A Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) undersecretary on Monday said the Philippines and Japan are strengthening their waste-to-energy (WTE) cooperation, and are eyeing Quezon and Davao cities as potential pilot sites.
“The government of Japan is very much willing to assist us in addressing our garbage problem through waste-to-energy,” DENR Undersecretary for International Affairs and Foreign-Assisted Projects Jonas R. Leones said.
The collaboration between the two nations on WTE projects, the DENR official added, is likely to roll out next year in the two key cities, and will likely increase by eight more within the same year.
“The dialogue among the Philippines [and the] DENR and Japan Ministry of Environment is a continuing process,” he said. “By next year, we hope to set the projects in Quezon City and Davao City rolling,” he added.
Dialogues
Leones had met with officials from Japan’s Ministry of Environment, led by Shigemoto Kajihara, vice minister for global environmental affairs, on Monday to strengthen strategic partnership between the two countries on waste management, especially on WtE.
Leaders of civil-society organizations opposed to incinerator use and officials from the Japanese Embassy in the Philippines attended the dialogue, the second between the Philippines and Japan on WTE.
Energy from waste is in line with President Duterte’s plan to address the looming garbage crisis in the Philippines, consistent with the DENR and National Solid Waste Management Commission’s (NSWMC) plan to promote WTE using advanced technologies that hurdle environmental standards.
“There’s already a guideline on WTE. Not all incinerations are prohibited by law,” Leones said, stressing there are incineration technologies that comply with dioxin emissions standard.
“Right now, we are applying a World Health Organization guideline. Unlike before, we are not capable of measuring and monitoring dioxins and other toxic substances from incinerations. During my watch as EMB [Environmental Management Bureau] director, we worked on it, that’s why we now have the capacity to measure dioxins and other toxic substances,” he added.
Duterte visited Japan last month, and brought home 12 major Japanese investments worth P89.73 billion. These investments are expected to generate 250,000 jobs for Filipinos.
The first environment dialogue on waste management between the Philippines and Japan was held in October last year, wherein both countries agreed to identify model areas to promote cooperation between Manila and Tokyo on waste management.
Since then, joint workshops on waste management between two countries to deepen understanding of current situation of waste-management practices in the two countries were held.
The two also successfully provided support for the drafting of the WTE guideline, wherein the Philippine and Japanese experts were among the consultants.
During Monday’s dialogue, the Ministry of Environment of Japan proposed to provide a comprehensive support, with Quezon City and Davao City as model cities for WTE, together with Osaka and Kitachushu, through a “sisterhood” pact.
Waste-disposal plan
In Quezon City, particularly the Payatas dump, the plan is to convert 1,200 tons/day (t/d) of waste into energy equivalent to 25 megawatts (MW) of electricity
The WTE project in Quezon City will be supported by Osaka, Japan, in partnership with Hitachi Zosen Corp. and Ex Research Institute Ltd.
On the other hand, in Davao City, the plan is to convert 600t/d to produce 11.7 MW. It will be supported by Kitayushu City, in partnership with Nippon Steel and Sumkin Engineeering Co. Ltd.
To recall, the NSWMC, led by its secretariat’s Executive Director Ely Ildefonso, bared that potential investors from European countries, South Korea, Japan, Australia, the United States and China are now looking at the Philippines for possible WTE ventures.
This came after NSWMC approved last year the WTE guideline that would allow the use of appropriate technologies that would convert waste into viable energy, Ildefonso said.
GHG-emission control
According to Ildefonso, WTE aims to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by garbage in open dumps by converting them into energy.
The guideline adopting any technology that can convert WTE will be allowed with certain standard, and abiding with existing laws.
According to Ildefonso, WtE technologies do not also necessarily involve incineration.
He said WTE technologies would reduce the country’s GHG emission while effectively reducing up to 95 percent the volume of waste produced every day.
In Central Luzon agricultural waste from sugarcane could be disposed of through gasification. There are now two WTE plants in Central Luzon.
Among the WTE technologies allowed under the guideline are gasification, gyrolysis, bioreactor, biomethanation, hydrolysis, pyrolytic-gasification, plasma and other thermal processes.
These technologies do not use incinerators. There are a number of WTE technologies that the private sector wanting to do business in the Philippines can adopt to reduce GHG and convert garbage into energy, Ildefonso said.
The country produces around 40,000 tons of garbage every day, or 14.6 million tons in a year, 70 percent of which are household waste.
These waste end up in open dumps, the operation of which is prohibited under RA 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. There are still more than 300 open dumps in various parts of the country, which the government need to shut down.
Last year the NSWMC, in partnership with the Office of the Ombudsman, started filing cases against local officials who fail to shut down open dumps in their respective jurisdiction.