ADDITIONAL LAWS

Republic Act 9003

–The Ecological Solid Waste Management of 2000

An Act providing for an ecological solid waste management program, creating

the necessary institutional mechanisms, declaring certain prohibited acts.

Objectives of the Law:

-measures to promote a more acceptable system which corresponds to the
vision of sustainable development.
- aims to merge environmental protection with economic pursuits, recognizing
the re-orientation of the community’s view on solid waste, thereby providing
schemes for waste minimization, volume reduction, resource recovery
utilization and disposal.

Under RA 9003, solid waste shall not include:

1. Waste identified or listed as hazardous waste (either solid, liquid, gaseous

or in semisolid form) which may cause or contribute to death, serious or
incapacitating illness, or acute/ chronic effect on the health of persons and
other organisms;

2. Infectious waste from hospitals such as:

a) Equipment, instruments, utensils and disposable fomites (things that may
carry infectious organisms such as used gauze, surgical gloves, syringes) from
patients suspected to have or have been diagnosed as having communicable
diseases;

b) Laboratory wastes such as pathological specimens (i.e., all tissues,

specimens of blood elements, excreta, and secretions obtained from patients or
laboratory animals) and disposable fomites that may harbor or transmit
pathogenic organisms;

Criteria for Siting a Sanitary Landfill

(a) The site selected must be consistent with the overall land use plan of the
LGU;

(b) The site must be accessible from major roadways or thoroughfares;

(c) The site should have an adequate quantity of earth cover material that is
easily handled and compacted;

(d) The site must be chosen with regard for the sensitivities of the community's
residents;

(e) The site must be located in an area where the landfill's operation will not
detrimentally affect environmentally sensitive resources such as aquifer,
groundwater reservoir or watershed area;

(f) The site should be large enough to accommodate the community's wastes
for a period of five (5) years during which people must internalize the value of
environmentally sound and sustainable solid waste disposal;
(g) The site chosen should facilitate developing a landfill that will satisfy
budgetary constraints, including site development, operation for many years,
closure, post-closure care and possible remediation costs;

(h) Operating plans must include provisions for coordinating with recycling
and resource recovery projects; and

(i) Designation of a separate containment area for household hazardous wastes.

Section 21. Mandatory Segregation of Solid Waste

The LGUs shall evaluate alternative roles for the public and private sectors in
providing collection services, type of collection system, or combination of
systems, that best meet their needs: Provided, That segregation of wastes shall
primarily be conducted at the source, to include household, institutional,
industrial, commercial and agricultural sources

Section 37. Prohibition Against the Use of Open Dumps for Solid Waste

No open dumps shall be established and operated, nor any practice or disposal
of solid waste by any person, including LGUs, which constitutes the use of
open dumps for solid wastes, be allowed after the effectivity of this
Acts: Provided, That within three (3) years after the effectivity of this Act,
every LGU shall convert its open dumps into controlled dumps.