Los Baños going plastic-less

MANILA, Philippines - This internationally known university town is set to become a plastic-less community as residents are complying with Municipal Ordinance MO-2008-752 regulating the use of plastic for wet goods, disallowing the use of styrofoam, and imposing penalties for violations. Use of plastic as wrapper for goods and items bought in local business establishments and wet markets is now a thing of the past.

Local residents have become used to bringing their own non-plastic bags and containers when marketing or grocery shopping, and the business sector has likewise joined in the effort.

Mayor Caesar Perez has established the Los Baños Ecological Waste Processing Center (EWPC) located at the town’s former dumpsite along Jamboree Road at the foot of Mount Makiling. The EWPC is a recycling area for biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. The center turns biodegradable waste into compost, which is given free as fertilizer to local farmers.

It has become a model for solid waste management, and officials of a number of cities and towns across the country have visited the EWPC to study the feasibility of replicating it in their area. Perez has also fabricated machines to manufacture products derived from plastic wastes.

“The properties of plastic can be altered through innovative melting-blending and hot pressing processes,” the mayor explained.

Using locally fabricated equipment, EWPC has developed durable building materials from plastic wastes, including hollow blocks, corrugated roofing sheets, and thick tiles suitable for garden pathways.

Hot-pressed panels were also made from shredded plastic wastes and these can be glossy, decorative, or multicolored of various thickness and densities. – Rudy A. Fernandez