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Burning garbage in your backyard could get you in trouble with the Law

Discussion in 'Dumaguete City' started by Brian Oinks, May 26, 2017.

  1. Brian Oinks

    Brian Oinks That's Mr. Pig to you Boy! :) Highly Rated Poster

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    Will make many a Happy Chappy :biggrin:

    Burning garbage in your backyard could get you in trouble with the Law
    By Carlos Munda - 17 days ago
    [​IMG]

    The practice of “pagsisiga’’ or burning as a way of disposing garbage such as leaves or wood, especially in backyards and empty lots, will soon be a thing of the past.

    The House committee on ecology has approved House Bill 4271 which seeks to ban traditional, small-scale community incineration or “siga”, amending for the purpose Republic Act No. 8749, otherwise known as the Clean Air Act of 1999.

    The bill also aims to increase the penalty for burning of solid wastes by amending Republic Act N. 9003, otherwise known as the “Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.”

    Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy (Party-list, Bagong Henerasyon), author of the bill, explained the act of burning trash, leaves, paper, or wood is not beneficial to the environment.

    “The cultural belief that burning leaves is good for trees has no scientific basis whatsoever. The resulting smoke is a daily nuisance for all Filipinos who have to breathe the polluted air,” Herrera-Dy said.

    In her sponsorship speech during the hearing presided by the committee’s senior vice chairman Rep. Lawrence Fortun (1st District, Agusan del Norte), Herrera-Dy said burning even biodegradable products releases harmful pollutants and particles into the air, including carcinogens and furans.

    She said the burning of treated wood releases arsenic while burning plastic and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) products release hydrogen chloride. On the other hand, incinerating painted items releases lead, she explained.

    “All of these things we unconsciously breathe into our bodies on a daily basis by inhaling polluted air. We increase our risks for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reduced lung function, pulmonary cancer, pneumonia, heart disease, stroke and birth defects,” Herrera-Dy said.

    She cited a study published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014 which stated that air pollution emerged as the single, largest environmental health risk.

    “Seven million people died in 2012 due to air pollution. One in every eight deaths is caused by air pollution hazard diseases,” Herrera-Dy said.

    “Siga” as defined under the bill refers to the “traditional small-scale method of burning of wastes resulting from cleaning the backyard such as fallen leaves, stems and other similar matters from plants and trees in the backyard where the burning is done.”

    The bill amends Section 20 of RA 8749 which reads as follows: “Section 20. Ban on Incineration and Siga. Incineration, hereby defined as the burning of municipal, biomedical and hazardous waste, including “Siga”, the traditional small-scale method of burning wastes such as twigs, leaves, stems, which processes emit poisonous and toxic fumes is hereby prohibited. Provided, however, that the prohibition shall not apply to crematoria.

    It provides further that the incineration of bio-medical wastes, infectious wastes and medical wastes shall be permitted only insofar as to prevent any infection or spread of diseases. The incineration of these wastes and the underlying reasons for such incineration shall be reported to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

    Local government units are hereby mandated to promote, encourage and implement in their respective jurisdiction a comprehensive ecological waste management that includes waste segregation, recycling and composting.

    With due concern on the effects of climate change, the DENR shall promote the use of modern, environmentally-sound and safe non-burn technologies for the handling, treatment, thermal destruction, utilization, and disposal of sorted, unrecycled, uncomposted, biomedical and hazardous wastes.”

    The bill also amends Section 49 paragraph B of RA No. 9003 to read as follows: “Section 49. Fines and Penalties.

    (b) Any person who violates Section 48 paragraphs (2) and (3) shall, upon conviction, be punished with a fine of not less that P2,000 but not more than P10,000 and imprisonment of not less than three days but to not more than 30 days.”

    The bill mandates the DENR to “report to Congress, not later than the 30th of March each year following the approval of the Act, the progress in the implementation of the provisions of this Act, including the date and statistics of the number of offenders apprehended, the amounts of fines imposed, and the number of days of imprisonment imposed, all in violation of the provisions of this Act.”

    Herrera-Dy said the Clean Air Act provides for an explicit ban on incineration but excludes from the application of the ban on ‘siga.’

    On the other hand, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act enacted in 2001 provides an explicit ban on the burning of solid waste and imposes upon those convicted of violation of the ban on the open burning of solid waste with a fine ranging from P300 to P1,000 or alternately imprisonment for a period ranging from one day to 15 days.
     
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    Last edited: May 26, 2017
  2. Jack Peterson

    Jack Peterson DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Air Force

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    Scratching Head.jpg Wot next, I say WOT next?
     
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  3. Dave_Hounddriver

    Dave_Hounddriver DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster

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    Whatever the reasons, it would be nice to not have to walk past a pile of smoldering, smoky trash.

    But they must surely be talking about cities only. In rural areas the dead vegetation would pile up beyond belief if it did not get burned off once in a while. Even developed countries burn the debris after harvesting a forest or burn the dead stalks after harvesting grains.

    Example: Farmers burn their fields to remove plants that are already growing and to help the plants that are about to come up. These burns are often called “prescribed burns” because they are used to improve the health of the field.
    Why Do Farmers Burn Their Fields?
     
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  4. DavyL200

    DavyL200 DI Forum Luminary ★ Global Mod ★ ★ Moderator ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    Burning of fields has been ilegal in the uk for many urs now,also cleared forest areas its not allowed.
    Most farmers plough whats left back in.
     
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  5. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    People need to be taught composting .... it vastly reduces the volume of the material and eventually it can be returned to the ecosystem as a layer over the land. Natural processes such as animal activity - especially earthworms- and rain passing through will incorporate it into the top soil level.

    As for burning, any removal of animal pests will also remove useful animals; also, harmful plants (weeds) may have tough underground root or stem systems to survive and regrow.

    Smoke inhalation is so dangerous to health that it needs to be stopped .... btw, when approaching smoke I breathe in fresh air and hold my breath until I have passed through the smoke.
     
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  6. OP
    OP
    Brian Oinks

    Brian Oinks That's Mr. Pig to you Boy! :) Highly Rated Poster

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    I did try to look up 'Wood Chippers' for Dumaguete/Negros Oriental but had no luck. I was hoping to buy one that would shred palm fronds (normal ones are not up to that task) as well as other branches etc so I could use as a composted/fertilizer to fatten up the soil but had no luck...
     
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  7. Charlie

    Charlie DI Senior Member Restricted Account Veteran Coast Guard

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    There has been a national law against open burning since the year 2000. I wonder why they need another law against it ? Do you suppose they don't even know their own laws ? Hmmmm ? Could it be ?
    See Chapter Vl Section 48 number 3.
    http://emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/RA-9003.pdf
    See also Section 49. If an alien does this it is grounds to be deported after serving your sentence.
     
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  8. Dave_Hounddriver

    Dave_Hounddriver DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster

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    Dang, someone should tell that to the forestry.gov.uk because they are still telling people that
    https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fctn4.pdf/$FILE/fctn4.pdf
    Now I'll grant you that you are probably right and the forestry just left old stuff online for people to read and get the wrong idea. But really, how's anyone to know?
     
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  9. DavyL200

    DavyL200 DI Forum Luminary ★ Global Mod ★ ★ Moderator ★ Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    There are pretty big fines now for anyone burning in the uk,most combine harvestors have a chipper built into the machine now which just sprays it out the back if they dont want the straw.
    As for the forestery commision now they cut clean and replant after a year or so to let the soil whats left of it get some nutrition into it,conifers destroy the soil over a period of time.
     
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    Last edited: May 26, 2017
  10. Plainspoken

    Plainspoken DI Forum Adept

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    Cows were a hobby for a while. I used to use a hammer mill to grind full corn stalks complete with leaves and ears of corn still attached into cow feed. Granted it was a fair sized mill and ran on a power take off from a tractor. I had different sized screens to get finer or courser finished product. I searched OLX.PH for "hammer mill" and got some results. I never ground anything but corn stalks but the mill may work for you.
     
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