Local waste for raw materials abroad

CEBU, Philippines - A Cebu-based private firm will soon be sending plastic wastes-turned-raw materials abroad to be converted into housing panels.

FDR-Integrated Resource Recovery Management, Inc. (FDR-IRRMI), a company which operates the material recovery facility in  Naga City and Nishihara Co. of Kitakyushu City, Japan arrived at an agreement last Tuesday night.

FDR-IRRMI was represented by its president Paul Revalde while Takashi Nishiara, chief executive officer of Nishihara Co., signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the Japanese firm. 

Margot Omega, FDR-IRRMI’s project development manager, said the MOU signing is “a kick-off for a long-term project” with Nishihara.

She said that their company, which operates waste management facilities in Naga City, will process the plastic wastes (plastic candy wrappers, plastic bags, and the like) and turn them into raw materials for house panels.

Based on Omega’s presentation before representatives of both companies prior to the signing, the raw materials will appear like granulated plastics, which will then be shipped to Japan for processing. The end-product will be plastic panels to be used as house walls, she said.

Hideo Naito of Kitakyusu City said they came to Cebu last year to check the province’s viability for the project. He said they went to Lapu-Lapu City and checked its material recovery facility and discovered from there the operations of FDR-IRRMI. He said he did not know that Cebu has facilities that process all kinds of wastes including plastics that would normally go to the landfill.

For the moment, Omega said this kind of plastic, which comes in tons every day, is sent to a cement factory in Naga to be used as fuel. With this new project, what is perceived to be useless garbage will be put to good use.

FDR-IRRMI, which has been operating in Barangay Pangdan, Naga since 2010, processes an average of 100 tons of garbage from Naga, Minglanilla, and the cities of Carcar and Lapu-Lapu everyday. In 2011, the company tied up with the University of San Carlos research department to find ways to turn diaper wastes into something reusable. — (FREEMAN)