CEBU, Philippines - Incoming Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña wants to make use of the Inayawan Landfill through a machine that converts garbage into energy.
Osmeña said he met with consultants from Japan who proposed the putting up of a waste-to-energy plant in the landfill, which is set to be opened in the coming days.
"The hottest proposal now is waste to energy. It's burning our garbage to produce electricity," he said.
As of now, he said, the city has equipment which converts soft plastic into fluff fuel. The machine is a product of Japanese firm Mansei Recycle Systems Co. Ltd.
"But this particular company already put in an equipment during (outgoing mayor Michael) Rama's time to extract the plastics. What Rama didn't pay attention to this is… I don't know it's just being dilapidated," said Osmeña.
Plastics, which come from natural gas and crude oil, can be used to generate energy.
"You know, plastics have a very high BTU content for fuel, higher than coal," the mayor-elect said.
He said the consultants from Japan told him that Mansei's recycling plant is producing high quality fluff fuel from plastic wastes.
Osmeña said he was also informed that the machine is being sold to a cement producer in Cebu.
"And so they said they can't sell these plastics to a cement factory that needs a cheap source of fuel and they said why don't we burn it ourselves and produce electricity? Why are we going to sell to someone else if we can do it ourselves?" he said.
The incoming mayor said it would be a great deal to get cheaper electricity while also reducing the garbage that goes to the city's landfill.
One thing for sure, he said, is that the city government will not continue to dump garbage at a private landfill in Consolacion town since it does not have a contract with the city.
"There's no contract. So, are we going to continue that? Excuse me. I'm not going to go to jail for Mike Rama. It stinks. It's not the garbage. It's the corruption that stinks." Osmeña added. — (FREEMAN)