Cement plant makes use of plastic wastes from dumpsite
Mayor Jerry P. Treñas and the members of the Solid Waste
Management Board visited the Calajunan dumpsite to view
the future site of the city's planned ecological park. .
About 20 metric tons of plastic garbage collected from the Calajunan dumpsite was shipped to Iligan City as fuel for the Holcim cement factory. The scheme was purposely designed to eliminate plastic materials in the dumping site. Seventy percent of the garbage found in the dumpsite are plastics.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said the city gets no amount from the shipment but it helps the environment. The scheme is still in the testing period. Holcim is asking for a 100-day period to get the plastic wastes at the controlled dumpsite.
Treñas said aside from the plastic wastes, Holcim would also get used tires. The old tires found in the different barangays of the city is used as breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitoes. If the scheme becomes successful, the city government will find a win-win solution between the city and Holcim probably for a fee. This will help in the expenses incurred by the city government in its waste disposal drive.
Treñas said the city is generating more than 160 metric tons of garbage everyday taken from the six public markets, residential areas, shopping malls, commercial districts and streets. These are dumped at the Calajunan dumpsite. Seventy percent of the garbage are plastic materials.
He also encouraged the people to use their materials recovery facility (MRF) by sorting out and segregating biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes. Biodegradable wastes are then transformed into compost at the dumpsite.
Treñas along with members of the Solid Waste Management Board (SWMB) visited the Calajunan dumpsite yesterday. He said portion of the 20 hectares dumpsite will be transformed into an ecological park. Currently, the area is being bulldozed. It will be planted with trees and flowers.
Under the plan, the cleared area will be covered with some 80,000 cubic meters of soil and developed into a terraces before it will be planted with trees, flowers and grasses. The garbage collected from the different sites will be dumped at the back portion of the dumpsite.