climate Change
• Causes various Diseases like cancer, respiratory and visibility problems, skin iritation, malaria, dengue, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and many more. 
• Local economy to sink, which can then affect the livelihood of the locals.

     In a 2009 survey, the EcoWaste Coalition, identified the stumbling blocks in the implementation of waste separation at source. These were the following: 

• low public awareness on Republic Act 9003 
• lack of sustained public education eco-friendly management
• non-enforcement of both the “no segregation, no collection” policy and the “segregated collection” policy
• laziness 
• absence of political will to execute the law
• corruption in waste management 

(Panay News, 2017)

References:

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-14-697

(2017), 6 Negative Effects of Improper Waste Management, Metropolitan Transfer Station - WebAlive https://www.metropolitantransferstation.com.au/blog/negative-effects-of-improper-waste-management/ 

10 Negative Effects of Improper Rubbish Removal, Skip The Tip 

https://skipthetip.com/10-negative-effects-of-improper-rubbish-removal/

Panay News (2017), NO SEGREGATION, NO COLLECTION DENR-6 presses stricter Iloilo garbage policy, https://www-panaynews-net.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.panaynews.net/no-segregation-no-collection-denr-6-presses-stricter-iloilo-garbage-policy/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&amp=1&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16394662173930&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.panaynews.net%2Fno-segregation-no-collection-denr-6-presses-stricter-iloilo-garbage-policy%2F