The Cebu City Council is reviewing a P470-million waste-processing system proposal from Suki Trading Corp. to address the city's garbage disposal problem following the January 8 Binaliw landfill collapse.
Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña questioned a price discrepancy between the current P470-million proposal and an earlier P250-million quotation, while Councilor Harry Eran noted differences in equipment and specifications.
The city's daily garbage disposal expenses increased to P4.2 million to P4.5 million as waste is hauled to Aloguinsan, following four failed bidding attempts for a solid waste disposal facility.
THE Cebu City Council is reviewing a P470-million waste-processing system proposed by a private company as the City Government searches for a long-term solution to its garbage disposal problem.
This proposal comes with a P220-million increase over an earlier quotation from the same company and raises questions about environmental and permit requirements that became an issue at a similar facility in Dumaguete City.
Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña pointed out the discrepancy during the council’s discussion of the letter of intent from Suki Trading Corp. to supply, install, test and commission two sets of waste-processing equipment.
Osmeña said Suki Trading had previously quoted him P250 million for a waste-processing system.
“I have here, January, I got the P250 million. And it’s now P470 million,” Osmeña said during the council’s regular session.
He asked that the communication be returned for clarification, saying he had spent time studying the earlier proposal and negotiating with the supplier.
“I just want to clarify the situation. Why did the price increase so much with the addition of one particular equipment, the price is doubled?” he said.
A similar facility faced permit issues in Dumaguete
The proposed use of pyrolysis also comes amid regulatory concerns involving a similar facility in Dumaguete City.
In July 2025, Dumaguete Mayor Manuel “Chiquiting” Sagarbarria ordered the city’s pyrolysis machine, plastic extruder and densifier at the materials recovery facility in Barangay Candau-ay to stop operating pending the securing of the required permit to operate.
The order followed a letter from then DENR 7 director Ma. Victoria Abrera saying the three units had no permits to operate and directing the city to explain why it should not be fined P19,500. The City was given 60 days to secure the permits.
A separate community-led air-quality study later raised concerns about particulate matter around the facility.
The study reported that PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the World Health Organization’s 24-hour guideline on 88 percent of monitoring days and reached up to seven times the guideline level in Dumaguete.
The DENR action, however, centered on the lack of permits and other environmental compliance issues.
Newer proposal has different equipment
Councilor Harry Eran said the price difference could partly be explained by changes in the equipment and specifications.
He said the earlier proposal discussed by Osmeña involved manual segregation, while the latest Suki Trading proposal includes two automatic garbage segregators and two AWS-EPCD500 units, which the company describes as Advanced Waste Solution with Environmental Pollution Control Device 500, or pyrolysis machines.
Eran also said the earlier proposal identified the North Reclamation Area as a possible site, while the latest proposal lists the South Road Properties or any available location.
“I think that’s where the price difference comes from,” Eran said.
The P470-million proposal has a stated capacity of up to 700 tons of mixed waste per day based on 20 hours of operation. The system would separate mixed waste into recyclable and other materials. Residual waste would then be shredded and processed through pyrolysis.
The proposal also includes equipment for processing plastics, glass, tin cans, paper, cardboard and food waste.
Other equipment listed includes a plastic shredder, plastic extruder, glass bottle pulverizer, hollow-block maker and composting equipment, along with pollution-control devices.
Suki Trading would also provide a covered structure, training, a one-year warranty and maintenance, as well as assistance in securing environmental permits.
What’s pyrolysis technology
Pyrolysis is part of the proposed process for handling residual waste after segregation.
The terms of reference require the project to have environmental compliance documents, laboratory results for furan and dioxin testing and environmental technology verification from the Department of Science and Technology.
These requirements are part of the city’s technical and environmental review of the proposed system.
The proposal’s stated 700-ton daily capacity also roughly matches the amount of garbage Cebu City currently generates.
City officials said Cebu City produces about 600 to 700 tons of garbage daily, with 40 to 50 tons diverted through eco-stations.
Cebu City is paying more to dispose of garbage
The proposal comes as Cebu City continues to deal with a waste disposal problem following the Jan. 8 collapse of the Binaliw landfill, which killed 36 people.
Most of the city’s remaining waste is now hauled to Aloguinsan, more than 60 kilometers southwest of Cebu City.
The arrangement has increased the City Government’s garbage disposal expenses to about P4.2 million to P4.5 million daily, compared with around P2.1 million when waste was disposed of at Binaliw, according to city officials.
Four attempts to secure a solid waste disposal facility through bidding also failed, leaving the city dependent on Aloguinsan while it explores other options, including a possible landfill in Toledo City.
The council had earlier directed the Office of the Mayor to submit a comprehensive long-term waste management plan as disposal and hauling costs continued to mount.
Proposal under review
The council did not proceed with a detailed technical review of the Suki Trading proposal.
Eran initially proposed an executive session where the council could hear directly from Suki Trading, the mayor’s office and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 and the Environmental Management Bureau 7.
Councilors Franklyn Ong and Mikel Rama, however, said the mayor’s office should first study and evaluate the proposal before the council examines it in detail.
Rama said the council could otherwise end up doing the technical work of reviewing the proposal, including questions on warranties and other project details.
“They are needed here. The executive department should study the matter, ask questions, and then determine and select [action], and we will review it,” Rama said during the session.
Councilor Alvin Arcilla also supported returning the proposal to the mayor’s office, saying that, as far as he recalled, the project did not yet have a budget.
The council approved Rama’s motion to refer the letter of intent to the Office of the Mayor, together with the observations raised during the session.
What’s next
The P470-million proposal will now return to the Office of Mayor Nestor Archival for further study while Cebu City continues to seek a longer-term solution to its garbage disposal problem.
The key issue raised in the council is whether the higher price reflects the expanded scope and different equipment in the latest proposal.
That determination will require a technical review of the equipment, specifications, costs, site requirements, environmental safeguards and other terms before the City decides whether to pursue the project. / CAV