DAVAO CITY – A bio-recycling company here is promoting household composting among residents to reduce waste being dumped at the city landfill.
Through The Yellow Drum Project, Dr. Roberto Puentestpina Jr., chief executive officer of Davao Thermo Biotech Corp., said that they aim to divert biodegradable waste even on the household level from the landfill to their composting plant.
“It is a campaign to raise awareness on proper waste segregation; that the waste we segregate, especially biowaste, does not end up in the landfill but instead to a composting plant where we can compost them and convert them to biofertilizer,” explained Puentespina, also a veterinarian.
For only P500, he added that each household can get a 60-liter empty drum for the biodegradable waste, and a complimentary bag of Compost Starter, which will be used to start to the composting process.
However, Puentespina clarified that the Compost Starter will only be given for the first drum only. “We will collect the drum when filled up. And after your third filled up drum, you are entitled to have an incentive such as Biofertilizer, Enriched Potting Mix, or Compost Starter.”
Operating commercially since 2017, Davao Thermo Biotech Corp. is a biodegradables-to-fertilizer company that employs Hyperthermophilic Composting Technology, which originated in Japan, to produce biofertilizers.
For a fee, the firm caters industrial biowastes from business establishments in the city.
Furthermore, Puentespina emphasized the importance of composting especially in industrial scale, saying that it could help reduce greenhouse gases from decaying organic matter being disposed in the landfills.
“Second, proper composting will eliminate vectors of diseases. Third, the organic fertilizer produced in large quantities can be used for home gardening or bio remediation of destroyed ecosystems,” he added.
Puentespina noted that the initiative is unique as they focus on biodegradable wastes, which comprise 60 percent of daily waste output.
“Nobody is working on biodegradables waste management since most efforts are with plastic waste where environmental accounting efforts are more established. Thus, let us make composting the next big thing.”