Municipal solid waste management and waste to energy possibilities in the Philippines

Abstract

Municipal solid waste management are becoming a challenging and vital issue in the Philippines. The typical practice of Philippine MSW management is landfill, however, poor management of dumpsites has arisen health and environmental problems. Philippine government are pursuing innovative solutions for handling waste, in which Waste-to-Energy technologies serve as alternative methods for waste treatment. The aim of this thesis is to identify MSW management problems in the Philippines, and explore Waste-to-Energy possibilities by using scenario analysis in the area of Metro Manila. The three scenarios are Landfill with LFG recovery, Mass Incineration and a Combined Strategy, in which mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) is applied and MSW is separated as biowaste and Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF). It is clear that the combined strategy with pretreatment, is the preferable solution rather than Landfill gas recovery and Mass Incineration with superior electricity generation potential. However, financial and political factors should also be taken into account in the future studies.