DAVAO City is eyeing to build and operate a waste-to-energy (WTE) facility in 2022.
This billion-worth project - P2.5 billion at that – is a partnership endeavor among Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), Kitakyushu City of Japan, and the City Government of Davao. But it will be funded by official development assistance (ODA) from the Japanese government.
This was first introduced in 2014 and has since undergone stringent feasibility studies and some criticisms from environmental groups led by Interface Development Interventions (Idis).
Fast forward 2018, the project is still on and is gaining concrete marks of implementation as supported by the local government here believing this facility will utilize some 90 percent of the city's total waste.
According to Jica Grassroots Kitakyushu Team, who visited Barangay 5-A here on Thursday, December 13, the WTE plant "converts municipal and industrial solid waste into electricity and heat for industrial processing and for district heating systems and that it works by burning waste at high temperatures and using the heat to make steam and then drives a turbine that creates electricity."
The to-be-established facility is expected to produce around 12 megawatts (MW) of electricity from 600 tons of daily waste. The city is targeting to place the WTE plant in Barangay Biao Eskwela, Tugbok District.
To fully realize the project, three more ordinances about the sisterhood of two cities (Davao and Kitakyushu) are still needed to be passed in the City Council to get the funding.
The Japan team will be frequent in the city to further educate the Dabawenyos especially those in the grassroots about the facility's technology and help improve the city's waste segregation.
With the project gaining foundation here, it is but also necessary to look into its environmental and health safety issues.
According to Idis representative Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, who was sent to Japan together with other Davao City government representatives, the technology has serious environmental and health concerns claiming it uses an old technology.
Emmanuel underscored "the looming danger that the WTE has especially of the toxin it emits known as dioxin. He said dioxins are powerful cancer-causing chemical that a single drop to a lake can cause harmful effects to people who are, for example, going to eat the fish coming from the lake."
But the Japan counterparts assured the public that there are no reasons for Dabawenyos to be alarmed as the technology has been tested effective and safe as it is the same technology they are using for 30 long years.
Yes, the promised WTE facility is, no doubt, a solution to help reduce the city's waste. It can also be a better alternative for a dumping site in a landfill to lessen the emission of poisonous gas.
Moreover, it can help augment the city's power supply. And we are thankful for the Japanese government and the city for coming up with this project.
However, let us not lose sight on the bigger picture. This facility will only be good to the city if no harmful toxin like dioxin will come out from it, ensuring that no further damage will be done to the environment and the people's health will not be put at risk.