Name: Shella Mae Tabuna Section: BLOCK 2 Date: 10/12/2021

Research Topic: Solid Waste Management

Research Title: The Practice of Solid Waste Management in Tranqulino Cawaling Sr. National

High School

Background of the Study

The environment has made up substances or objects that are considered as wastes.

These are unwanted things which are discarded after its usage and no longer useful. Waste can

be regarded as a human concept because they were the ones who manipulate these materials.

The presence of waste is an indication of overconsumption of materials with the ever-growing

human population and increasing the living standard of people on the things that they are going

to utilize which will soon become wastes. There are many types of wastes in the world but the

most common and abundant are the solid waste.

Solid waste deals with any garbage waste, worthless trash, sludge from a wastewater

treatment plant, or other discarded materials including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained

gaseous material. Therefore, any waste that is not gaseous and is not liquid is considered as

solid waste as determined by EPA Guideline, Liquid Waste classification test (2003). In simple

words, solid wastes are any abandoned or discarded materials. It can be classified into plastic,

paper, glass, metal, and organic waste. Classification may also be based, on hazard potential,

including radioactive, flammable, infectious, toxic, or non-toxic (World of Earth Science 2008).

Waste problems began during the Industrial Revolution. New technologies enable

human to create more artificial and non-biodegradable goods and materials used by people in

their everyday lives, and in much larger quantities. Since then, the problem has only gained as

people develop new technologies and mass-produce and mass- ¬consume goods. New
products and technologies contain more manmade components, like synthetic fabrics, other

plastics, and metals (World of Earth Science, 2008).

The world generates 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste annually, with at least 33

percent of that—extremely conservatively—not managed in an environmentally safe manner.

When looking forward, global waste is expected to grow to 3.40 billion tones by 2050, more than

double population growth over the same period. Overall, there is a positive correlation between

waste generation and income level (World of Bank, 2018).

Solid waste management is the science that deals with the prevention and monitoring of

wastes. According to Science dictionary (2017), it is defined as the discipline associated with

control of generation, storage, collection, transport or transfer, processing, and disposal of solid

waste materials in a way that best corresponds to the range of public health, conservation,

aesthetic, engineering and other environmental considerations. In its scope, solid waste

management contains planning, administrative, financial, engineering, and legal functions.

Solutions might include complex inter-disciplinary relations among fields such as public health,

city, and regional planning, political science, geography, sociology, economics, communication

and conservation, demography, engineering, and material sciences. (Baud et al, 2011).

Furthermore, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 RA 9003 explains that

solid waste management as a discipline in relationship with the control of generation, storage,

collection, transfer and transport, processing, and disposal of solid wastes. It just means to say

that the manner by which these activities are conducted shall be in accord with the best

principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics, other

environmental considerations, and public attitudes. The Act gives a compendious ecological

solid waste management program through creating necessary institutional mechanisms and

incentives that will help environment to become free from garbage, appropriating funds,
declaring certain acts prohibited, and providing penalties for people to suffer or endure. People

must segregate paper, cardboard, plastic, metal, and glass at source unless it is technically or

economically impossible.(Waste Regulations, 2011). Under the same regulations, people should

implement the waste hierarchy; reduce, reuse, recycle other recovery and disposal. By law,

people should implement this hierarchy and segregation helps with recycling in particular

(Environmental monitoring solution, 2007). Waste can be segregated as: Bio-Degradable

Waste, this includes organic waste, e.g. kitchen waste, vegetables, fruits, flowers, leaves from

the garden and paper. Non-Bio Degradable Waste: Non Biodegradables can be further

segregated into Recyclable Waste Plastics, Paper, Glass, and Metal Etc. Soiled: - Hospital

waste such as cloth soiled with blood and any other body fluids. Toxic & soiled waste must be

disposed of with utmost care (N.Madhavan, 2014).However, people do not know the importance

of segregation and as a consequence; there are lots of problems concerning waste disposal and

segregation.

On the other hand, school is our second home and it constitutes the next most important

place of learning where students spend most of their precious time whether in particular indoors

for study or outdoor activities in which they will learn new things. Problems persist in school

activities despite of numerous efforts to implement a policy on solid waste management.

The Philippine government manipulates a decree to further understand the

environmental cause. On July 24, 2000, the Philippine Congress enacted RA 9003 or the

Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. This Act provides for an ecological solid waste

management program, creating the necessary institutional mechanisms and incentives,

declaring certain acts prohibited and providing penalties, appropriating funds. The Department

of Education, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), the Commission on

Higher Education, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources , and other

concerned government agencies were mandated to “incorporate ecological solid waste

be subjected into different areas. (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) And so,

almost all of the schools here in the Philippines follow this act but not properly executed.

Furthermore, in Tranquilino Cawaling Sr. National High School, problems of solid waste

management are evident too. Scattered wastes can be seen anywhere inside the school and

proper segregation was not strictly followed due to poor management implementation. Schools

are cradles of values formation. One concrete way by which students should develop the value

of caring for the Earth is to ensure that they are taught the right attitude and behavior towards

the waste they generate.

Under those circumstances, the modern civilization is now struggling with the problems

of the high build-up of waste and its impact on the environment. The present scenario is an

issue requires serious attention and it calls for a smart handling of waste and so, this research

aims to provide an analysis on how Tranquilino Cawaling Sr. National High School complies

with the goals of the Solid waste management program and give appropriate actions to maintain

cleanliness and to reduce waste problems. Waste is both a consequence and a symptom of

lives lived or things used unwisely.