What to do with the many garbage

Davao and its garbage

Such  a big city like Davao produces an incredible amount of waste. There are daily up to 450 tons of garbage, which are  previously stored unsorted on a 7 acre lot. And from that we know already that in the long run it is not  sufficient for the many garbage in the future.

Of course the city has  searched for solutions. So was once a German company  was in contact with the city  that would recycle the garbage to compostable earth, industrial oil products and electricity  as end products. In principle it would have been  a good  project, which  then failed on the implementation and the funding.

Now there is  a second attempt and it's concentrating on eliminating the plastic and scrap tires from the waste. That would amount to about 4 tons monthly. But that would be enough to reduce the  waste by ca. 10% to 20%. The partner in this project  is  a cement factory. Making  cement needs plenty  of energy. And by burning the plastic and rubber much energy is produced and this can be utilized as well.

The problem could be the poisonous gas that emerges in the process. But the company claims to have all the components  "under control".

Best regards,

Ludwig from Davao

The UV radiation is stronger in the Philippines

Case: Drain hose from the washing machine

4.12.2013

When we came over to Davao one year ago, the biggest wish of my wife was a washing machine, an automatic  - as we know it from back home in Germany. To my wife, the available types of washing machine are too simple. Her expectations were based on German standards. But yet we bought an attractive Samsung model.

And in order that nothing can happen - neither flood nor burglary - the machine was installed in the second floor. The water up to the machine was controlled over a hose. The waste water over the hose was directed into a sewer pipe that was attached to the house wall.  This was not a very nice construction, but a useful one, as you can see it often here .

But after a year full of functioning well, small and bigger spots of water appeared underneath the washing machine.  The hole was discovered quickly : It was the hose, which should normally direct the water from the machine. He became "brittle" at the top of the surface and when you touched the hose it broke into small particles. Yes alright, but why?

A friend told me that we were victims of UV radiation which destroyed the plastic after a certain time. We should have covered the drain hose! That fact is known to everyone here . Only mixtures of plastic and rubber would be stable.

Now this realization costs us a new drain hose for 350 pesos, a shade coverage of about 100 pesos and a craftsman who demands 600 pesos. But the real problem is not solved because the new hose is made of plastic again. So we are thinking of a shade cover which is reflecting the sun rays especially protecting it from these harmful UV radiations. We will see .....

Best regards

Ludwig from Davao