In line with the celebration of International Waste Pickers Day, pro-environmental groups and organizations launched on Wednesday, Mar. 2, a second e-waste treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facility for old electronic devices in Dampalit, Malabon.
The TSD project aims to protect the communities, especially waste collectors and traders, from the hazardous effects of improper e-waste handling. It is an initiative collaborated by EWC, Globe, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Integrated Recycling Industries, Inc., and the local government unit of Malabon, according to the EcoWaste Coalition.
“Its establishment will give informal waste workers an opportunity to be part of the format sector, where there is an access to a safe working environment and operation that offers them sustainable livelihood, without the known adverse impacts,” the group said in a statement.
According to EWC, informal e-waste recycling has been the primary source of income for several city residents, particularly in Barangays Dampalit, Longos, Concepcion, Niugan, and Catmon, with six active “mangangalakal” groups and two junk shops.
“We are beyond grateful for being one of the chosen beneficiaries of the project. This new TSD will extensively contribute to the lives of our constituents who are working in the informal e-waste sector. More than alleviating some of their labor burdens, it will also give them access to a safe and humane working environment,” Brgy. Dampalit Captain Carlo Jay R. Dumalaog said.
The facility will start to operate on Mar. 15, which targets to process at least 10,000 pieces of glass video displays from computers and television sets in its first year of operation.
“This new TSD in Barangay Dampalit is the second community-based facility for e-waste that was established under the project. Scalable and replicable to other barangays in properly managing E-waste in accordance with our existing law, ” DENR-Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) Chief Engr. Marcelino Rivera, Jr said.