kaban galing - front cover - galing pook

24 LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA
The Los Baños Laboratory
Los Baños Ecological Solid Waste Management Program
SINCE 1984, twenty-two national and international agencies based in
Los Baños formed the Los Baños Science Community Foundation Inc.
(LBSCFI). The foundation provides technical assistance to the local
government in identifying emergent issues and prioritizing strategies to
mobilize community participation in addressing relevant and pressing
issues. In 1992, LBSCFI created three technical working groups to
formulate strategies related to education, environment and livelihood,
and sustain the Los Baños Ecological Solid Waste Management
Program.
Multi-sectoral, Multi-disciplinary
Los Baños generates about 33 to 35 metric tons daily of solid waste
from approximately 82,000 residents, 2,766 commercial establishments
and more than 50 government and non-government institutions. These
mixed wastes were indiscriminately dumped on less than one hectare
of land near the Boy Scouts of the Philippines Jamboree Camp at
Barangay Timugan. This practice of dumping unsegregated solid waste
had become the most serious problem for the constituents of Los Baños.
The smoke and obnoxious odor coming from methane gas and the
continuous burning of plastic products posed health hazards to people
in Timugan and the surrounding barangays of Anos, Lalakay and Malinta.
Flies and rats abounded at the dumpsite directly affecting households
adjacent to the area.
As the center for research and development in the country, Los Baños
was in a position to develop appropriate technologies and provide the
most effective solution to its garbage problem. The goal was to develop
the existing dumpsite into a model ecological waste processing center,
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