The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) has cited the need for a livable and efficient waste management system in the New Clark City. In a speech during last week’s 20th anniversary celebration of Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC), BCDA President and Chief Executive Officer Aileen R. Zosa emphasized “We want to make New Clark City a livable, walkable, sustainable, and efficient community. We want to ensure that our garbage are efficiently collected and disposed.” It could be recalled that MCWMC and its international partner, Plambeck Emirates, announced their plan to upgrade their current solid-waste management system into a waste-to-energy facility before their sanitary landfill reaches full capacity. In the same event, Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) also agreed with Zosa and also welcomed the plan for a trash thermal treatment plant in Central Luzon. “We would like to see more of Metro Clark’s projects take off because this would mean more green investments pouring into our country. Apart from creating jobs, we are also looking at lengthening the lifespan of sanitary landfills and improving our environmental outlook,” Loyzaga said in her message read by DENR Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna. The DENR chief applauded MCWMC for its “pioneering waste management system in the Philippines.” She noted that MCWMC’s sanitary landfill is the only facility in Southeast Asia that is internationally certified in environment management system, occupational health and safety, and quality management system. Loyzaga said the Department has issued Administrative Order 2019-21, guidelines on establishing waste-to-energy facilities to comply with the emissions standards under the Clean Air Act of 1999; and the regulations under the Clean Water Act of 2004 and the Toxic Substances, Hazardous, and Nuclear Waste Act of 1990. Sanitary engineer Holger Holst of Plambeck Emirates said the Philippines is in the middle of a solid waste crisis. He said that as the country generates solid waste at the rate of 40,000 tons a day, its existing landfills are fast reaching their limit. MCWMC’s proposed waste-to-energy plant would become the first such facility in Clark, New Clark City, and the Philippines. MCWMC serves over 150 local government units (LGUs) and 1,000 industrial clients in Central Luzon, Northern Luzon, and the Cordillera Autonomous Region. Meantime, Rep. Joey Salceda in his speech urged the Senate to pass the bill that would allow emission-controlled waste burning—which would in turn reduce solid waste. Salceda, who is first Senior Global Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (2010), made the appeal, noting that sanitary landfills emit more greenhouse gas than waste burning.