BCDA wants efficient waste management in Clark  

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.