The province of Ilocos Norte is determined to reduce the volume of its solid wastes and turn them into something useful with the construction of a model cluster plastic recycling and resource recovery facility.

Situated in a more than 2,500-square meter government lot in Barangay Lydia, Marcos, Ilocos Norte, the facility is set to break ground on Friday (Jan. 8), according to Estrella Sacro, project coordinator of the Environment and Natural Resources Office of the provincial government of Ilocos Norte.

“Finally, we are happy to inform you that we will already break ground with our waste recycling facility project,” said Sacro in an interview Wednesday.

Since 2018, local officials here have waited for the facility to take off but for some reason, it has been delayed due to voluminous paper documents needed in the release of the budget.

Based on the proposed agreement, the Provincial Solid Waste Management Board shall allow the clustering of local government units for the solution of common solid waste management problems and provide logistical and operational support.

The Environment and Management Bureau (EMB) provided the PHP24 million fund for the project.

The first phase of the project includes the training of personnel and the procurement and fabrication of the plastic recycling and resource recovery facility. In support of the project, the provincial government recently distributed 17 garbage compactors to the different local government units.

“We are thankful that our governor gives priority on environment protection, particularly addressing our worsening problem on garbage collection and disposal,” Sacro said. (PNA)