MMDA to process up to 1 ton of water hyacinth into coal daily

MANILA, Philippines — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is eyeing to process half a ton to a ton of water hyacinth into coal every day, its general manager Nicoles Torre II said on Wednesday.

According to Torre, water hyacinth clogs waterways and drainage systems, which also causes major flooding in Metro Manila. Through this program, Torre said that the plants that will be collected will turn out to be beneficial for many people. 

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“We are expecting to produce half a ton or a ton per day of coal that we can distribute to (local government units or) LGUs for our relief operations or we can market them to recover expenses in producing them,” Torre said in a Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum. 

He also said that the program is funded by the World Bank. He noted that the water hyacinth processing facility is located at the Tapayan Pumping Station in Taytay, Rizal.

“Water hyacinth is a huge problem to our drainage systems, rivers, pumping stations, and waterways. Instead of throwing them away and end up in landfills, we reprocess them into coal,” Torre added. 

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He noted that he ordered the improvement and calibration of machines used to repurpose the plants as production is currently ongoing. He also said that they have not started distributing coal to LGUs. 

Aside from this, Torre said that they are prepositioning the water purification system for disaster preparedness and relief efforts. This includes food processing tools and a stove that victims of calamities can use. /das