Hundreds of representatives from at least 20 municipal government units in the Cordillera and Ilocos regions have visited Lepanto Mining in Mankayan, Benguet in 2019 to learn about the company’s engineered sanitary landfill (ESL) and make it a benchmark for solid waste management in their respective localities.
LGUs from San Juan, Tayum, Tineg, Pilar, and La Paz in Abra; Balbalan in Kalinga; Lagawe in Ifugao; Paracelis in Mountain Province; La Trinidad, Kibungan, and Bakun in Benguet; and Suyo and Cervantes in Ilocos Sur were among the groups who paid Lepanto Mining camp a visit.
The mayors of Tuba, Atok, Kapangan, Itogon, Buguias, Tublay, and Bokod in Benguet also toured the mine site to see how Lepanto’s ESL works. They were accompanied by the company’s officers to the ESL site in Tamangan area in Barangay Sapid, where they witnessed the entire process of the landfill.
“Solid waste management has really been a challenge for any municipality in the country, and we in Tublay, Benguet can use what we have learned from this benchmarking activity to even improve waste management in our municipality,” Tublay Mayor Armando Lauro said.
The benchmarking tour is in response to the directive of Environment Usec. and National Solid Waste Management Commission Chair Benny Antiporda to make Lepanto Mining’s ESL a benchmark in the SWM of LGUs in the Cordillera during the 4th Environmental Summit in Baguio last Aug. 8, 2019.
“It’s good for the local government units in the Cordillera to adopt this practice of Lepanto because it is simple and basic, but effective management of solid waste,” Antiporda told the EMB Cordillera representatives when they visited Lepano Mining’s booth that showed a short video of the company’s ESL.
Constructed on a 2,800-square meter lot, the ESL started its operation in 2017 and collects for free the residual wastes from households within the mining community and nearby barangays in Mankayan.
From 20 percent decrease in collected residual waste in 2018, it even dropped significantly to 35 percent in 2019.
Aside from the ESL, Lepanto also strictly implements plastic ban and no segregation, no collection policy inside the mine camp.
“The construction of Lepanto’s ESL is part of our continued commitment as a partner of the government in putting into practice what responsible mining is all about”, beamed LCMC President and Chief Operating Officer Bryan U. Yap.
Lepanto Mining’s ESL is the first in the Philippine mining industry. – Press release
April 27, 2024
