By Mediatrix P. Cristobal

http://www.positivenewsmedia.net/am2/publish/Inspirational_25/Waste_management_technologies_sweep_2008_Inventors_Week_awards.shtml

MANILA, Nov. 23 (PNA) - Waste management technologies bagged this year's National Inventors' Week (NIW) awards, proving that garbage disposal does not have to be a national problem as it is quite easy to solve.
Dominador Rosales, creator of "Plastic and Metal Separator for Biodegradable Waste", won first prize in the Outstanding Utility Model, under the TUKLAS Award.

In a nutshell, Rosales said his invention, called plastic and metal separator system, automatically segregates metal and plastic from biodegradable thrash, making garbage pollution a thing of the past.

"We can even make an organic fertilizer out of recyclable wastes," Rosales said in Filipino.
Other non-biodegradable wastes including plastic bottles, tin cans and others, meanwhile, can be sent to junk shops for recycling. \

This in turn solves the country's perennial problem of garbage mismanagement.
"With this, we may no longer need landfills...and may even solve the 'feud' between (Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman) Bayani Fernando and (Rizal Mayor) Pedro Cuerpo," Rosales said in jest.

His bright idea came about from his desperate desire to help his hometown, Pateros, resolve garbage concerns.
"I hope we can use this to help our country," Rosales said.

Meanwhile, another environmental advocate, Jayme Navarro who hails from Bacolod City, won as the most outstanding creative research or the LIKHA Award for his innovation called "Method of Converting Landfilled Plastic Waste into Fuel."
Navarro's entry features conversion of plastic waste into fuel, be it gasoline, diesel and gas.
This technology can be used in the government's pursuit to discover alternative fuel sources.

Aside from the LIKHA Award, Navarro's ingenuity also bagged the Green Chemistry Award, the first award given by Chemrez Technologies geared at encouraging Filipino inventors to come up with product or process that can help reduce or eliminate the use or generation of substances that are hazardous to the environment.

The awards were handed to Rosales and Navarro, who each received a trophy, certificate of acknowledgment and P100,000 and 50,000 respectively, as the 2008 National Inventors' Week wrapped up Friday.

The holding of NIW, initiated by the Department of Science and Technology, is intended to provide immediate support to Filipino inventors by bringing together in one venue their inventions/innovations for public and potential investors' appreciation and possible commercialization prospects.
It is also geared toward stimulating and encouraging creativity and inventiveness and enhancing knowledge among the youths and other interested sectors of society.

DOST Undersecretary Fortunato dela Pena stressed the role of inventors especially during the trying times brought about by the global financial crisis.

"We have to think of ways by which we can cope with these difficulties, using innovations that they (inventors) discover," he said.

Aside from Rosales and Navarro, other big winners of the 2008 NIW are Billy Malang, for his inventions Rapid Rice Beer, WeldE Mask and Pinoy Tagay Mug, and Rolando dela Cruz for his topical cream for treatment of Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) or skin cancer.
Winners from the college level are St. Luis University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Mariano Marcos State University, who bagged the 1st, 2nd and 3rd price repectively for the collegiate level of SIBOL Award. (PNA)