The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is exploring the potential of co-processing as a sustainable waste management solution towards the establishment of a circular economy while mitigating the impacts of climate change in the country.
Co-processing is a method that converts residual waste such as end of life plastics into alternative fuel for cement manufacturing plants using high heat.
Under this process, solid waste including plastics and discarded tires are substituted for coal, petcoke or diesel as fuels to avoid methane emissions generated at landfill sites and partially decarbonize the manufacturing process.
Any waste by-products from the process such as ash are also fully integrated into the microstructures of the clinker which is a key ingredient of cement.
Environmental Secretary Antonia Loyzaga cited the new shredder platform that improves the waste-to-fuel co-processing operation of Republic Cement in Taysan, Batangas.
DENR said through Republic Cement’s resource recovery eco-loop, the company pioneered in the use of alternative fuel in local cement manufacturing.
Loyzaga said the DENR is seeking strategic engagements with stakeholders in the private sector and other non-government organizations that will yield multiple benefits to communities, the environment and the economy, while complying with both the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and the Extended Producer’s Responsibility (EPR) Law of 2022.
The EPR law requires large companies to collect, recycle and otherwise dispose of plastic packaging wastes by 80 percent in 2028.
The DENR also said Republic Cement’s current co-processing efforts, enabled the decrease of its partner local government unit’s plastic packaging footprint from 2020 to 2022 with over 890 dump trucks filled with plastic waste processed through strong multi-stakeholder collaboration with materials collection and recovery groups.
