BCDA: No looming garbage crisis in Central Luzon

A portion of the 100-hectare sanitary landfill set to be closed by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority on October 9 this year. (Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation photo)

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga — The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) stressed on Monday (June 10) that there is no looming garbage crisis in Central Luzon as a result of the closure of the 100-hectare sanitary landfill inside the New Clark City (NCC) in Capas town, Tarlac before the end of this year.

In a statement, the BCDA quoted Delfin Lorenzana, its chairman, as saying that three operational facilities in Pampanga may serve as alternative dumping grounds for trash from different parts of the region.

The 25-year contract between the Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC) and the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) is set to expire on October 9, 2024.

The MCWMC, a joint venture of Filipino investors and Germany-based BN Ingenuire GmbH and Heers & Brockstedt Umwelttechnik GmbH, is the operator of the 100-hectare engineered sanitary landfill in Sitio Kalangitan, Cutcut II village in Capas, Tarlac, which is within the NCC.

The CDC, on the other hand, is a subsidiary of the BCDA.

In a letter to the CDC on April 30 this year, BCDA president and chief executive officer Joshua Bingcang informed the CDC that it will close the sanitary landfill on October 9 as a result of the expiration of its contract “with no possibility of extensions.”

Bingcang told the CDC that BCDA “is keen on the development and increase of the economic value of the 100-hectare land area currently covered by a contract for service with Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation located in New Clark City.”

He said the BCDA is considering several options for rehabilitating the land, “noting that the sanitary landfill is potentially encroaching on the expansion areas of the developable lands adjacent to it.”

The BCDA head then told the CDC that MCWMC should promptly vacate and turn over all construction and improvements within the 100-hectare area to the state-owned corporation upon the expiration of the contract.

Quoting Lorenzana, the BCDA said the three available alternative waste management facilities in Pampanga have “more than enough capacity to address their (Central Luzon localities) waste disposal requirements.”

“To those LGUs who use the Kalangitan [landfill], please do not worry as there are facilities where you can dispose of your garbage. There are three… We have three and a half months to arrange the transition from Kalangitan to these three facilities,” he said.

READ: Bulacan execs scramble to avert garbage crisis ahead of landfill closure

The BCDA identified these facilities as the sanitary landfill operated by Eco Protect Management Corp., with a total capacity of 2,500 metric tons (MT) per day; the sanitary landfill of Florida Blanca Enviro Park Project Corp., with a capacity of 3,500 MT per day; and the materials recovery facility recently opened by Prime Integrated Waste Solutions Inc., with a capacity of 5,000 MT per day.

“In total, the capacity is already 11,000 MT for these three facilities in Central Luzon, mostly in Pampanga. Metro Clark has an average capacity of 2,500 MT, so these three facilities are enough to service the LGUs surrounding Clark,” he said.

Lorenzana said there is no provision in the 25-year contract between the CDC and the MCWMC for a renewal or extension. INQ