Rodriguez Town Sanitary landfill needs about 2,500 metric tons of trash a day so that its biogas power plant can generate electricity. They are offering a 40% discount to sanitation companies when dumping their garbage in the sanitary landfill. The Rizal power plant generates electricity from the sanitary landfill by harvesting the methane expelled by the bacteria feasting on the trash.
It was only recently that the Rizal land fill was opened again by the Provincial government of Rizal to accept trash from Metro Manila. The capital city generates about 8,000 metric tons of trash per day.
With the discount given, sanitation companies only have to pay P360, instead of the regular P600 per metric ton being levied on them. The downside however is that with the price of fuel it might be more costly to send garbage all the way there. But according to the Metro Manila Development Authority, the savings can translate to about P700 Million a year in waste disposal fees. How that will still hold true with the spiraling price of oil still has to be checked.
The 15 MW biogas powerplant of Rizal belongs to the Montalban Methane Power Corp. (MMPC). It is a joint venture between Mining Czar Salvador Zamora II and Carbon Capital Markets, a london based carbon credit company which sells the carbon credits generated by the plant. Its currently producing 2MW which will be purchased by Manila electricity franchise holder Meralco. In five years it is expected to attain its 15MW capacity. Total cost of construction is P1.5 B while carbon credit units generated is pegged at 500,000 CERs.
Update: Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist, Inc. (SWIMS), the company that operates the landfill says that the Municipal Government of Rizal has no right to reopen the Rizal dumpsite because the National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) has long closed down the site and that there is no truth to the statement that it issued a new certification for its operation. They are also rejecting the discounted price that the Municipal Government is giving to trash haulers to dump to the site.
Category: Biogas
