Borbon Mayor Nico Dotillos stated in a Facebook post on Thursday, Sept. 10, that he is open to exploring a regional waste-to-energy facility to process garbage and generate electricity for Northern Cebu municipalities.
Dotillos invited developers, investors, and technical experts to discuss the project's feasibility, noting that no specific site, developer, project cost, or timeline has been identified yet.
The mayor emphasized that any prospective project must strictly comply with environmental laws, provide public benefits, and operate within a potential multi-town framework with neighboring local government units.
BORBON Mayor Nico Dotillos is open to exploring a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility that could process garbage from Northern Cebu municipalities and generate electricity.
The proposal remains exploratory, with no specific site, developer, project cost or timeline identified.
Exploratory proposal
In a statement posted on his Facebook page Thursday, Sept. 10, Dotillos floated the idea of a regional facility that would process garbage generated by Borbon and neighboring towns.
“With everything happening today, the growing challenge of waste management, rising energy demands, environmental concerns, and the need for more economic opportunities I sometimes wonder if Northern Cebu could benefit from a waste to-energy facility in the future,” Dotillos said.
WTE facilities generally process residual or non-recyclable waste through thermal or other conversion technologies to generate energy. Depending on the technology used, the process can reduce the volume of waste sent to landfills while producing electricity or other usable energy.
Possible new investments
Dotillos noted the project could transform waste from multiple municipalities into electricity, clean up communities, generate local jobs, and attract new investments to the northern district.
“Imagine turning the waste generated by several municipalities into something productive: better waste management, cleaner communities, renewable energy, jobs, and new investments,” Dotillos said.
Facility requirements
A project of this scale would require available land, committed waste volumes from participating local government units (LGUs), supporting infrastructure, regulatory permits and environmental safeguards.
Dotillos invited developers, investors and technical experts in waste-to-energy technology to discuss the project’s feasibility and site requirements.
“If there are investors, developers, or companies with experience in Waste to Energy who are looking at opportunities in Cebu, Borbon is open to exploring the possibility and learning what it would take to make such a project viable,” Dotillos said.
Multi-town framework
Dotillos said local leaders are open to working with neighboring municipalities to develop a multi-town waste management framework.
“We are willing to learn, prepare what is necessary, and work together with neighboring LGUs if this can become a viable and sustainable regional project,” Dotillos said.
Environmental safeguards
He said any prospective project must strictly comply with environmental laws and provide tangible benefits to the public.
“We are not looking for anything in return other than responsible investment, compliance with the law, environmental protection, and real benefits for the public,” Dotillos added. / CDF