I finally was able to visit the facility of Prime Waste Solutions (PWS) in Porac, Pampanga last August 7, 2024. I was with environmental officers from TECO Industrial Park and Clark Special Economic Zone and some members of the Environmental Practitioners’ Association. These companies, along with thousands of commercial and industrial establishments in Central Luzon, are preparing in case the sanitary landfill of Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWM) stops operating this October.
A few months ago, I sent a message on the PWS website inviting them as guest in my radio program, but they never answered. My invitation is part of a series of interviews on the possible alternatives after the closure of MCWM landfill. I already interviewed the representatives of the two sanitary landfills in Pampanga namely Floridablanca Enviro Corporation and Ecoprotect Management Corporation.
The PWS facility is not a sanitary landfill, but rather a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). I was interested to know about the technical and legal aspects of the operation of the facility. The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, or RA 9003, particularly section 32, mentioned the establishments of MRF in every barangay or cluster of barangays which shall receive mixed waste for final sorting, segregation, composting, and recycling. The law further states that resulting residual wastes, or those that can no longer be recycled and composted, shall be transferred to a long-term storage or disposal facility or sanitary landfill.
Framers of RA 9003 did not probably anticipate that there will be commercial MRF’s in the future. Most likely, they did not intend it to be a final disposal facility too. So, I asked PWS if LGU’s are free of any legal obligation once they dispose their waste in their facility, they said they can issue a certificate of disposal.
The PWS facility have modern equipment for sorting mixed waste composed of vibrating sieves, baler systems, and magnetic separators and conveyor systems. They have two sets of these equipment currently installed which they claim can process 2,000 metric tons of waste a day. This remains to be seen. Another two sets are waiting to be assembled which can double their capacity. They have support equipment like weighing scales, truck washing system and a wastewater treatment plant.
During the visit, we witnessed the processing of waste from Porac, their host municipality. The operation is simple. The waste is weighed and dumped in a staging area. It is then fed to the system which segregates the waste into recyclables and residuals. The recyclables, they claim, will be sold. Organic waste is composted and donated to farmers.
The residual waste is baled and wrapped in plastic and stored in a space inside their property. I pointed out that long term storage of these residual waste, though baled and wrapped, is not sanitary as there is the possibility of leachate. They said that they are in the process of securing a permit for the construction and operation of a sanitary landfill within their property which will serve as a temporary storage area.
Where will the processed residual waste go? They said it can be used as fuel for waste-to-energy power plants. I read in the news that they partnered with WasteFuel Global, a US-based company, to establish a waste-to-fuel project.