That’s how residents of this coastal town feel these days. They still talk about how on one fine Saturday morning, with the threat of another heavy downpour magically dissipating, their once much-maligned town caught national attention for a very positive reason.
Last Oct. 5, Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez motored to Bacoor and led guests at the blessing and formal opening of the Bacoor Material Recovery Facility and Composting Plant (BMRFCP) in Barangay Malipay in Molino IV.
It looked like everyone who matter in Cavite showed up for the historic event that effectively buried the long-standing image of Bacoor as a garbage country.
Cavite Governor Ayong Maliksi and Vice Governor Jonvic Remulla were there. So were the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and all of the town’s councilors, barangay captains and kagawads, as well as the newly-elected Sangguniang Kabataan.
Senator Robert Jaworski joined the group, while Bacoor Mayor Jessie B. Castillo showed guests the four lines of machinery inside the facility and how they process waste into organic fertilizer.
The five-hectare garbage facility, backed by a DENR permit, sits on a rolling terrain surrounding the 25-hectare Bacoor Integrated Environment Park. One marvels at the discovery that this town of over 500,000 people and 200-plus subdivisions scattered over 73 barangays still has much open space. No trees, yes, but it is soothing for the eyes to see wild grass covering hills and plains.
With the inauguration of the facility, hurriedly built in five months to address a pressing concern that had also become a cause of shame for its residents, Bacoor has completely shed its image as a town that stinks because of uncollected garbage. It now basks in the glory of having taken the first real solution to the nation’s problem on waste without harming the environment.
In size, the facility is said to be the only one of its kind operating in the country. Some composting plants already in place in some parts of the country process waste disposed of by homeowners in one subdivision only.
The BMRFCP is capable of handling, in one eight-hour shift, about 30 truckloads of waste, says Mayor Castillo. "It is way above our town’s daily collection of 20 truckloads. If the need arises, the facility can still be expanded to raise its capacity," he says.
The facility utilizes existing technologies from both here and abroad in processing biodegradable garbage into organic fertilizers minus the foul odor.
The whole system starts with the collection of garbage at designated areas in the town at a designated time and on a designated day. Collection schedules, according to Mayor Castillo, are being strictly enforced. Violators are fined, he adds.
Garbage is then brought to the plant and unloaded straight from the dump truck to the conveyor. At this point, segregation starts manually. The biodegradables are left to stay on the conveyor and pass through the trommel, and are sent back to the conveyor for further inspection by segregators. After going through the trommel for the second time, they proceed to the hammer mill where they are finely pounded and grinded before they get stored in 40-foot container vans for decomposition.
Non-biodegradable wastes, such as plastic, tin cans, bottles and metals, are picked up from the conveyor during the segregation process.
Castillo says they will be sold for recycling under the supervision of Mother Earth Unlimited, another guardian of the nation’s environment.
An interesting feature of the BMRFCP is the presence of a greenhouse some 15 meters away from the row of container vans. Under the supervision of Korean technicians, it showcases the effectiveness and efficiency of the organic fertilizers produced inside the facility and which are further enchanced.
Castillo says high-value vegetables, such as lettuce and broccoli, will be raised there. "The facility has also signed a memorandum of agreement with the Bureau of Plant Industry to do a continuing enhancement study and analysis of its locally-produced organic fertilizers," he explains.
Will the facility really solve Bacoor’s garbage problem? "It will," Castillo says with conviction, "provided the people will cooperate by following our collection schedules."