MANILA, Philippines – For this sleepy town east of Manila, garbage is power.
The municipality of Rodriguez, Rizal has jumpstarted an ambitious P1.5 billion project to extract methane gas from the Rodriguez landfill and churn out electricity enough to power 15,000 homes.
In what could be the first of its kind in Asia, the “Rodriguez Landfill Methane Recovery and Electricity Generation Project” is projected to produce 15 megawatts of power over a period of 10 years starting January 2008.
For Rodriguez Mayor-elect Pedro Cuerpo, the project is not just an environment-friendly solution to the energy crisis, it is also sweet vindication.
“Nobody wanted the garbage (from Metro Manila) except us. Now, it’s the garbage that others did not want which can help steer our town to progress,” he said at a press conference yesterday in Makati City.
At the height of the garbage crisis in 2001, Cuerpo drew strong opposition from various sectors for opening the town to nearly 30 percent of Metro Manila’s 10,000 ton-a-day solid wastes.
“My fellow mayors said I was crazy, but I knew there was a proper abandonment program for the landfill and I just had to find it,” the mayor added. Even the town priest would criticize him in his sermons, Cuerpo said.
Three days ago, the mayor signed a tripartite agreement with major stakeholders for the project, including representatives from the Rizal provincial government and Swims International, which operates the landfill.
Under the build, own and operate program, the Montalban Methane Power Corp. (MMPC) will invest P1.5 billion in the project intended to capture landfill gas from the 14-hectare facility to produce electricity.
Under the agreement, 90 percent of the gross revenues from the project will go to MMPC, while the remaining 10 percent will be split among the developers, Rodriguez town and Rizal province.
The town stands to gain millions from the agreement, Cuerpo said, adding that the income will be used to improve public service.
MMPC president Peregrino Fernandez Jr. said the project would put the Philippines at the forefront of waste-to-energy production in Asia.
“We are a step ahead of China, which has yet to build its methane power plant at a landfill in Shanghai,” he added.
