The Iloilo City Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility proposed by Metro Pacific Water or MPW, a wholly-owned water infrastructure investments subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., is likely to push through amid the absence of challengers.
In an interview with reporters last week, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas disclosed that his office will submit the P2.3-billion proposal, already cleared by the Public-Private Partnership Committee, to the City Council by early November for assessment and approval.
Treñas said that the proposal needs to secure the approval of the City Council first before it is elevated to the national government for another round of evaluation and support.
The proposal of the MPW, according to Treñas, went through a Swiss challenge, but no other companies submitted their bids.
“The proposal started in 2019 but took a bit longer because of the gestation period. We had to talk through the suppliers and see how this kind of project is being done in other countries. It is difficult because we are the first in the country,” Treñas said.
“The council’s approval will be based on their discretion. We just submitted it and completed all the requirements. Once operational, we don’t have to develop another module for sanitary landfills, which is very expensive,” he added.
The proposed facility can process up to 470 tons of non-recyclable wastes as potential fuel daily, which would help clear up thousands of hectares of sanitary landfills in the city.
It would treat, recover, and convert the city’s waste into refuse-derived fuel and biogas, considered renewable energy sources by the Department of Energy.
The project is designed to produce around 2.4 megawatts of energy, which will power up the MPW’s planned desalination plant in the city.