Management of Toxic

Substances and Hazardous

Wastes: The Philippine
Context
RA 6969: Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear
Wastes Control Act of 1990
Scope
This Act shall cover the importation, manufacture, processing, handling, storage,
transportation, sale, distribution, use and disposal of all unregulated chemical
substances and mixtures in the Philippines, including the entry even in transit, as
well as the keeping or storage and disposal of hazardous and nuclear wastes into the
country for whatever purposes.

Objectives
1. Keep an inventory
2. Monitor and regulate
3. Inform and educate
4. Prevent the entry
What are hazardous and toxic wastes?
+ Radioactive
waste
What are hazardous and toxic wastes?
Procedural Manual of DAO 92-29 “Hazardous Waste Management” or the IRR of
RA 6969 and DENR AO 36 S. 2004
 Classifies hazardous wastes into by assigning them Class and Waste Numbers
What are hazardous and toxic wastes?
Miscellaneous Wastes
How much hazardous waste did we
produce?
How much hazardous waste did we
produce?
Total Amount of Hazardous Waste Generation by Region
as of Dec 2003 (in tons)
140000

120000

100000 Source: UN Sanitation

Country Profile:
80000 Philippines (2004)
60000

40000

20000

0
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII CARAGA ARMM CAR NCR
Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
in PH

Generation Transportation Treatment

The process of hazardous and toxic chemical waste management

Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
in PH
Hazardous Waste
Generation

Requirements for Hazardous

Waste Generators
Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
in PH

Hazardous wastes are

appropriately labeled.
Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
in PH

Symbols
Accompanying
the Labels
Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
in PH

Treatment, Storage
and Disposal
Facilities
 Classified based on
how they process
wastes and what
wastes they accept

 May treat, recycle

or recover
Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
in School Laboratory
Safety Reminders (Adopted from UC San Diego https://blink.ucsd.edu/safety/research-
lab/hazardous-waste/chemical.html#Storage-time-and-quantity-limit )
1. Designate a hazardous waste storage area in the lab
2. Select compatible containers
a. Choose a container chemically compatible with the material it will hold. Chemicals must not
react with, weaken, or dissolve the container or lid.
b. Follow these basic compatibility guidelines:
Acids or bases: Do not store in metal.
Hydrofluoric acid: Do not store in glass.
Gasoline (solvents): Do not store or transport in lightweight polyethylene containers
such as milk jugs.
3. Use waste containers with leak-proof, screw-on caps so contents can't leak if a
container tips over. Corks, parafilm, and beakers are not acceptable. If necessary,
transfer waste material to a container that can be securely closed. Label the new
container.
Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
in School Laboratory
4. Choose appropriately sized containers. Store smaller quantities in smaller
containers. It's not cost effective to dispose of 50 milliliters of material in a 4
liter container.
5. Always place your container in a secondary container to:
a. Capture spills and leaks from the primary container
b. Segregate incompatible hazardous wastes, such as acids and bases
c. A secondary container must be chemically compatible and able to hold
110% of the volume of waste stored in the primary container(s). Lab
trays and dishpans are frequently used for secondary containment.
Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
in School Laboratory
6. Attach a completed hazardous waste tag to the container before you begin
using the container to accumulate and store waste. Cross out all other labels on
the container. Do not obliterate the original product label; waste technicians
need to see what the container held before it was designated as a waste
receptacle.
7. Do not overfill liquid waste containers. Do not mix solids with liquid
waste. Liquid-filled small containers such as vials. Do not combine organic
solvents with toxic metal waste!
8. Accumulate recyclable oil separately from oils contaminated with solvents,
halogens, laboratory chemicals, or fuels. Do not mix with mercury, etc.
9. All hazardous waste must be collected within 90 days from when waste is
first put into containers. Up to 55 gallons of any individual hazardous waste
may be stored before it must be collected.
Radioactive Waste

Categories (IAEA, 2009) :

Any material that is
 High-level waste (liquid residue of spent
either radioactive itself nuclear fuel)
or is contaminated by  Intermediate level waste (reprocessing of
spent fuel)
radioactivity, for which  Low- level waste (decommissioning and
no further use is clean-up of nuclear sites
 Very low level (disposed together with low-
envisaged level waste/
 Very short-lived (stored for decay and then
disposed as non-radioactive waste)
Since the early 70’s, the Philippines has been engaged in the
treatment, conditioning and storage of low and intermediate
level radioactive wastes (Valdezco, et al, 2010).
Why dispose radioactive waste properly?
high-level nuclear waste generates heat and can become unstable
(may support fission reactions), may result to explosion and
scattering of dangerous material
for security reasons (they are attractive to terrorists)

Source: Barrow(2006)
Radioactive Waste Management in PH
The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute

Republic Act 2067 (The Science Act of 1958)

Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)

Republic Act 5207 (Atomic Energy Regulatory and

Liability Act of 1968)
An Act providing for the licensing and regulation of atomic energy
facilities and materials
Mandate

Executive Order 128 of 1987 1. Promote the peaceful applications of

Creation of PNRI under DOST nuclear energy
2. Regulate the use of nuclear and
radioactive materials
Radioactive Waste Management in PH

Industry: devices containing radioactive material

are utilized for density, level and thickness
gauging of products/materials.

Medicine: utilizing radioactive material for

diagnosis and treatment of diseases

Source: PNRI Annual Report (2015)

Radioactive Waste Management in PH
Distribution of Licensed Users According to Geographical Location
and Classification (2015)
400

350

300

250

200

150
Source: PNRI Annual
100 Report (2015)
50

0
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII CARAGA ARMM CAR NCR Total
Radioactive Waste Management in PH
Sources of radioactive waste
PH has no operational nuclear power plant; radioactive sources come from
research , medicine, industries, and PNRI laboratories and facilities
Radioactive Waste Management in PH
Sources of radioactive waste
PH has no operational nuclear power plant; radioactive sources come from
research , medicine, industries, research and PNRI laboratories and facilities
Radioactive Waste Management in PH

Presently
Stored
waste

3000
m3
Expected
institutional
waste

Source: PNRI (2010)

Radioactive Waste Management in PH
PNRI’s treatment and conditioning options for radioactive waste

waste
Segregation
collection
waste collection

or Conditioning Treatment

packaging for decay

storage for final Interim
disposal as ordinary Packaging
storage
refuse

*International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) standard for non-nuclear power related wastes
Radioactive Waste Management in PH
Centralized Radioactive Waste Management Facility at PNRI

In 2015,
9 spent sealed sources
4 m3 radioactive
sources
Radioactive Waste Management in PH
Treatment Facilities at PNRI
Radioactive Waste Management in PH
Permanent Near Surface Radioactive Waste Repository in PH

Sicalao Ridge, west of Sierra

Madre Mountains

400-438 m above sea level

34 hectares
Were laws on hazardous and toxic wastes
implemented?
Were laws on hazardous and toxic wastes
implemented?
Were laws on hazardous and toxic wastes
implemented?
Yes, but it was realized only recently that the penalties and fines
provided for under the present RA 6969 are not commensurate to the
gravity and seriousness of the dangers that toxic substances and
hazardous and nuclear wastes bring to health and environment.
The current penalties for violation of Section 13 (a) to (c) of RA 6969 are
imprisonment of six months to six years, and a fine of only P600 to P4,000.
Proposed Amendments
Senate Bill 2519 in 2008 (increasing the penalties to imprisonment of six to 12
years, and a fine ranging from P250,000 to P500,000)
House Bill 5578 in 2015 (any nuclear or military waste produced while based in the
country shall be shipped out to the homeland of the foreign military force; raising penalties
from Php600 to Php4,000 to Php5,000 to Php15,000)
Summary
There is a law In PH which specifies the proper handling of
hazardous wastes.
DENR-EMB takes charge of chemical waste management; DOST-
PNRI takes charge of nuclear waste management
At the moment, the law has been implemented yet with very
minimal penalty for violators
PH has no serious problem with hazardous waste management.
References
Barrow, C.J. (2006). Environmental Management for Sustainable Development. 2nd Ed.
Routledge, USA.
DENR Administrative Order (DAO) 92-29 (Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 6969)
DENR Administrative Order (DAO) 04-36 (Procedural Manual for Hazardous Waste
Management)
RA 6969 Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990
PNRI Annual Report 2015
How chemicals are regulated
Chemical Management Section of EMB, DENR
Philippine Inventory of Chemicals and Chemical Substances (PICCS)
(lists all existing chemicals & chemical substances used, sold, distributed,
imported, processed, manufactured, stored, exported, treated or transported in the
Philippines)
Pre-Manufacturing & Pre-Importation Notification
(screen harmful substances before they enter the Philippine’s commerce)
Priority Chemical List (PCL)
(list of existing & new chemicals that DENR has determined to potentially pose
unreasonable risk to public health, workplace & the environment)
Chemical Control Order (CCO)
(prohibits, limit, or regulate the use, manufacture, import, export, transport,
processing, storage, possession, and wholesale of those priority chemicals that
DENR determined to be regulated, phased-out, or banned due to the serious risks
they pose to public health, workplace & environment.)
Priority Chemical List (PCL)
Chemicals with CCO

Mercury &
Mercury Ozone Polychlorinated
Compounds Depleting Biphenyls
Substances

Asbestos Cyanide &

Cyanide
Compounds Lead