Pampanga eyes Holcim’s disposal of plastic waste

Business Mirror

Published on Monday, 21 January 2013 19:12

Written by Joey Pavia / Correspondent

MABALACAT CITY—Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda is applying for six months here a solid waste-management technology designed to reduce by at least 50 percent Pampanga’s garbage thrown in sanitary landfills.

Pineda on Friday inspected the “geocycle” technology in barangay Sta. Maria pushed by Holcim Philippines Inc., one of the prominent cement companies in the country.

The governor, who has actively pursued measures to solve the solid-waste problem in the first-class province since she assumed her post, said Holcim will be picking up plastic materials segregated by the Local Government Unit (LGU) headed by Mayor Marino “Boking” Morales.

“If the process will go on smoothly, we can apply it in other towns of Pampanga,” said Pineda in the dialect. She was accompanied Board Members Cris Garbo and Fritzie David-Dizon and Apalit Mayor Oscar “Jun” Tetangco in the inspection and meeting with municipal environment officers.  

Arthur Punzalan, chief of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro), said the province produces “between 500 to 600” tons of garbage daily. He added that at least 50 percent of the wastes generated are plastic materials.

More garbage by 2025

PINEDA’S plan came amid reports recently released by the World Bank (WB) on the projected increase of waste generated by the rise in population in urban areas in the next 13 years.  

Municipal solid waste (MSW) produced by Philippine cities will go up by 165 percent to 77,776 tons per day from 29,315 tons as a consequence of a projected 47.3-percent hike in urban population by 2025, the World Bank (WB) report said.

The report titled “What a Waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management” estimated that the amount of  MSW will rise from the current 1.3-billion tons a year to 2.2 billion tons a year by 2025. Much of the increase will come from rapidly growing cities in developing countries, the  report said.

The WB projected that the annual cost of solid-waste management is projected to rise from the current $205 billion to $375 billion, it saidd.

Morales said they used to spend at least P15,000 for each truck that delivered garbage at the nearby sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac, some 15 kilometers north of this city. They delivered twice a day before Holcim offered the project.   

Morales said Holcim’s project would drastically cut the expenses for waste disposal at the Capas sanitary landfill.   

Holcim’s way

Holcim’s “geocycle” is also known as “co-processing.” The waste materials are processed at temperatures raging from 1,200 to 2,000 degrees Celsius and a residence time of at least 20 minutes.

The high temperatures and long-residence time help ensure the total destruction of wastes, said Holcim.

Cement kiln co-processing recovers the energy and the mineral value of waste materials, and leaves no solid  residues or water effluents to dispose of, it said.     

“Co-processing is a safe and secure method of waste management that destroys hazardous components of waste while capturing its energy and mineral content in the production of cement. It also substitutes the use of fossil fuel such as coal; and changes your waste management approach the environment-friendly way,” said Holcim.

The company said those that could be processed include solvent contaminated wastes, waste oil, oil, paint, grease sludge, agricultural waste, expired medicine, hardened adhesives, resins, expired sealer paste, expired spec products, non-recyclable plastics, contaminated soil, rubber wastes, ink wastes, contaminated pesticide, and mold runners.    source