Groups air gripe over Cebu City’s proposed incineration project

CEBU, Philippines —  Different environmental groups held a protest in front of the Cebu City Hall yesterday to appeal to the city government to stop the proposed waste-to-energy incineration project with a private firm.

“Waste-to-energy incineration should not be associated with climate solutions or efforts toward a circular economy because this ‘end-of-pipe’ approach produces hazardous residue streams, blocks the implementation of Zero Waste strategies (e.g. product redesign, sorting at source, composting), imposes long-term financial burdens on local governments, and perpetuates the linear economic model of extraction, production, consumption, and disposal,” read the statement of the green groups belonging to No Burn Pilipinas and Break Free From Plastic PH Project, including Sanlakas Cebu.

The assembly was also part of the National Day of Action on Climate Emergency.

In their statement, the groups said incinerators emit significant quantities of direct greenhouse gases, and are large sources of indirect greenhouse gases. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that incinerators emit more carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour than coal-fired, natural-gas-fired or oil-fired power plants.

No final deal yet

Meanwhile, City Administrator Floro Casas Jr. said the city received a proposal from New Sky Energy for the construction of a WTE facility, but there is no final decision yet as they are still in a “negotiation process.”

“Kay there are terms sa kadtong proposed joint venture nga wala pa ta nagkasinabot. One of which is the location sa asa ibutang ang waste to energy facility. So karon, nangita pa sila og lugar,” said Casas.

“Ang gusto man gud sa Cebu City nga, especially sa joint venture selection committee (JVSC), nga dili na ang city mao ang ma-burden og pangita og asa ni sila ibutang. The obligation to look for the lot nga butangan sa facility should be on the account sa New Sky Energy,” he added.

Casas said this will still undergo a long process since after the JVSC, the proposal will go through the City Council.

“Kana siya nga proposal, gientertain na nato, hoping nga it will solve our garbage issue sa city. But, of course, sa gikaingon ni mayor nga it will go a very strict scrutiny,” he said.

“Mao na nga nadugay ni siya kay tungod lagi anang mga health and environmental issues, ato gyud ni siya’ng gistrikto ang scrutiny sa ilang proposal,” Casas said.

Casas said the city also tapped experts to help them evaluate the proposal.

“Di man gud sad ta kaingon nga kung waste to energy using incineration, automatically, dili na siya environmentally friendly kay naa naman gu’y bag-ong technology karon nga accepted na sa DENR ang kanang ilahang mga waste discharge,” said Casas.

“We respect their opinion, but at the end of the day, ang experts gyud ang mo-decide if this type of facility or kining waste disposal system, is sustainable or not. Kay kami sad sa city, we are not experts on this. That’s why we rely gyud on experts on the field kay naa man sad tay mga consultants nga nagtabang nato to evaluate their proposal,” he added. — JMD (FREEMAN)