Prime Infrastructure starts production of fuel from waste in Cebu plant

MANILA, Philippines — Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. of tycoon Enrique Razon has commenced the supply of low-carbon refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced from processed municipal solid waste in Cebu.

Prime Infra, through subsidiary Prime Integrated Waste Solutions Inc. (PWS), currently operates in Cebu where it receives and processes around 1,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily.

Operationalizing the recyclables business through RDF production is part of PWS’ transformation strategy focused on creating value from waste.

“PWS was established with the strategic objective of significantly reducing landfilled waste to 20 percent or less through modern waste management and resource recovery solutions. By harnessing the potential of RDF, we convert waste into a valuable resource, creating direct positive impact on the environment and the community,” Prime Infra president and CEO Guillaume Lucci said.

“RDF production in our waste facilities is anchored on Prime Infra’s sustainability agenda to deliver infrastructure that supports the decarbonization goals of our customers and other stakeholders,” he said.

The waste that comes into the facility is segregated to recover recyclable waste, which is then classified further into RDF material and carefully sorted to assure the material’s quality is up to par with the standards set. 

These RDF materials are shredded to reduce the size of the material, and eventually fed into the facility’s baling machine to compact and wrap the shredded waste for safer transport and delivery.

Prime Infra waste sector lead Carla Angelica Peralta said the supply of RDF marks the initial phase in Prime Infra’s waste to value activities.

“With new and state-of-the-art equipment coming in, our goal in terms of RDF supply from our Cebu facility is to increase capacity to at least 100 tons per day,” she said.

The PWS Cebu facility will soon be semi-automated with investments in high-tech equipment for waste segregation and storage. 

The equipment will not only aid in an efficient sorting and recovery process but will also support Prime Infra’s objective of converting recovered resources into sustainable fuels such as pyrolysis oil, renewable natural gas and green methanol.

PWS is also expanding its operations by developing other facilities across the country.

Earlier this year, Prime Infra announced plans to scale up its waste management business over the next two years with the planned development of two materials recovery facilities in Luzon.

Apart from PWS, Prime Infra’s waste business is also under WasteFuel Philippines, which aims to convert organic waste and agricultural feedstock into fuels such as green methanol and sustainable aviation fuel.