IS WASTE-TO-ENERGY A WASTE OF ENERGY?

FIRST OF 2 PARTS ronment and Natural Resources Office-Environmental Waste Management Division estimated that there are around 700 to 750 tons of garbage that are dumped in the city landfill each day. If such a number is converted to kilograms, the entire city is producing at least 700,000 kilos to 750 kilos of unrecycled garbage per day on ordinary days, while on holidays such as Christmas, the wastage exceeds the normal count. It was further noted by the Philippine News Agency that as of November 2022, around 20,235 tons of garbage had already been dumped in the landfill. Since its operation in 2010, it was estimated that the span of the utilization of such landfill shall be up to 8 to 10 years depending on the density of waste disposal.

In 2016, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in cooperation with Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering Co. Ltd. made a report addressed to the Davao City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) entitled “Collaboration Program with the Private Sector for Disseminating Japanese Technology for Waste-to-Energy system in Davao City where it cited that “with the recent increase in waste generation boosted by expansion of urban socio-economic activities, it is one of the most urgent issues in Davao City to address the limited capacity of existing waste disposal landfill by reducing the volume of solid waste through further advanced technologies.”

The waste crisis is primarily anchored on the inefficient waste management and dispos- al which starts from the households to the collection points up until it reaches the landfill. This caused the city’s sanitary landfill in Brgy. New Carmen to exceed its capacity and has estimated to have accumulated more than 1 million tons of both biodegradable and nonbiodegradable garbage.

In an article in Davao Today (2023), “in response to this problem, the Davao City Government plans to build a P 2.5 billion waste-to-energy (WTE) facility in a 10-hectare agricultural land in Biao Escuela in Tugbok District. The local government sees this as a ‘long-term’ solution’ by burning non-biodegradable wastes and converting them to energy. The plan was proposed in 2018 but has yet to seek approval from the national government. Recently, the Davao City Councilor through Councilor Temujin “Tek” Ocampo filed a resolution seeking a counterpart funding worth P3.486 billion for the construction of the incinerator plant”.

The said WTE facility to be built in the agricultural land in Biao Escuela will have potentially adverse effects to at least 20 barangays in the City which includes the following: (1) Mintal; (2) Sto. Nino; (3) Catalunan Grande; (4) Langub; (5) Waan; (6) Callawa; (7) Riverside; (8) Balengaeng; (9) Tacunan; (10) Biao Guianga; (11) Angalan; (12) Los Amigos; (13) Talandang; (14) New Valencia; (15) New Carmen; (16) Matina Biao; (17) Tagakpan; (18) Ula; (19) Tugbok; and (20) Biao Escuela.

The Davao City zonal map pro-