ILOILO City – The city government received an unsolicited proposal for another public-private partnership (PPP) – a waste-to-energy project.
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.
According Mayor Jerry Treñas, the unsolicited proposal for the proposed Iloilo City Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility (ISWMF) through a corporate joint venture came from MetroPac Water Investments Corporation (MPW).
“I’m very happy with this development. It is not easy to get a PPP partner. Kinahanglan may trust and confidence ang investor sa local government unit,” said Treñas.
According to the city mayor, just like the PPP project with SM Prime Holdings, Inc. for the redevelopment of the Iloilo Central Market and Iloilo Terminal Market, the PPP proposal for a waste-to-energy project will be reviewed by the city government.
“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 concern. I assure the public that we will be very strict in this concern,” Treñsa said.
He acknowledged the environmental concerns that may possibly be raised.
The city has a sanitary landfill in Barangay Calajuan, Mandurriao district where the solid wastes are being dumped. For the soil cover alone, the city spends over P50 million, said Treñas.
“Very expensive. Paano kita makakita kwarta? Pasaka kita garbage fee. Kon magpasaka kita garbage fee, mareklamo naman ang tawo,” the city mayor lamented.
Treñas said operating a sanitary landfill is not sustainable. It also means eventually filling the Earth with garbage, he said.
According to MetroPac Water Investments Corporation 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.
Singson served as Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from 2010 to 2016 during the administration of then President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.
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 an ISWMF 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,” the proposal signed by Singson read.
The proposal also laid down that the ISWMF will be comprised of:
* a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)
* a 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)
* an 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
* a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Production Facility, that will process and convert the residual combustible fraction (RCF) of MSW to produce approximately 120 mt/day of a RDF, which is approved by the Department of Energy as a renewable energy and alternative fuel (coal substitute)
JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT
The proposal stated that in implementing the project, the MPW and the city will enter into a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA); each of the parties shall be entitled to dividends based on their number of shares held in the agreement.
Along with the proposal submitted by MPW is the checklist which identifies the specific sections of MPW proposal which satisfies the requirements of Regulation Ordinance No. 2019-524 or the “Integrated Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Code of Iloilo City” and Executive Order No. 182-2020 entitled promulgating the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the said PPP ordinance.
As proposition to the local government, at no cash outlay to the city, the PSP (or the special purpose company established by MPW) will be the one to build and operate a world-class ISWMF that will ensure that the city’s MSW and septage is treated and disposed in an environmental and sustainable manner, generating valuable sustainable resources for the betterment of the city and the country, and at the same time providing dividends to the city.
It added that the project will result in significant annual savings in haulage, investment avoidance and disposal costs that the city would otherwise incur in either constructing a new landfill or having to haul and dispose of its MSW at the more distant Passi landfill.
“Based on MPW’’s preliminary analysis, the points above conservatively represent approximately P6.766 billion in economic value to the city,” the proposal added./PN
