Waste-to-energy: The future of Cebu City garbage management

CEBU, Philippines — Proponents of the Mega Cebu program envision Cebu to be a sustainable, progressive, vibrant, and livable metropolis for its citizens and the future generations by 2050.

Among the program’s lofty ambitions is to create a sustainable solid waste management system and Cebu City, being the metro’s hub for trade, commerce, and culture, holds a key role in realizing this dream.

While efforts are already underway to rehabilitate the city’s lone landfill, which was closed nearly two years ago, more are in the pipeline.

There are, for example, the prospects of putting up a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility at the rehabilitated landfill and to continue the conversion of plastic fluff into fuel through the Mansei Recycle Systems Co. Ltd. inside the facility.

Full Advantage Philippines International Inc. (FAPII) is the firm given the notice to proceed with a consuItancy project known as the “Closure and Rehabilitation Plan for Inayawan Sanitary Landfill,” a contract costing to P2,474,550.

Under the agreement, the scope of work of consultancy firm includes data gathering for waste depth, volume and extent of area covered, on-site waste characteristics, leachate generation and quality, groundwater and surface water quality, social aspect and gas emission.

It will also analyze waste characterization, leachate quality, gas emission, soil and slope stability, groundwater quality, waste disposal and analysis of potential energy generated that will assist the city in coming up with the comprehensive closure and rehabilitation plan.

Based on the initial site assessment report submitted by FAPII to Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) last August, the Inayawan landfill has a total municipal solid waste volume of 1.1 million cubic meters with 7.1 percent slope.

FAPII recorded 15 meters as the highest waste elevation with a mixture of combustible and residual waste materials.

“Based on CENRO and DEPW (Department of Engineering and Public Works) recommendation, waste elevation of 4 meters will be retained. Above that level, waste deposit of 633,742.41 m3 (cubic meters) will be removed and mined of combustive residual waste materials,” read a portion of the report.

CENRO head Nida Cabrera said FAPII has initially computed that the mining of the combustive residual materials present in the landfill can generate 10 MW of electric power for 15 years.

Cabrera said FAPII will also assist the city in selecting appropriate technology such as waste-to-energy facility.

Before the landfill was closed in December 2016, the city threw over 500 to 600 tons of garbage at the landfill daily. After the shutdown, the city government now has to work for its proper closure and rehabilitation plan.

Next, Cabrera said, the city will ask the court to lift the closure order and will then submit a new plan for the landfill’s post-closure and utilization.

“The law requires that the local government unit should have final disposal. It might be an alternative technology or a landfill but landfill nga mo-conform pod sa guidelines,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera said the problem on the garbage collection and disposal still lingers because there are still uncollected garbage in the streets, rivers, and creeks.

“Base sa data, dili pa tanang basura nakolekta. Gani, daghan pa kaayong naa sa kasapaan. Kun dili maayo ang pangolekta, moresulta nga ang mga tao manglabay bisag asa maong padung sa rivers and creeks,” she said.

To address this, the city launched the “Basura Mo, Sardinas Ko” program, which dangles cans of sardines to residents who dump their collected trash to the provided compactor truck directly.

Cabrera believes that the program has been efficient in cleaning the rivers and creeks after seeing improvements in some waterways. But she pointed out that the city government needs the cooperation of barangay officials and residents to make the program sustainable.

FAPII assessed the landfill’s overall physical condition with drone still images, Google Earth Satellite images, and Drone Deploy software to gather data.

In the report, FAPII stated that there are three watersheds in the landfill which carry rainwater and leachate flow from the highest level of mounted garbage to the ground level.

The same contractor conducted waste analysis and characterization study (WACS) of the landfill deposited municipal wastes.

Since there was no sighting of landfill gas emission, the FAPII team did not pursue sampling of gas data.

As of now, the city government is processing for the first step of the rehabilitation of the landfill which includes the fencing of the facility.

Waste-to-energy

The WTE facility seeks to convert garbage into resources that can be used by the city government.

Ideally, Cabrera said, rubbish will be loaded into furnaces and burned, thereby generating large amounts of steam that will eventually spin the generator turbines which will finally produce electricity for the generator’s power grid.

In June 2018, the Asian Development Bank approved the request of the Cebu City government for funds for the P40 million pre-feasibility study for a waste-to-energy facility at the Inayawan dump.

ADB has hired Mott MacDonald, a European-based consultancy firm, to reevaluate the submitted proposals of various companies for the establishment of such a facility.

The pre-feasibility study of Mott MacDonalds, Cabrera said, showed that the consultant recommended to privatize the garbage collection and to put up WTE facility.

Cabrera said Mott MacDonald will also examine how power generated by the waste incinerator could be sold to the local Visayan Electric Company.

As of now, the Solid Waste Management Board is reviewing proposals from eight firms.

FAPII is proposing to build the WTE facility on three hectares of the 15-hectare landfill. The proposed WTE facility can consume 5.6 tons of residual waste per hour and can generate 46.5 tph of steam.

This plan bodes well with the advocacies of Mega Cebu, which considers construction of WTE facilities as an integral part of a sustainable solid waste management plan.

“The protection of public health and the environment is ensured by establishing the solid waste management system underpinned by environmentally-sound methods and technology,” reads portion of Mega Cebu’s concept of Urban Structure and Urban Functions in Metro Cebu.

Mega Cebu is a program spearheaded by Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board chaired by the governor of the province.

MCDCB is a coordinating body for metro-wide planning and development on sustainable and long-term projects for the whole Metro Cebu, which is made up of representatives of Metro Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Danao, Talisay, Naga, and Carcar, as well as the municipalities of Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela, Cordova, Minglanilla, and San Fernando.

In July 2018, Mega Cebu presented its five-year development goal, the first priority being sustainable management of the soil waste.

Mega Cebu has been urging citizens to take part in reducing solid waste at source and implementing proper segregation of waste at source.

Cabrera agreed that cooperation among citizens and private sectors is needed for sustainable development for city’s solid waste management.

Mega Cebu targets to reduce residual waste by 20 percent in Metro Cebu through “prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse” by 2022.

Cabrera believes that WTE is one of the efficient technologies to help the city achieve this goal.

Cebu City is also updating its 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP), which will soon include the results of the report of FAPII. A highlight of the SWMP is the inclusion of a WTE facility.

Challenges

The good prospects, however, come with some challenges.

Scavengers at the landfill, who for years have made a living from the dump, are expected to go against the establishment of WTE facility for obvious reasons, according to Cabrera.

Cabrera said the city will come up with a program to assist the affected individuals.

Some groups are also expected to oppose the project because of the reported hazardous materials that will be emitted from the incinerators.

However, Cabrera claimed that the city can address the environmental issues because there is no longer a leachate in the process of conversion of waste to energy.

On top of these challenges, legal impediments will thrive, knowing that the landfill has been ordered permanently shut by the Supreme Court.

Cabrera said the city has to convince the court that the landfill, after the rehabilitation, will still be used for other purpose.

From landfill to park

Under the preliminary land use plan, FAPII proposes to transform the landfill into a solar-powered recreational park.

“The proposed park that would feature recreational facilities such as driving range, go-kart race track, children playground, tennis and football courts, multi-purpose covered gymnasium, biking area, mini-mart, picnic area, sunflower farm, fish ponds and transportation terminal,” reads portion of its recommendation.

FAPII recommended that the solar-powered recreational park be constructed on 11 hectares of the landfill.

Aside from the landfill, the city will continue to operate a recycling facility wherein plastic fluff will be converted into fuel and be sold to a cement company, said Cabrera.

The Queen City of the South, with all its stature and glory, may be bereft of a sanitary landfill at the moment. But hope remains high for the city and its people to one day enjoy the benefits of a sustainable solid waste management system. —/JMD (FREEMAN)