CAPAS, Tarlac – The Philippines’ first high technology sanitary landfill goes full stream as it sets its sights on catering to a larger market starting early next year.
This was disclosed during a site tour and news briefing by Holger Holst and Rufo Colayco, Founder and President respectively, of Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWM), held Friday at its main landfill facilities in Sitio, Kalangitan, this town.
Armed with world-class German technology, the Tarlac-based sanitary landfill is the only such ISO-certified facility in the country.
In operation since 2002, Metro Clark currently handles 3,000 tons of waste per day, servicing more than 100 local government units in Central Luzon including the Clark and Subic Freeports, two of the country’s major economic zones, based in Pampanga and Zambales respectively. Its biggest customers include the cities of Canabatuan in Nueva Ecija, Angeles in Pampanga and Tarlac City in Tarlac province.
“We are currently catering to a few LGU’s in Northern Luzon including Pangasinan, La Union and the city of Baguio,” Colayco said.
“We also see positive developments and opportunities for us to cater to the landfill requirements and disposal services of Bulacan and Metro Manila.”
Of the 100 hectares occupied by the Kalangitan facility, 70 hectares are dedicated for the landfill itself, 10 hectares for recycling facilities, and 15 hectares for environmental buffer. A further 5 more hectares is dedicated to offices and other uses.
The landfill utilizes cutting edge technology and advanced engineering from Germany– a world leader in responsible waste management– to control and totally mitigate contamination of the environment from possible pollutants such as poisonous gas and foul-smelling liquids produced by decaying waste.
“Unlike any other landfill sites, the waste being delivered to Metro Clark’s main facility is properly treated and disposed of, guaranteeing the safety and protection of the environment”, said Holst.
Colayco said meanwhile that the company is set to build the facilities for renewable energy generation out of collected garbage next year.
“Garbage is a by-product of economic prosperity. As the Philippines’ economy improves, we will only continue the produce more and more garbage. Where will all this be dumped?,” Colayco told newsmen.
“By using this waste as fuel for a waste-to-energy plant, we would reduce by 70% the volume of garbage that will need to be disposed at our facility. And by extending the lifespan of our landfill by at least 50 years, we ensure that our company will be ready to accommodate the projected volume of garbage to be generated by cities and municipalities in the Central and Northern Luzon regions,” Colayco explained.
Colayco’s vision is to develop an integrated waste management system, which means that Metro Clark would transition from merely running a sanitary landfill to becoming a high technology recycling and renewable energy generation operation.
Together with its technology partners, the company will invest in developing an advanced centralized recycling and materials recovery facility where collected garbage will be segregated for recycling and processing into secondary fuel.
The secondary fuel will then be used as the primary feedstock for a secondary fuel CHP which will generate up to 35 megawatts of electrical energy for the New Clark City.
“More than ever before, we are now very aware of the harm that we can do our environment by not properly disposing of our garbage. And what harms our environment, comes back to harm us, and our children,” warned Colayco.
He said that transforming waste to usable energy is key to fulfilling Metro Clark’s mission of guaranteeing a safe, sustainable and long term waste management solution for Central Luzon for generations to come.