By LITO RULONA
Correspondent .
THE consignee of a controversial shipment from South Korea on Tuesday said it planned to recycle the 5,100 tons of what the government said was garbage at its plant in Sta. Cruz, Tagoloan town in Misamis Oriental.
Engr. Neil Alburo, president of VNS Verde Soko Philippines Industrial Corp., called the shipment raw and sheared materials from South Korea intended for the manufacturing of plastic pellets and bricks at the firm’s newly built recycling plant within the Phividec Industrial Estate in Tagoloan.
During a news conference at Sitio Buguac in Sta. Cruz, Tagoloan, Alburo said VNS Verde Soko always make it a point to follow guidelines set by the Phividec Industrial Authority.
“Whatever the regulations set by them, we follow,” he said. “We make things proper, especially when it comes to guidelines and the import clearance.”
Alburo also said townsfolk have not complained of any foul odor coming from the recycling plant.
“If these are wastes, then there will be foul odor,” he said.
Alburo however admitted that are still things they need to improve their plant operations but “we follow local laws, and regulations set by the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources).”
The EcoWaste Coalition has issued a strongly worded statement as it called on government to disallow “garbage imports” and for manufacturers of plastics and other disposable goods to take full responsibility of their products throughout their life cycle.
EcoWaste national coordinator Aileen Lucero released the statement after Joel Pinawin, supervisor of the Bureau of Customs’ intelligence and investigation service in the region, said the shipment was wrongfully declared as “plastic synthetic flakes.”
The shipment arrived at the Mindanao International Container Terminal in Tagoloan from South Korea on board MV Affluent Ocean on July 21, 2018. The shipment was discovered only last week.
Engr. Dax Jara, a safety specialist of Phividec, said the Industrial Authority allowed the tons of “non-hazardous segregated processed plastics from Pyongteak, South Korea” to be brought to the firm based on a memorandum of understanding between VNS Verde Soko and Phividec.
The memorandum, signed in June 2017, was for the “sorting and processing of plastics for briquettes and plastic resin for production of plastic pellets.”
Jara said Phividec required VNS Verde Soko to secure an Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the environment department. He said the company received an ECC this June.
“Dali ra nila na comply ang ECC from the DENR-EMB. They also complied with the basic requirements of local government units,” Jara said.
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