Cebu City eyes fuel production boost

The local government of Cebu City disclosed that Prime Integrated Waste Solutions Inc. — a subsidiary of tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.-led Prime Infra — recently inaugurated a Materials Recovery Facility in upland Barangay Binaliw.

The facility is located at the former 10.4-hectare private landfill of ARN Central Waste Management Inc. that was acquired by the PIWS on 20 January 2023.

Solid Waste Management Board chief Janeses Ponce acknowledged the efficiency of PIWS in developing the ordinary landfill by constructing facilities and bringing in equipment that can convert waste into fuel.

“So now, it is no longer purely landfill. Part of this is going to be Reduced Derived Fuel. So, it looks like if we had just let it be and not let in the private sector, what will happen is that we will be stuck with an ordinary landfill,” Ponce said.

Meantime, Razon expressed gratitude to the local government unit through PIWS sector lead Carla Angelica Peralta.

“Through the support of the LGU and the barangays we served, PIWS was able to rehabilitate and transform this landfill into what it is today. We focus on proper and professional operations in waste handling to ensure efficiency, but most of all safety,” Peralta said.

The MRF aspires to become a waste-to-energy plant in the coming years and it currently processes around 1,000 tons of solid municipal waste per day. The waste that enters the facility is sorted to recover recyclable waste, which is further classified into RDF material.

Peralta explained that Refuse Derived Fuel are produced from municipal solid waste, industrial waste or commercial waste and the high-tech equipment inside the MRF can efficiently segregate, process, store and recycle waste.