ANGELES CITY – Disposal of garbage and other wastes will soon be a thing of the past in this city once the $47 million state-of-the-art solid waste management facility project is operational.
This develops as the city government and an international non-government organization (NGO) SURE Global Waste to Worth Innovation (W2WI) Philippines, Inc., forged a venture agreement for the construction of waste management facility in a three-hectare lot property at Barangay Mining here Tuesday.
“The signing of agreement is a first step to a thousand mile journey,” said Pamintuan who also expressed confidence of the project success and eventually solving the mounting garbage problem not only in this city but also in other parts of Pampanga and Central Luzon.
Pamintuan said the solid waste management facility project will produce eight to 10 megawatts of energy.
The first of its kind in the Philippines, Pamintuan said the project will eventually shut down sanitary landfill and open dumpsite in urban areas. The local government have been spending more than P100 million a year for the garbage problem.
“Kapag nagawa ito, magagamit na natin ang P100 million for every year na pondo para sa ibang basic social services such as building of roads and bridges, education and health programs,” Pamintuan told reporters shortly after the signing of venture agreement.
As of now, tons of garbage and other wastes are being collected and brought to the city Material Recovery Facility in Bgy. Pampang here, the MRF is the object of complaints by residents in surrounding communities due to obnoxious odor emanating from it.
Under the agreement, SURE Global W2WI will develop the facility to be funded by Procter & Gamble Company and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The city government has to provide the space for the project.
“The project aim to mitigate a minimum of 230 tons of solid waste per day of the city with output streams consisting of high value recyclables and electricity output of up to 10 megawatts,” said Jill Boughton, president &CEO of SURE Global W2WI.
Boughton said waste to worth has the ultimate goal of driving long term solutions for the issue on waste and the problems associate with it today.
“Our approach seeks to drive waste as an economic resource and mitigate garbage problem while extracting maximum value from the domestic waste to positively impact the community,” Boughton added.
The signing was witnessed by the members of the 17th Sangguniang Panlungsod headed by Vice Mayor Bryan Matthew Nepomuceno, city government department heads and employees, and barangay officials.