Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. recently hosted a solid waste management workshop at their plant in Bacolod City, which was attended by over 30 barangay and purok officials from the city’s Barangay Mansilingan. The event was part of their World Without Waste program, which seeks to bring communities together through a shared solid waste management plan, along with seeking to improve local waste management systems.
“Zero waste means nothing is wasted if everything is managed correctly,” explained lead World Without Waste consultant Bert Guevarra. “In order to do this, proper waste management should begin with proper segregation at the source.”
“If done correctly, managed waste actually becomes a resource,” he added.
Guevarra also cited RA 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which notes in Section 17: “The barangay shall be responsible for ensuring 100 percent collection efficiency from residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural sources.” Additionally, Section 32 mandates every barangay or barangay cluster must establish a materials recovery facility, which the law defines as “a solid waste transfer station or sorting station, drop-off center, a composting facility, and a recycling facility.”
“Barangay Mansilingan is the home of Coca-Cola’s Bacolod City plant, so, we want to make sure that we play an active role in environmental and community initiatives,” said plant manager Bernard Engada. “We are excited to work with them in creating and helping implement their solid waste management plans [in order] to ensure that our barangay will have zero waste.”/WDJ