ITOGON, Benguet—The technical assessment team for this town’s waste management system project at Benguet Corp.’s Antamok open pit has initially ruled out the engineered sanitary landfill or ESL component of the facility.
That paves the way for the construction of a state-of-the-art waste-to-energy plant that will generate substantial amount of renewable energy for the host and neighboring communities, BC officials said Wednesday.
Benguet Corp. vice president for compliance Mignon de Leon said the general direction would be the pursuit of the waste-to-energy project initially to serve Itogon and Baguio and eventually the entire Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay or BLISTT area.
The team is headed by Benguet Gold Operations resident manager Antonio Buenavista, and composed of representatives from the local government units of Itogon town, Benguet province and Baguio City, Benguet Corp., the regional offices of the Environmental Management Bureau and the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau, and project developer Goldrich Natural Resources Exploration and Development Inc..
De Leon said the ESL was first considered as a stopgap measure during the meeting among Benguet Gov. Crescencio Pacalso and mayors Mauricio Domogan and Victorio Palangdan of Baguio and Itogon.
However, the landfill was ruled out after the group determined that building the facility would take the same time and would entail the same cost as establishing the waste-to-energy technology.
Baguio City general services officer Romeo Concio said that based on their studies, a modular ESL would take nine to 12 months to construct, and would command as big a budget as the waste-to-energy facility.
The town will instead set up a temporary residual containment area or TRCA and employ component programs on material recovery facilities and waste segregation as approved by the EMB-CAR.
The TRCA will be allowed to operate for a year with all the required safety and sanitation infrastructure and practices prescribed in the guidelines under the Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological and Solid Waste Management Act.
Palangdan has started the information, education and communication drive on the TRCA to prepare the community, according to his representative Romeo Pocding.
During the meeting, it was also agreed the team would schedule the technical presentation of the waste-to-energy technologies of the eight proponents, which were shortlisted from a pool of proposals received for the project.
Concio said Baguio will closely observe the presentation and will provide input based on its interest as a would-be client of the proposed facility.
At present, the city produces 400 tons of waste a day, and its residuals wastes are being transported to Capas, Tarlac at a cost of P80 million a year.
Having a waste-to-energy facility in Itogon will enable Baguio to cut down its hauling cost amounting to P50 million.
The project is part of Benguet Corp.’s rehabilitation program of one portion of its Antamok open pit and will be a joint venture with developer Goldrich.