San Miguel Corp. (SMC)’s massive environment sustainability and flood mitigation initiative to clean up the 27-kilometer Tullahan River system, is shifting to higher gear come December, as the company is set to acquire additional new equipment to double its solid waste extraction capacity to 5,000 metric tons per day.
SMC president Ramon S. Ang said the company’s commitment to clean up the Tullahan river system–ranked no. 4 in the list of the world’s top 10 plastic-emitting rivers responsible for global ocean plastic pollution, according to a 2021 report by research website Ourworldindata.org–is stronger than ever, as SMC has made the cleanup of major rivers, one of its foremost sustainability priorities.
“In just over a year, we’ve made significant progress with our Tullahan River cleanup project. Recently, we reached an important milestone: 414,000 metric tons of solid wastes removed from the river, as of the Sept. 11. By December 1, we’re aiming to double our extraction capacity from the current 2,300 to 2,500 MT per day, to 5,000 MT per day. We are acquiring six sets of new equipment to do this,” said Ang.
“Aside from removing silt and solid wastes, which have accumulated at the bottom of the river for years, we also have to increase depth to a maximum of five meters, particularly in areas where heavy flooding still occurs. There are still many areas that have become too shallow because of wastes dumped in the river, with only a meter or two of depth remaining,”Ang said.
The total 414,000 metric tons of solid waste removed to date, were mostly from the project’s Sectors 4 and 5 in Malabon and Valenzuela, which is part of the project’s initial 11.5-kilometer coverage from the mouth of Manila Bay in Navotas to Valenzuela. Last August, dredging operations also commenced at the Tinajeros area in Malabon
“Our target output for these sectors is over 1 million metric tons and we expect to reach 600,000 metric tons before the year ends. From this project, we also continue to gather data and gain experience which can be used for our other major river projects, including the clean-up and rehabilitation of the Pasig River and major Bulacan rivers and tributaries,” Ang said.
