- Councilor push waste-to-energy project revival
A LAWMAKER is bent on resuscitating the controversial waste-to-energy (WTE) project as he sees it as a sustainable solution to increasing garbage in the city.
Councilor Louie John Bonguyan, committee on energy and water, hinted at the revival of the long-overdue project during the Aprubado sa Konseho forum on Feb. 13.
He said the facility allows the city to cut costs compared to purchasing another land for the sanitary landfill to manage the accumulated waste. In contrast, the WTE requires no less than a hectare of land.
Apart from cutting costs, the technology can aid the energy demands in the city as it will have a capacity of about 600 metric tons of waste and produce 12 megawatts of energy.
“With this, we don’t need to buy another sanitary landfill, as the current landfill is already filled, gina-diskartehan na lang sa atong CENRO unsaon paglabay didto,” Bonguyan said.
Bonguyan, having witnessed the technology first-hand during a visit Japan, said WTE can also be built in highly dense residential areas.
He cited the proposal of the Japan International Cooperation Agency back in 2016, which employs a higher technology than those they have in Japan, which has strict laws governing WTEs.
When asked about the opposition of environmentalists, Bonguyan said, “If it passes carbon footprint tests, emission, why not put this up in the city? It will be nice in the city, first in the Philippines.”
Environmentalist group, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), openly opposed the WTE project as it is supposedly detrimental to the ecology and public health
IDIS, in its comprehensive “Zero Waste Policy Wishlist “ published on Feb. 2, said the project violates the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) and the Clean Air Act (RA 8749).
About 650- 800 tons of garbage daily is being collected by the city environment and natural resources office (Cenro). The sanitary landfill in New Carmen has been maximized to its full capacity, hence the Cenro is developing a new area for a dumpsite.
Councilor Tek Ocampo, committee on environment chair in December 2023 proposed to the 20th City Council the creation of a technical working group for the WTE project that will be led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Cenro.
