The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has granted a P66.7-million funding support to a waste management firm for the construction of the only fully-integrated waste treatment and disposal facility at the Mactan Economic Zone I (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

The loan to Pacific Mactan Renewable Environmental Systems, Inc. (PMRESI) was made under the flagship Sustainable Waste Management for Enhanced Environmental Protection Financing Program (SWEEP) program, DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Michael O. de Jesus announced Thursday, June 22.

PMRESI plans to establish a smart waste management and energy recovery system for more than 200 firms within the MEZ area.

“Through this undertaking, we bolster commitment to support innovative technologies and approaches that would advance efficient solid waste management systems and practices,” he said.

PMRESI is the local subsidiary of Canada-based EnEco WTE Pacific Inc. that pioneered the entry of a waste gasifier technology in the Philippines called Thermal Oxidation Process System (TOPS).

The MEZ waste treatment facility is the first to employ the TOPS gasifier technology using a thermal gasification/oxidation process to decompose carbon-based components of waste and reduce its volume by 97 percent.

Already, the Department of Science and Technology granted PMRESI's integrated pollution prevention and control system with the first-ever Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Statement and Report.

“Through this project, DBP is scaling up its programs in support of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority’s greening of ecozones program and the National Government’s Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 and Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Act of 1990,” de Jesus noted.

The loan will partially finance the construction of a 2000-square-meter hazardous waste treatment facility and the acquisition of waste-water treatment equipment, according to DBP Senior Vice President and Head of Development and Resiliency Sector Carolyn I. Olfindo.

The PMRESI facility will also produce carbon-free ash which can be used as a concrete additive and donated to nearby municipalities for their construction needs and generate additional power from waste product treatment.

"The project is expected to expand its operations through the supply of renewable energy in the near future,” she noted.

“As of April 2023, DBP has approved a total loan amount of P435.6-million under the SWEEP program,” according to Olfindo.