As illustrated in the children’s storybook “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” planning and working for the rainy days may always be the right approach, especially when it comes to the government’s solid-waste management and flood control efforts.
Perennial floods caused by clogged drainage and sewerage lines have been the bane of every Metro Manila resident’s existence as the problem seems to worsen every year in the absence of an integrated program to curb the urban waste problem.
Laying down one of the solutions on the table, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) joins the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in finding solutions to a national battle against garbage and floods as it recently turned over the Automatic Trash Rake (ATR) technology to the City of Malabon, an initiative that will complement the city’s solid waste management program to rid its constituents of floods and garbage.
The project was conceived in 2018 after several consultations with various local government units (LGUs) in the Camanava area—comprising Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela. Historically, the area has been frequently inundated by heavy rains coupled with the rise in sea level and overflow of rivers and dams thus leaving low-lying and flat terrain areas submerged in water.
The Malabon-Navotas-Tullahan-Tinajeros, a major river system that connects to the Letre creek where Malabon ends up swamped with tons of garbage annually.
In Malabon alone, about seven to eight tons of residual waste are collected every month, a number that has been improved lately as the city turned to an effective waste segregation and recycling program. The said initiative is implemented in collaboration with a non-government organization to entice residents in helping the government manage its solid waste.
In previous years, about .56 kg per capita of the 400,000 Malabon residents contributed to its garbage woes.
During the ceremony, DOST’s de la Peña admonished LGUs and other stakeholders to lay down the framework for using waste to convert it into energy. He expounded that the technology is already there saying, “we lack the policy on how we can implement this.”
The ATR is installed at the Letre Creek in P. Aquino Ave. and is strategically positioned to collect about 43.5 cu/m of garbage in a month and five cu/m in an eight-hour operation. Initial runs posted 1.45 cu/m of trash were collected in a two-hour operation. The city personnel is now gearing up for the onslaught of heavy rains brought about by monsoon season as garbage from the nearby cities will swarm the river system leading to minor tributaries.
The DOST-developed technology will help the city in its solid waste management program, particularly its collection of floating garbage from the Letre Creek to stop it from reaching its neighboring LGUs. This, in turn, hopes to augment the flood control efforts as it will minimize garbage and floodwater spillovers from entering the rest of Metro Manila.
The ATR was developed by DOST-Metals Industry Research and Development Center. It runs on a 10-hp diesel engine with six sets of rakes with a total width of six meters. Similar technology was installed at the Balingasa Creek in G. Araneta Ave., Quezon City in 2014.
To fully address the waste disposal and collection problem in other areas, there are now plans for more ATR installations in the coming years as DENR is already wrapping up the details for two more locations in Metro Manila. (DOST) – gb
