In 2023, I attended the 20th Anniversary celebration of Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWM), the operator of the sanitary landfill in Kalangitan, Capas, Tarlac. In that event, MCWM announced its plan to put up a $250-million waste-to-energy (WTE) facility in Clark. They mentioned that they had secured the backing of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) for the project.
"MCWM's planned waste-to-energy facility is a good fit for our plans in New Clark City. We want to make New Clark City a livable, walkable, sustainable and efficient community. We want to make sure that our garbage is efficiently collected and disposed of,” said Ms. Aileen Zosa, the BCDA President and CEO during that time.
DENR Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna who was also present in that event said : “We would like to see more of Metro Clark’s projects take off because this would mean more green investments pouring into our country. Apart from creating jobs, we are also looking at lengthening the lifespan of sanitary landfills and improving our environmental outlook.”
A year after, things took a different turn. The Clark Development Corporation (CDC) did not renew the contract of service of MCWM which expired in October 04, 2024. In a statement released by CDC and BCDA, President and CEO Joshua Bingcang stated that the BCDA is keen on the development and increase of the economic value of the 100-hectare land occupied by MCWM.
Recently, the BCDA announced on its website last January 08, 2025 that they are conducting a study for a proposed WTE in an optimal location in Tarlac, which is being eyed to boost power supply and serve the requirements of locators and investors in Clark. The BCDA identified WTE as a sustainable alternative to landfills, especially amid the continuous increase in waste generated in the country and around the globe.
I was wondering, if BCDA wants to increase the economic value of the site of MCWM landfill site as mentioned in their joint statement, why is it then considering a WTE facility which is also a garbage processing facility? Also, will it utilize the existing site of MCWM and “mine” the buried waste?
Should the WTE push through, Prime Waste Solutions (PWS), a commercial Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Porac, Pampanga, will benefit from it. They will have a market. In DAO 2019-21, the guidelines governing waste-to-energy facilities, it is stated that WTE facilities shall only accept source segregated biodegradables or residual waste collected from households, MRFs and sanitary landfills. Unsegregated garbage that is collected from sources cannot be directly fed into the WTE facility. Only sorted waste, such as those coming out of the PWS facility, is allowed to be used as feedstock.
At present, the residual waste of PWS is wrapped and stored for future use, ideally in a WTE facility. I will not be surprised if PWS will even join the bidding for BCDA’s WTE project.