The garbage disposal unit at Lawigan, Labason, Zamboanga del Norte was official close on the third quarter of 2006.  The said facility is an open dumpsite and measures one hectare more or less.

The said property was acquired by the LGU in the year 1997.  It has a slope of 35% to 50% and could accommodate garbage dumping for at least 15 years due to its characteristics.  The passage of the law on Solid Waste Management requires the site to be close because it is very difficult to convert the area into a sanitary landfill.  Per request of the LGU, the assessment of the aforesaid open dumpsite was conducted by Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-MGB R-IX) last October, 2006.

Hence, a new garbage disposal was open in Barangay Balas.  The future sanitary land fill is situated 4.5 kilometers away from the previous dumpsite.  It has a total land area of 22,789 square meters (2.27 hectares).  The reasons of choosing the present site is that (1) it is far from the residential houses and institutional centers; (2) only 8 kilometers from the Poblacion; (3) acquisition cost is minimal; (4) accessible even to small vehicles; (5) far from potable water source; (6) terrain slope is ideal; (7) the area is large enough to accommodate dumping for more than 20 years and (8) no occurrence of flood.