Katrina Razon: Everyone is a steward for a new way forward

MANILA, Philippines —  When it comes to sustainability, creating social impact and striving for a regenerative future, Katrina Razon, daughter of ports tycoon Enrique Razon, walks the talk.

Last month, she led the unveiling of the first automated Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in the Philippines, a project of Prime Integrated Waste Solutions Inc. (PWS), which in turn, is a subsidiary of the Razon Group’s infrastructure arm, Prime Infra.

MRF is a facility where waste is sorted, segregated and processed with the end goal of turning waste into valuable resources.

It is a major part of PWS, which is a response to the increasing demand for proper waste management and resource recovery solutions in industrialized and fast-growing cities in the Philippines. PWS’ model is based on Prime Infra’s overall objective of converting recovered resources into sustainable fuels.

Inaugurated on Jan. 29, PWS’ MRF in Cebu uses state-of-the-art equipment for waste segregation and storage – a first in the Philippines.

“Today, we celebrate a milestone and recognize how far Prime Infra has come since it established PWS two years ago as an answer to the increasing demand for proper waste management solutions, with the end goal of turning waste into valuable resources,” Katrina Razon, chairman of PWS, said during the inauguration.

In her speech, she shared her thoughts about PWS.

“When I first learned about PWS, it felt very refreshing to hear a forward-thinking approach to something that is normally regarded as unusable or worthless. But Prime Infra saw a pioneering opportunity to create a positive and lasting change as part of its sustainability commitment to the community,” Razon said.

She said responsible waste management is important in safeguarding the environment and the well-being of future generations.

“We recognize that every single one of you is a steward for a new way forward in the Philippines,” Razon said.

PWS procured equipment from Europe and Asia such as vibrating sieves, baler systems, magnetic separators, as well as air density separator to maximize resource recovery leading to landfill avoidance, thus preventing over 15,000 tons of methane emissions per annum.

The state-of-the-art MRF, Razon said, embodies innovation and “our commitment to building a regenerative future.”

Known for her sustainability ethos, Razon also said: “It represents a shift in a way we look at waste, moving beyond the usual methods, and embracing cutting-edge technologies throughout the process flow – from treatment, sorting, disposal, and resource recovery.”

Prime Infra and PWS committed to develop and transform an engineered sanitary landfill to bring it at par with world-class MRFs.

“Ladies and gentlemen, here we are today witnessing this vision turn into reality. May we be that which is needed over and over again,” she said.

Environment Secretary Ma. Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga graced the event and lauded the project.

“I need not tell you how groundbreaking this is because this is in fact the first in the country,” Yulo-Loyzaga said.

“It’s efforts like this that make our job possible...The first thing we need to do in this country is regard the solid waste management sector as an industry and for that, it needs to realize the efficiencies according to scale. Investments will not make sense without all the moving parts put on the table and that includes local governance, environmental management; that includes private investment with government and aligned with government in addressing these particular issues,” she said.

The DENR secretary also lauded PWS for the “social impact of this transition in solid waste management technology” by incorporating the informal waste picker sector into the process.

Also present during the inauguration were Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, Consolacion Mayor Teresa Alegado, DENR Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna and market sector lead for waste Cara Peralta of Prime Infra.

“We saw how critical the demand was for proper waste management solutions through Materials Recovery Facilities where we can sort, segregate and process—not just for our own sites, but also for cities or areas in need of proper waste disposal facilities,” Peralta said.

“Although we’ve come far, there is still much work to be done. PWS’ mission does not end with sorting, segregating, and stacking bales of waste. It ends with waste value creation. Our goal is to further enhance our process flow and to essentially go back to our original objective of turning waste into sustainable fuels to further reduce methane emissions and for our country to be able to provide sustainable fuels to the global market,” she added.

Rama, for his part, congratulated PWS for keeping its commitment to make the facility at par with world-class MRFs in other developed countries like Singapore.

“I’ve been [telling] the Razon Group and company that I want to be here for the first time,” said Rama. “I was assured that it’s going to be state-of-the-art...because the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

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