The founder of the eco-composting receptacle (ECR) said its adoption by the capital town of Bontoc, Mountain Province is an acid test on whether or not the low-budget techno-logy can address the solid waste concerns on a municipal-wide basis.

Former Barangay Loakan-Liwanag punong barangay Fred Fangonon conceded this is the first time the ECR will be tried on a municipal level.

“But we have tried this on a limited scale in Baguio City where the volume of solid waste is much greater and we are confident it can be done in Bontoc,” he said.

Fangonon said the ECR is the only technology that can address the problem of leachate or the liquid produced in a landfill arising from the decomposition of waste within the landfill.

Bontoc is hard-pressed to address its solid waste problem after it became the second local government unit in the region slapped with a petition for a Writ of Kalikasan filed by local officials and concerned non-government organizations of the neighboring province of Kalinga for perceived pollution of the Chico River.

Mayor Pascual Sacgaca described the filing of the writ as unfair and unacceptable since the Chico River traverses not only Bontoc but other towns of Mountain Province and Kalinga as well.

The capital town has purchased a lot for a probable landfill site but regional officials of the Environment and Natural Resources said it needed at least P90 million to set up the facility.

The other week, a delegation of Kalinga officials called on Bontoc officials to put a stop to the pollution of the river.

Sacgaca said they are intent on implementing the ECR technology to address its solid waste concerns with the signing of a memorandum of agreement with Fangonon.

Fangonon said the implementation has begun full-blast the other week even as he pressed for the release of funds to train and to pay off workers who will be implementing strict segregation at the ECR sites in Barangay Caluttit.