抄録
Landfill fringes in Metro Manila are usually inhabited by informal settlers. They are magnets for migrants from the rural areas and the unemployed who consider waste as an income-generating resource. Payatas controlled dumpsite shares this characteristic where about 4,000 waste pickers collect recyclable materials and sell them to junkshops. They scour the dumpsite for valuable materials in exchange for money. Three years ago, the local government decided to put up a waste-to-energy plant in Payatas to make use of the methane gas emission from the dumpsite and address climate change concerns. The main benefit from this is supply of electricity to the surrounding communities. The project is also aimed towards the full closure of the dumpsite in ten years, after fully exhausting the methane gas.
Informal recycling and methane gas recovery, thus, take place in Payatas now. Strict landfill regulations ban scavenging but to remove it is equivalent to loss of livelihood for the waste pickers and junkshops. The new scheme augurs well to emphasize the important role of social participation in landfill management in the context of Metro Manila. That it is not just infrastructures that matter but people as well. This study aims to tackle these areas.
