New Year's Garbage

The New Year brought with it a whole lot of garbage. In Cagayan de Oro there were piles of uncollected garbage left at the public markets. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1240854

Waste management in this city is the top priority after the New Year celebration, following reports of piles of uncollected trash in public markets.

In a radio interview on Wednesday, Allan Villalba, chief of the City Public Service Office, said the local government's third-party contractor for garbage collection has deployed workers in major public markets and streets to immediately collect the piles of garbage on the first morning of 2025.

"There's more garbage this year because more vendors were selling in the sidewalks than before," he said.

Villalba said two city government departments are already working to speed up garbage collection and street cleaning.

In major public markets, garbage has started accumulating on the sidewalks several hours before the New Year celebration.

Garbage collection in the city is observing a scheduled rotation of trucks by the third-party contractor under the management of Tencil company.

More sidewalk vendors means more people able to sell their products and make a living. It also means more garbage. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1240915

More than 75,000 kg. of waste were collected in this city a day after the New Year celebration.

In a radio interview on Thursday, Jermie Danuco, operations manager of Tencil, a third-party waste collector firm, said the estimated weight of collection came from five public markets in the city but the volume was lower this year than last year.

"Based on the previous action plan, the volume this year was lessened because as early as Dec. 24 (2024), we deployed trucks to collect the garbage in public markets," she said.

The city government awarded Tencil, a private company, to collect and manage waste disposals.

The City Economic Enterprises Department and the City Engineering Office have also been responding to keep the city streets free of garbage.

In another interview, Armen Cuenca, chief of the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office, suggested limiting the number of vendors selling on the sidewalks to reduce garbage piling during the holiday season.

He said the vendors had been reminded earlier about the importance of waste segregation and keeping it tidy and ready for collection. However, despite these warnings, some still chose not to follow the rules.

75,000 kg of trash were collected mostly from the city's five public markets. The amount of garbage appears to be due to the number of sidewalk vendors which is why chief of the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office has "suggested limiting the number of vendors selling on the sidewalks to reduce garbage piling during the holiday season." How did they not see this coming?

While the amount of garbage collected in CDO was lower than last year the amount of holiday waste in Iloilo City surged by 20%.

 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1240909

The City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) reported a 10 percent to 20 percent increase in garbage volume during the holiday season, driven largely by unsold fruits and packaging materials.

CENRO head Neil Ravena said most of the waste were rotten or overripe fruits, particularly those used for the traditional New Year displays, such as the 13 round fruits.

“On the other hand, we collected lesser firecracker debris this year. Maybe it was due to the campaign of the Department of Health and the Philippine National Police against the use of firecrackers,” Ravena said in an interview Thursday.

During the peak holiday period from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1, waste collection reached 480 tons daily, up from the usual 400 tons.

About 60 percent of the waste comprised biodegradables, 20 percent were packaging materials such as cartons and styrofoam, and 10 percent were firecracker remnants.

To manage the increase, the city deployed three additional garbage trucks alongside those of a private contractor, focusing on high-traffic areas, such as the terminal market, JM Basa, Iznart, and Delgado streets. By the morning of Jan. 1, major thoroughfares were clean.

Ravena urged residents to dispose of garbage responsibly at designated points and reduce reliance on plastic trays and styrofoam to minimize landfill waste.

The 13 round fruits made up the bulk of the trash. What are the 13 round fruits? 

Eating round fruits on New Year’s Eve is a beloved tradition in many cultures, believed to bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year. The round shape of these fruits symbolizes unity, completeness, and the cyclical nature of time. In many Spanish-speaking countries, it’s customary to eat 12 round fruits at midnight, one for each stroke of the clock as it strikes midnight. This practice is thought to bring good luck and prosperity in the new year.

In the Philippines, the tradition of eating 12 round fruits is a cherished family custom passed down through generations. The fruits typically include apples, grapes, oranges, watermelon, pomelo, pineapple, pears, golden melon, guava, kiwi, rambutan, chico, and lemons. The round shape of these fruits is believed to symbolize unity and completeness, and eating them is thought to bring good fortune and blessings to the family.

The sweetness of the fruits is also believed to attract positive energy and remove negative energy from the previous year. In some cultures, it’s customary to eat sweet fruits like grapes and pineapple to invite good luck. This tradition is often combined with other auspicious foods to create a bountiful and prosperous New Year’s celebration.

https://blog.atlastravelweb.com/special-interests/festivals-2/lucky-fruits-for-new-years/

Is it 12 or 13? Doesn't matter. Eating these fruits are supposed to be for good luck. Yet the bulk of the garbage was rotten lucky fruit. Go figure. 

In Manila the holiday trash piled up real quick because the contracted garbage collector decided to stop collecting garbage. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1241044

The city government of Manila vowed on Saturday to hold its former garbage collector accountable for failing to perform its duties during the holiday season.

Mayor Honey Lacuna, in a statement, slammed Leonel Waste Management Corporation for abandoning garbage collection responsibilities amidst a 400-percent surge in waste volume during Christmas and New Year celebrations.

“Rest assured, I will not let this sabotage pass and those responsible will be held accountable,” Lacuna said.

She said two firms, MetroWaste and PhilEco Systems Corporation, are currently trying to clear Manila’s streets of garbage 24/7.

The mayor assured residents that those responsible for the lapse would face accountability.

"We will address the negligence of the previous garbage collector. Now, we have two contractors, MetroWaste and PhilEco, ensuring that the city is cleaned efficiently," she added.

Lacuna also encouraged residents to report uncollected garbage to the city’s Department of Public Services and Task Force Against Road Obstruction.

Lacuna said PhilEco Systems Corporation and MetroWaste have expedited the collection of garbage that piled up after the revelries as she assured the city government’s continued commitment to ensuring efficient garbage collection across all districts.

Leonel Waste Management Corporation says they did not abandon their duties. Rather, they claim the City of Manila owes them 561,440,000 pesos and they gave a notice in September 2024 they would not be doing trash duty after December 31st

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2021925/manila-ex-waste-contractor-denies-abandoning-duty-cites-payment-issues

The previous waste management contractor in the City of Manila has disputed allegations that it abandoned its duty to collect trash, maintaining that it informed the local government that it would no longer serve the city once the contract ended on December 31.

In a statement on Monday, Leonel Waste Management Corporation (Leonel) clarified that they met with Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna in September 2024 to tell her that they will not participate in the new contract bidding for the city’s trash collector, as the local government has failed to pay them for months.

“We are deeply concerned that news is circulating that we abandoned our duty with the City of Manila before our contract ended on December 31, 2024. We strongly refute this accusation, which grossly undermines the hard work and efforts of all our garbage collectors, who we thank deeply for their outstanding service,” Leonel said.

“Last September 2024, we met with Mayor Lacuna informing her that we will not participate in the 2025 bidding because of the City’s mounting unpaid obligations to Leonel, in order to give the City enough time to prepare and ensure a smooth transition to the new service provider,” it added.

According to the company, it instructed employees to continue working during the holiday season until the end of the contract period on December 31, even though Manila’s unpaid obligations had risen to P561.4 million.

“In fact, last December 23, 2024, when we announced to our employees that our contract of service is ending on December 31, 2024, we mandated them to continue doing our usual services until the end of our contract, especially in anticipation of the usual surge of garbage brought about by the holiday season,” Leonel said.

“Our company, Leonel, has always put our clients first and has never, nor will ever, abandon our duty of garbage collection. We have faithfully served our contract until December 31, 2024, despite the City of Manila’s total debt to our company amounting to PhP561,440,000,” it added.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna denies such a massive debt is owed. Either way these are just a highlights of the Holiday Waste problem which troubles the Philippines every year.