ILOILO City – The city government is evaluating a waste-to-energy project proposal.
Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said the proposal, submitted by Metro Pacific Water Investments Corporation (MPW), is now with the Iloilo City Public-Private Partnership (PPP) – Selection Committee. It will go through the same process that SM Prime Holdings went through regarding the redevelopment of the city’s two biggest markets.
However, the city mayor noted the waste-to-energy project proposal also needs to obtain approval from national government agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Waste-to-energy or energy-from-waste is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste. Simply put, it is the processing of waste into a fuel source.
Treñas said the city will consider all possible issues and concerns like those raised by environmental groups.
He added he is willing to sit down with environmentalists or any person who will suggest better ways.
“We will consider all that but you also have to understand that the sanitary landfill is no longer sustainable. It is highly subsidized. And once it is full, we need to look for another place . All concerns of environmental groups will be considered. I invite them to my office anytime,” said Treñas.
The city’s sanitary landfill in Barangay Calahunan, Mandurriao district is facing social issues such as its smell reaching other areas of the district and even the Megaworld business district. He recalled former Iloilo governor Arthur Defensor Sr. was among those who complained to him about the landfill.
He also noted that for the soil cover alone, the city government spends over P50 million.
“Waste-to-energy is the way to go. It is being done in European countries which are very strict in so far as emissions are concerned. I assure the public that we will be very strict in this concern,” Treñas previously said.
According to MPW president and chief executive officer Rogelio Singson, their PPP proposal will help the city improve its solid waste management system, address the declining capacity of the existing landfill and scarcity of land in the metro.
Their proposed waste-to-energy project, Singson added, is also in response to the city’s mission of providing a long-term, environmentally sustainable, and very economical solution to solid waste through the investment in the design, construction, implementation, operation, and maintenance of Iloilo City Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility capable of processing approximately 450 tons per day of municipal solid waste (MSW).
“The project will provide the city with a comprehensive, financially viable, and environmentally responsible solution to address the city’s solid waste management challenges, consistent with the city’s mandate to promote the general welfare of the city’s constituents,” read part of the proposal signed by Singson.
The ISWMF will be comprised of the following:
* Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)
* Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facility that will pre-treat the organic fraction of MSW separated by the MRF to produce an Organic Wet Fraction (OWF)
* Anaerobic Digestion (AD) system that will co-digest the OWF of MSW processed by the MBT system and the septage sludge from MPIW’s STP; and
* Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) production facility that will process and convert the residual combustible fraction of MSW to produce approximately 120-metric ton per day of RDF, which is approved by the Department of Energy as a renewable energy and alternative fuel (coal substitute)./PN
