BPI extends 'green loan' for waste-to-energy plant

MANILA, Philippines - The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has extended a “green loan” for the construction of the first refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant in the Philippines.

The funding is part of the bank’s Sustainable Energy Finance (SEF) program.

Green Alternative Technology Specialist Inc. (GATSI) will use the loan to finance the RDF project that will operate a waste management, reduction and utilization plant at the Rodriguez sanitary landfill in Montalban, Rizal.

RDF is a substitute to coal and fossil fuel created by converting solid waste to energy. Combustible components of municipal wastes such as plastic and biodegradable materials will be shredded and dehydrated via a waste converter technology to produce energy.

GATSI is a joint venture company producing and supplying RDF to Solid Cement Corp. for 10 years. Solid Cement will be able to save 50 percent of its coal requirements from using RDF. 

GATSI and Solid Cement’s collaboration earned them the Fr. Neri Satur Award for Environmental Heroism by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources together with the Climate Change Commission, National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, Philippine International Theatre Institute and the UNESCO.

The SEF program is a partnership between the bank and the International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group.

Through this program, BPI makes it easy for companies and institutions to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

In 2008, BPI and IFC launched the SEF, the first-of-its-kind program aimed to help businesses be cost-efficient and self-sustaining facilities and, at the same time, taking care of the environment.

It is designed for end-users, as well as service and technology providers of energy efficient (EE) and renewable energy (RE) products. The latter includes energy service companies (ESCOs), or any company or individual planning to design, develop or implement relevant projects.

The SEF program was jumped started by a P5-billion fund established by BPI, and the IFC guaranteed a certain amount or percentage of ‘green’ loans.

IFC has chosen the Philippines to jumpstart its first sustainable energy finance efforts in Southeast Asia. These pioneering efforts serve as a launch pad for any probable project where energy is produced, transmitted, delivered, consumed, or stored.

Since then, BDO Unibank Inc. established its own program with the IFC.

According to the multilateral development institutions, the Asia and the Pacific has been the world’s largest resource user since the mid-1990s. If current trends continue, its CO2 emissions are likely to more than triple by 2050, putting an unbearable strain on the earth’s ecosystems. Reversing this trend will require a new development model characterized by systems innovation, efficient use of resources, and a greatly reduced reliance on hydrocarbons.

Fortunately, the region is also leading the world in commitments to green investment, including funding for low carbon power generation and energy efficiency improvements.