DBP bankrolls pioneering smart waste treatment facility

State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has granted a P66.7-million funding support to a waste management firm for the construction of the only fully-integrated waste treatment and disposal facility at the Mactan Economic Zone I (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, a top official said.

DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Michael O. de Jesus said the Bank’s support to Pacific Mactan Renewable Environmental Systems, Inc. (PMRESI), was made under the flagship Sustainable Waste Management for Enhanced Environmental Protection Financing Program (SWEEP) program that would establish a pacesetting smart waste management and energy recovery system for more than 200 firms within the MEZ area.

“DBP recognizes the importance of building sustainable infrastructure to further accelerate environmental protection and economic growth in the country,” de Jesus said. “Through this undertaking, we bolster commitment to support innovative technologies and approaches that would advance efficient solid waste management systems and practices.”

DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy – infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; environment; social services and community development.

PMRESI is the local subsidiary of Canada-based EnEco WTE Pacific Inc., that pioneered the entry of a waste gasifier technology in the Philippines called Thermal Oxidation Process System (TOPS).

De Jesus said the MEZ waste treatment facility is the first to employ the TOPS gasifier technology that uses a thermal gasification/oxidation process to decompose carbon-based components of waste and reduce its volume by 97 percent.

He said that the project, which will employ an integrated pollution prevention and control system, has been granted the first-ever Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Statement and Report by the Department of Science and Technology, which attests the legitimacy, scalability and application of the technology.

“Through this project, DBP is scaling up its programs in support of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority’s greening of ecozones program and the National Government’s Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 and Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Act of 1990,” de Jesus said.

DBP Senior Vice President and Head of Development and Resiliency Sector Carolyn I. Olfindo said the loan will partially finance the construction of a 2000-square-meter hazardous waste treatment facility and the acquisition of waste-water treatment equipment.

She said the facility is seen to produce carbon-free ash which can be used as a concrete additive and donated to nearby municipalities for their construction needs and generate additional power from waste product treatment, adding that “…the project is expected to expand its operations through the supply of renewable energy in the near future..”.

“As of April 2023, DBP has approved a total loan amount of P435.6-million under the SWEEP program,” Olfindo said. “DBP will be ready to provide the necessary funding support to projects that will help protect the environment and address climate change.”