Davao to look for other solutions to solid waste problem if national gov’t won’t support WTE project

Garbage at the Shrine Hills. Photo courtesy of Sustainable Davao Movement

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 26 August) – The local government can look for other ways to address the city’s solid waste problem if the national government won’t support its proposal to construct a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility, Mayor Sebastian Duterte said.
 
In his weekly program over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) on Friday, Duterte said he had already talked to officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Manila about the city’s plan to build a WTE facility.
 
He said the funding for WTE is just “a matter of prioritization” depending on what DENR officials think is best for the city, but added the city government remains hopeful that it would push through with the support of the national government.
 
“Huwat lang ta total kung mahatag na mahatag man na (Let’s just wait. If it’s meant for us, it will be given to us). If not, we can always look for other ways to manage solid waste problem,” he said.
 
Duterte thanked the City Council for passing a resolution last Tuesday urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to provide counterpart fund worth P3.486-billion for the WTE project.
 
The resolution authored by1st District Councilor Tek Ocampo said the country should seize the opportunities offered by the Japanese government to avail of technical and financial assistance to develop sustainable ways of managing solid wastes.
 
Ocampo, chair of the committee on environment, said the Japanese government expressed the intention in 2018 to donate 5.013-billion yen, or equivalent to P2.052 billion, to partially fund the project of the WTE facility in Davao.
 
He added the sanitary landfill in Barangay New Carmen has almost reached full capacity due to the increase in the volume of wastes in the city, necessitating the “adoption and application of existing technologies that address solid waste management.”
 
The city generates around 600 to 700 tons of wastes daily, according to the City Environment and Natural Resources Office.
 
Environment groups criticized the passage of the resolution and maintained that the WTE project won’t address the solid waste problem here.
 
In a statement issued last Wednesday, Bro. Karl Gaspar, chair of the Paglaum Ecology Network, said the group disagreed with Ocampo’s assertion that a WTE project would not only reduce the volume of wastes but also provide energy.
 
He said the group has called for the cancellation of WTE incineration projects and rejection of WTE proposals from both foreign and local investors, and removal of WTE incineration from the 10-Year Solid Waste Management Plan.

He said the city should invest in “genuine Zero Waste solutions.”
 
“Like many other institutions and groups who [sic] have issued their own statement on this issue, we believe that the WTE incinerator project is not the correct solution to an urgent problem we are facing now and which could only worsen in the years to come,” he said.
 
He added that WTE has been proven to cause health and environmental problems based on experiences in a number of countries, contributes to climate change as it uses fossil-based plastics as feedstock for electricity production, involves huge investments which then help increase foreign debt, threatens the job security of waste workers, and violates environmental laws.
 
He said the government has no capacity to deal with dioxin, furan and other toxic by-products, which would require “highly technical expertise.”
 
He added there had been “very little community consultation before this project was approved and despite the fact that an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) had not been secured.”
 
“Besides all these, it can promote further wasteful consumerism, as the citizens are made to believe that it is okay to produce waste since the WTE needs garbage to generate energy,” he said. 
 
He said WTE is not the only choice this city has to deal with the solid waste problem, as there are alternatives.
 
He said the city may pursue the “Zero Waste program, which emphasizes reduction of waste and diverting of waste away from the landfill or incinerator through banning single-use plastics, implementing segregation at source, and supporting community initiatives for re-using, composting and recycling.”
 
“We already have an ordinance that bans single-use plastics; what is needed is to strengthen the LGU’s resolve to implement the ordinance. Building the capacity of barangays and uplifting waste workers’ commitment and capacities can also be means to this end,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)