Cebu City mulls P53 milyong MRFs for 5 barangays

CEBU, Philippines — A P53 million project for five barangay-based materials recovery facilities (MRFs) has been proposed to the Cebu City Council aimed at reducing the wastes sent to the landfill, thereby, decreasing related expenses.

This was discussed during an executive session of the council last Thursday, with the goal of addressing the lack of MRFs in the city, a concern flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA).

In response, the council is appealing to the executive department to provide parcels of land for the project, especially for the pilot facility.

The proposed project includes electronic tricycles, rainwater catchment systems, and an operational office. However, a City-owned lot is needed for this project to be materialized.

Maria Emma Ramas, Cebu City Ecological Solid Waste Management Board chairperson, said that they met with the Evergreen Labs, a company specializing on MRF, during a Waste Summit and determined that this project is suitable for a grant from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

She added that the funds for this project, which were allocated in 2011, are specifically intended for barangay MRFs.

In 2023, Ramas explained that a total of 196,000 tons of waste were sent to the landfill, incurring an expense of P588 million.

With this in mind, she added, if the five MRFs are established in the five barangays, 5,000 tons of waste would be diverted from the landfill, resulting in a potential annual savings of at least P15 million.

The payback period for these MRFs is expected to be between three and a half years.

Each facility, Ramas said also has revenue potential.

"So we really want to put this together so that there is better value, better bargaining power, unlike how we are doing it today," Ramas said.

Ramas also said that this could address the issue identified by the COA, where three MRFs in Cebu City were no longer operational. One of these facilities, which is located in Kalunasan cannot be expanded due to ownership issues, directly confirming that all three were a "failure."

According to her, there was a P55 million grant from the DILG, of which more than a million has already been spent, leaving enough funds to support the proposed five MRFs.

In light of this, Ramas said they are appealing to barangays with vacant lots to consider using their areas for the construction of MRFs.

She explained that they have already exhausted their efforts in finding suitable locations for MRFs over the past years, but to no avail.

Councilor Nestor Archival Sr. also agreed that barangays should take responsibility for providing the lots.

Erica Cardoso, managing director of Evergreen Labs Philippines, took the podium first and presented the process of establishing a barangay-based MRF in Cebu City.

They proposed that each MRF will occupy 400 square meters and will also include a preprocessing line. Cardoso added that the facility will be income-generating, as it will produce recycled products.

Among these products are eco-boards, rescue boats, gravel and other items made from plastic waste.

Cardoso also proposed a competition among barangays to collect more plastic waste, which would encourage wastes segregation. She added that this initiative would also help gather plastic credits as part of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, which require companies to take responsibility for their plastic waste.

"But it is actually a sustainable system where the barangay itself can profit from selling products and plastic waste," said Cardoso.

Furthermore, Cardoso said that the MRF will include 35 units of electronic tricycles responsible for waste collection. The MRF will also give barangays the freedom to choose which diversion method or materials the plastic waste will be converted into.

Overall, the facility can handle 1,000 tons of waste per year.

In summary, their proposal includes designing and constructing the facility, which will be owned by the barangay or the local government unit. Evergreen Labs will provide the technology for the MRFs and conduct training for the overall operation.

Presiding Officer, Vice Mayor Donaldo Hontiveros, emphasized that the goal of the proposal is to reduce the amount of wastes being sent to the City's landfill.

Archival, on the other hand, expressed his support for the proposal but stressed the importance of ensuring that it will work. He called for a proof of concept to back the proposal.

"Because no office or department in City Hall is efficient, if we are just going to buy these things, we will just be throwing money away," he said, elaborating that there must be proof of concept to ensure the project is beneficial to the city.

He also mentioned that it might not be feasible to implement all five facilities at once and suggested to build a pilot facility first. (CEBU NEWS)