Public health and zero waste promoters are visiting the Lamp Waste Management Facility (LWMF) on Sept. 10 in Taguig City of Manila, Philippines.
They are keen to know and watch how the discarded fluorescent lamps are safely recycled.
The 12-member delegation is composed of groups from the EcoWaste, Secretariat, Ban Toxics, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Health Care Without Harm, International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT-Philippines), International POPs Elimination Network, Mother Earth Foundation, Nagkakakaisang Mananambakan sa Dumpsite Area and Zero Waste Philippines.
The toxic enthusiasts will be watching how the facility deals with the unwanted lamps without creating any harm to the waste workers, food chain and the environment.
Thony Dizon of EcoWaste said that the lakbay-aral was organized by their Clean Production Committee in coordination with Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Research and Testing Laboratory Services under Director Amelia de Guzman.
Early this year, the EcoWaste published a report named The Toxic Silence of the Lamps explaining how used lamps are unsafely disposed of in Metro Manila’s 17 local government units, highlighting the need for a system for the safe collection, storage and recycling of such lamps.
Dizon said EcoWaste submitted the report to the DOE and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in an attempt to promote the speedy implementation of an extended producer responsibility system.
editor@greentechlead.com