WASTE-TO-FUEL. Garbage accumulates off Bagong Bayan North in Navotas City on Aug 20, 2022. Garbage like this could be fed into a pilot plant of Australian firm Cyclion and the National Development Company here and converted into diesel. (PNA photo by Joan Bondoc)
MANILA – Cyclion Holdings Pty Ltd has chosen the Philippines to be the first location in the world for the commercial operation of its waste-to-fuel project.
In its concept paper for its Philippine project, Cyclion said it eyes to process 900 tons per day (TPD) of municipal solid waste (MSW) to produce 52 million liters per annum of diesel and other fuels.
Cyclion has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Development Company (NDC) in Adelaide last Monday during the visit of Trade Secretary and NDC Chairperson Alfredo Pascual for the 6th Philippine-Australia Ministerial Meeting.
The NDC said its partner is initially raising USD5 million to finance the construction of the pilot plant by the last quarter of next year, which will have a capacity of processing 50 TPD of solid waste.
NDC General Manager Anton Mauricio said in a phone interview that the NDC is eyeing USD2.5-million investments for the pilot plant.
“At this early stage, it ticks all the boxes—pioneering, developmental, sustainable, and innovative,” Mauricio told the Philippine News Agency Thursday, noting that these are the reasons why the NDC is keen to invest in this startup project.
Mauricio also said that the project is scalable.
The project briefer noted that a 500-TPD project producing 35 million liters of diesel annually would cost USD65 million.
It noted that Quezon City, Manila and Caloocan are the hotspots for the project, based on the garbage these cities produce in a day.
According to the National Solid Waste Management Commission, in 2023, Quezon City is projected to produce over 2.76 million tons of solid waste, followed by Caloocan at 1.23 million tons and Manila at 1.15 million tons.
Mauricio said the facility will be located in Metro Manila to lessen transport cost.
He added that the waste-to-fuel plant will not use the burning method to convert the garbage to diesel that can be sold to industries. (PNA)
