Marcos pushes waste-to-energy facilities to address ‘critical’ garbage issues

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the planned waste-to-energy facilities are the "only solution" to the garbage mismanagement issue in the country.

The President described the issue as a ‘critical garbage crisis’ in a media statement on Wednesday, August 12 during the inspection of ongoing clearing and waste collection operations at the Diokno Pumping Station in Pasay City.

Marcos also visited the Redemptorist Water Channel along Baclaran River, where tons of trash were seen floating after a week of heavy rains in Metro Manila.

“‘Yan [waste-to-energy plants] ang tanging solusyon dahil 'yung mga landfill puno na at pamahal na ng pamahal ang pagpapadala,” Marcos said.

(That’s the only solution because the landfills are full and transporting [waste to landfills] is getting more expensive.)

Waste-to-energy plants convert non-recyclable municipal solid waste into usable forms like electricity, fuel, or heat by burning. In July, Marcos proposed to adopt waste-to-energy technologies during his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

While inspecting clearing operations, Marcos said the government is already looking into potential locations for the waste-to-energy facilities.

“Ang ating iniisip, imbes na sa landfill dadalhin, dadalhin sa waste-to-energy plant. So tinitignan natin kung ano 'yung mga location para naman hindi masyadong malaki ang kailangang bayaran ng LGU (local government units) para sa hauling,” Marcos said.

(We are thinking that instead of bringing the garbage to landfills, they will bring it to waste-to-energy plants. We are looking into possible locations so that the local government units don’t need to spend much for hauling.)

The Department of Energy, meanwhile, is expected to hold an auction on how much of the energy produced by the waste-to-energy plants will be sold to the government and at what cost.

“Maybe we will begin to see it in a year, a year and a half. We push it as quickly as we can,” Marcos said.

Environment groups and advocates, such as Ecowaste Coalition, have been raising concerns against waste-to-energy plants, citing negative effects to environment, health, and human rights.

“WtE (waste to energy) threatens the right to clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as well as the right to life due to the adverse environmental impacts caused by its emissions, which then could lead to serious health risks such as cancer, respiratory complications, and even premature mortality upon prolonged exposure,” Ecowaste Coalition said in a statement in July.

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