【Report】Awareness-raising Seminar on Waste to Energy in the Philippines (ASWEP) in FY2023

Abstracts

The Awareness-raising Seminar on Waste to Energy in the Philippines took place three times in July and November 2023, and February 2024, in Clark, Pampanga and Metromanila, Philippines. This event was organized in collaboration with the Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS) and the Philippines Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

A total of 84 local people participated in these seminars.

The seminar program included lectures delivered by experts in the field, covering topics such as resource circulation, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), refuse-derived plastic & paper-densified fuel (RPF), and heat recovery boilers (HRB). These presentations were given by academics, company CEOs, and professionals from ICETT. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to engage in study tours of local companies in Pampanga, gaining insights into their initiatives in waste-to-energy (WTE) practices. Through discussions, DOST officials and participants explored potential future initiatives in the field.

Background

In April 2021, the Philippines developed the Climate Change Strategy of National Determined Contribution (NDC). This strategy involves strengthening its efforts to mitigate climate change impacts by increasing its target for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction from 70% in the previous NDC to 75% by 2030. This target is set against a projected business-as-usual (BAU) emissions scenario of 3,340.3 Mt-CO2eq. The country aims to achieve this reduction through the promotion of clean energy measures, including the utilization of renewable energy sources and alternative fuels.

Objectives

To enhance energy efficiency and minimize CO2 emissions in the industrial sector of the Philippines, these seminars introduced technologies such as RPF and HRB. These technologies, owned by Japanese Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), are integral parts of the Philippines' WTE policies. The seminars aimed to raise awareness about the utilization of waste plastic as a resource through RPF and HRB technologies.

Stakeholders/Targets

With the support and cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), AOTS, JETRO Manila Office, JETRO Mie Office, etc., and with DOST (as our counterpart), the seminar was targeted for government officials, company engineers, and academicians from Clark, Pampanga, Region III.

First Seminar July 20-26, 2023 / 19 participants

During this seminar, topics such as carbon neutrality, resource circulation, sustainable local production and consumption of wastes, and environmental activities for local communities were introduced. The aim was to provide an understanding of resource circulation policies and technologies.

Second Seminar November 6-9, 2023 / 45 participants

In this seminar, the topics were focused on the importance of LCA for companies, as well as the mechanism and issues related to RPF, which can replace coal. Additionally, the effectiveness, mechanism, advantages, and challenges of using waste plastic and biomass boilers were discussed.

Third Seminar February 7, 2024 / 20 participants

During the third seminar, participants shared information on the results and issues encountered before and after the seminars. The purpose was to assist Japanese companies in advancing into the market and to facilitate the capacity development of local company engineers and government officials.