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WTE: WHEN RISKS ‘OUTWEIGH’ GAINS
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Saturday, February 24, 2024 Vol. 19 No. 132
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 16 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
Crucial decision to harness waste-to-energy method hangs as PHL electricity needs grow
AMIDST the refuse, scavengers search for recyclable treasures at a garbage dump site in Cavite on February 12, 2010. Zero Waste Asia highlights that the privatization of the waste sector frequently results in the displacement of waste pickers. ANTONIO OQUIAS| DREAMSTIME.COM
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By Lenie Lectura
A bill to institutionalize WTE is already pending at the Senate. While others agree that the development of WTE facilities could be the ultimate solution to end the country’s persistent garbage problem while boosting the country’s power supply, green groups beg to differ. They say that WTE should not be recognized as a renewable energy (RE) source. “The WTE facilities burning municipal garbage are not the solution to our waste woes. Behind the promise of this supposed solution are a range of serious issues that threaten our climate, the environment, and public health,” said Greenpeace Philippines campaigner Marian Ledesma. A check with the Department of Energy (DOE) shows there are 12 WTE plants or projects utilizing municipal solid waste (MSW) and industrial waste as feedstock that are registered with the agency under RA 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008. Of the 12 projects, six are commercially operating with installed capacity of 9.69 megawatts (MW) and 650 metric tons (MT) per day refuse-derived fuel (RDF) production, while 724-kilowatt hours operate for own use. The other six are undergoing construction, all located in Luzon, with a potential capacity of 49.779 MW and 30 MT/day MSW briquette production. The registered WTE plants, according to the DOE, apply various
“Let me just point out that in the case of WTE, we are not merely looking at final output of energy to bring down prices because one has to look at WTE as one way of addressing solid waste management rather than really sourcing it exclusively for power.”—Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla
WTE technologies, such as landfill methane recovery, RDF/briquette production, anaerobic digestion, direct combustion, gasification, and combination of thermal and anaerobic digestion processes.
Legal mandate
THE DOE is mandated to encourage the adoption and development of WTE as a source of power as long as they comply with RA 8749 or the Clean Air Act of 1999 and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. This means that WTE facilities should strictly adhere to health and safety standards and that the toxic emissions should be properly addressed by state-of-the-art emission control and capture tech-
VECTORMINE | DREAMSTIME.COM
NVIRONMENTAL groups have voiced out their concerns on the risks associated with waste-to-energy (WTE) technology, saying the harmful effects outweigh any supposed benefits.
nologies with continuous emission monitoring systems. The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), in a position paper, said municipal waste is nonrenewable and consists of discarded materials like paper, plastic and glass that are derived from finite natural resources, such as forests, minerals and fossil fuels. “Burning these materials in order to generate electricity discourages much-needed efforts to conserve resources and reduce packaging and wastes,” said GAIA, adding that WTE “also undermines energy-conserving practices, such as recycling and composting.” It also said that WTE incinerators consume more energy than they produce, noting the low calorific value of waste.
Marginal boost to electricity grid
WITH energy produced by WTE plants being marginal, GAIA said this would not contribute substan-
duce a lot of waste. And in the end, burning fuel derived from plastics adds CO2 to the atmosphere,” he said. Ledesma agreed that WTE facilities are expensive investments causing cities to go into debt, while also undermining their ecological solid waste management goals. “Instead of reducing waste, WTE technology encourages more waste production,” she said. According to Zero Waste Asia, WTE is neither a “just” nor a “transitional” source of energy. It urged the International Finance Corporation and the Asian Development Bank to stop funding WTE projects to replace coal plants positioned as a renewable source of energy. “Worse, privatizing the waste sector almost always displaces waste pickers. It is urgent to phase out these false solutions,” it added. Zero Waste Asia pointed out that WTE is worse than coal beContinued on A2
tially to the electricity grid. “Moreover, since waste in Asia is mostly organic, incinerators would need additional energy input to first process the waste to make it suitable for burning, and then burn it, negatively affecting the energy balance of these facilities,” the group pointed out. Ronald Steenblik, senior technical advisor of Sustainable Just Economic Systems (SJES), supported the conclusions of GAIA during a recent livestream event. “WTE plants do reduce plastic as a physical waste but produce large amounts of CO2 emissions, and, depending on the sophistication of the plant, the release of toxic air pollutants,” said Steenblik. “Residuals from burning plastics also have to be disposed of properly,” he added. Steenlik also said WTE plants were very expensive and existing ones suffered technical glitches while in operation. “They, too, pro-
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