Around two weeks ago, the Department of Health issued a health warning re unhealthy air quality due to the April 10 fire at the Navotas landfill. The haze (fine smoke and dust particles) can produce symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, coughing, chest pain, eye irritation and worsening of pre-existing asthma and other lung diseases.

While the agency has classified it as hazardous, meaning it can affect all who inhale the dirty air. But it doesn’t tell us what the level of pollution is. Air quality is defined by the presence of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers or less in size (PM2.5). These minute particles can be inhaled into the lungs where they can incite inflammation and cause respiratory symptoms.

Air quality index classifies PM2.5 concentrations of 0-50µg/cubic meter as good, 51-100 µg/cubic meter as moderate, 101-150 µg/cubic meter as unhealthy for sensitive groups (asthmatics, heart disease etc., 151-200 µg/cubic meter as unhealthy, 201-300 µg/cubic meter as very unhealthy and 301-500 µg/cubic meter as hazardous for all. Now, that’s way beyond safe!

I’ve been monitoring air quality since I got a car with air quality sensors. Thank goodness air quality in our village shows only four to six PM2.5 only, whereas it is usually 25-40 on the road. Recently, levels were elevated to 80 or higher in an area away from the landfill.

Under the Clean Air Act, no outdoor burning is allowed. The landfill fire was probably accidental but due to the methane released by decomposing organic matter, this can be quite extensive and long lasting, since methane is continuously produced there. It is ironic that waste incineration was banned under this law but we are experiencing fires due to landfills burning uncontrolled. But now, we have waste incineration technology that “scrubs” the air clean after burning, this ban is no longer applicable.

We need to have the Clean Air Act amended to take advantage of the new technology that many countries like Japan, Singapore, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and other European countries are using. China is even more advanced, with 79 percent of its municipal waste incinerated.

Now, with the energy crisis, we need this technology that can also convert waste into energy even more badly. The new waste-to-energy plants can produce 500-600 kWh of electricity per ton of waste incinerated without polluting the air. With the volume of waste Metro Manila generates alone, that will be a most welcome addition to our energy grid.

With several waste-to-energy plants distributed throughout the archipelago, we can eliminate landfills which generate large amounts of methane, itself a pollutant as well as a fire hazard. Less landfills mean less fires, pollution and health hazards. Plus, it opens up more land for other purposes. We need more parks, greenery and trees to combat air pollution and provide more carbon sinks.

Now, that’s part of the pollution puzzle solved, if we amend the Clean Air Act. The other major source of air pollution is vehicle emissions. The internal combustion engine has served us well, but it is time to let go.

The advent of the electric vehicle should help us partly solve our air pollution problem. However, in the long run, the real solution is an effective mass transport system ran on renewable energy. We need more trains, whether it be subway, ground level or elevated. The MRT7 is long overdue, and the first subway system is mired in right of way issues. Our once functioning trains and railroads have deteriorated. The result is a hodge-podge of bus companies serving as a mass transport system without coordination. Goods transport is still using trucks and trailers with internal combustion technology. Due to fuel cost and inherent inefficiencies of motor vehicle transport, prices of goods are still high and will get higher. Can someone sit down, plan and implement a better solution?

Another source of pollution are the power plants using coal, hydrocarbon fuel and liquified natural gas. We need more power plants that use renewable energy. The Philippines has plenty of geothermal energy sources, since we are in the Pacific ring of fire, and volcanoes dot our islands. We also have sources of hydroelectric power, as well as tidal energy and wind turbines. With these many sources of renewable, non-polluting energy, our country should be well-insulated from energy shocks and at the same time, experience clean air. Why aren’t our industrial leaders see this?

But right now, there is an urgent need to revisit the Clean Air Act. It’s been 28 years since its enactment. Technology has advanced. We need to amend the provision banning trash incineration by allowing modern technology incineration plants to operate in the country. Can our lawmakers spare a few days to rework what is now an obsolete law? We await with bated breath, and hopeful lungs.