Minglanilla to use Naga's MRF

CEBU, Philippines - Minglanilla town will use Naga City's material recovery facility (MRF) in Barangay Pangdan.

Minglanilla Mayor Eduardo Selma signed a 20-year contract with Fdr-Con Com Inc., a private company that operates the facility, last February.

Paul Revalde, Fdr-Con president, said the agreement does not only mean business for them, but livelihood for the people of Naga and additional income for the city. The company hires garbage collectors from the now closed open dump site in Barangay Bairan.

As per agreement, Minglanilla pays P1,100 to Fdr-Con for every ton of waste collected, and 10 percent of this goes to Naga. Revalde said Minglanilla produces 30 tons of waste everyday.

While the MRF's area is wide enough, Revalde said as of the moment they could not yet accommodate other local government units as it would mean additional investment on their part.

Earlier, the Cebu City government showed interest in using Naga's MRF. Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong however said their facility is not yet ready to welcome additional outside user. Cebu City generates 300 tons of waste everyday that would mean more jobs for Naga's constituents and additional income.

Revalde said as of the moment, the area can process about 50 tons of waste everyday including that of Minglanilla. Naga only produces 25 tons of waste a day.

The MRF, which sits in a seven-hectare hilly portion of Pangdan, can process an average of 50 tons of waste everyday.

The facility was opened June last year, and according to Chiong, the city has saved money from it. In the past years, Naga spent at least P5 million annually for its garbage collection. With the presence of Fdr-Con, which collects all the city's garbage using its own trucks, the city's annual budget for its garbage management is now down to P4 million "minus all the hassles," said Chiong. The city pays P750 per ton of waste but this is expected to go down as Naga is set to strictly implement the segregation policy which is mandated by RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

The good thing about this long-term MRF project, which is the first in the province, is that from all the tons of waste collected "nothing is thrown away," said Revalde.

In the facility, the sorters (the former garbage collectors) separate all the food waste to be made into biogas, recyclables to be sold, compost and refuse-derived fuel (plastic, cloth, rubber, etc.).

Revalde said they are negotiating with the power plants in Naga and the neighboring areas to buy their residual (about 20 percent of the total waste collected) waste, which is a byproduct for alternative fuel.

The MRF was opened after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a total ban on open dumpsites. In January this year, Naga permanently closed its open landfill in Bairan. (FREEMAN)