DBP lends P67 million for waste treatment facility

June 23, 2023 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has extended a P66.7-million loan for the construction of a waste treatment and disposal facility in Cebu.

DBP recently approved the P66.7-million loan to Pacific Mactan Renewable Environmental Systems Inc. (PMRESI), the local subsidiary of Canada-based EnEco WTE Pacific Inc.

The loan will be used to build the only fully-integrated waste treatment and disposal facility at the Mactan Economic Zone (MEZ) in Lapu-Lapu City.It will also cover the establishment of a pacesetting smart waste management and energy recovery system for more than 200 firms within the MEZ area.

The latest loan is under DBP’s Sustainable Waste Management for Enhanced Environmental Protection Financing Program (SWEEP), the bank’s flagship credit facility that aims to help address the growing problem of solid and hazardous waste management in the country.

The loan will partially finance the construction of a 2,000-square-meter hazardous waste treatment facility and the acquisition of waste-water treatment equipment.

DBP president and CEO Michael de Jesus said the bank aims to support building sustainable infrastructure to further accelerate environmental protection and economic growth in the country.

“Through this undertaking, we bolster commitment to support innovative technologies and approaches that would advance efficient solid waste management systems and practices,” De Jesus said.

The mother firm of PMRESI pioneered the entry of a waste gasifier technology in the Philippines called thermal oxidation process system (TOPS).

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

The project, which will employ an integrated pollution prevention and control system, has been granted the first-ever environmental technology verification statement and report by the Department of Science and Technology.

Further, 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.

DBP has so far approved P435.6 million in financing under its SWEEP program.

DBP is the eighth largest bank in the country in terms of assets. It provides credit support to four strategic sectors of the economy namely, infrastructure and logistics, MSME, environment, and social services and community development.