Baguio’s plans for a centralized materials recovery facility (MRF) are set for bidding out within the remainder of the year for implementation by 2025.
According to General Services Officer Eugene Buyucan, the MRF is intended to cover nearly 1,900 square meters in a city-owned property along Marcos Highway.
The local government has refocused its efforts on the establishment of an MRF following two consecutive blows to the city’s waste disposal problem earlier this year.
The first was the announcement that the largest landfill the city hauls its garbage to in the lowlands is set to close this year, forcing the Baguio City government to look to cut its overall waste output with the MRF.
The subsequent blow was the complete scrapping of the city’s waste-to-energy plans as announced by Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who had declared a stopper on the project after learning its full impact on the local environment.
The city had previously pursued the waste-to-energy project for years but the project never left the planning phases after years of looking for available land.
Baguio has spent as much as P230 million annually to haul garbage to the commercial engineered sanitary landfill operated by the Metro Clark Waste Management Corp. in Capas, Tarlac, which the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) intends to close when its lease contract expires by October this year.
According to Buyucan, the city is also looking at other landfills in the towns of Pampanga, but the city is already exploring all other options for waste disposal.
Buyucan said these projects are expected to boost the city’s waste management efforts in line with its thrust to promote waste reduction.
