Batangas unveils P200-M waste sorting facility

A P200-million automated Material Recovery Facility (MRF) was unveiled Tuesday aimed at enhancing the recyclable waste processing capacity of the entire Batangas and other provinces.

The facility is introduced by Filipino company Macaraig Group of Companies (MGC) through its subsidiaries, BlueEnviron Material Recovery Inc. and Wastecon Inc., established waste management services providers.

The company said that this facility, part of a multi-year, multi-billion initiative, is paving the way for the widespread use of automated MRFs in the country to improve efficiency and accuracy in the waste management processes.

“This MRF is the first in our five-year, P13.2 billion waste management pipeline project that we are introducing nationwide. We believe that with the launch of this automated MRF, we can finally put an end to open dumpsites, help prolong the lifespan of sanitary landfills and open new ways in recovering waste that will lead to zero waste in the future,” Allen A. Macaraig, chairman of MGC, said.

Macaraig disclosed that this project is made possible through its partnership with the local government of Batangas City and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The project also includes a plan to establish more MRFs, in partnership with the different local government units not only in Batangas, but also in neighboring regions in the country.

The facility will house an exceptionally efficient and innovative waste segregation machine capable of receiving, sorting, processing, and storing compostable and recyclable material from the waste management programs of the province in an efficient and environmentally-sound manner.

Examples of compostable materials include food scraps (vegetable and fruit peels) and yard waste (leaves and twigs) while recyclable materials include plastics, paper products, glass bottles and metal containers.

“Until today, waste sorting is still largely done manually in existing MRFs in the country. Unfortunately, this outdated process in MRFs results in inefficiency, inaccuracy and inconsistency in segregation of waste, poses a high safety and health risk to MRF workers and there is a low recovery tons per day rate of materials that usually end up in landfills,” Macaraig pointed out.