Anaerobic Digestion of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Baguio, Philippines

The City of Baguio, in the Philippines, is presented with worsening waste management issues, mainly attributable to organic waste from local markets as well as other residential and commercial sources. EBL and its partners, Philippines BioSciences and EcoSecurities, received a grant from the Climate Challenge Change Fund (CCCF), via the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to develop a feasibility study for the anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of MSW.

A novel two stage biogas system was designed incorporating standard transport containers loaded on a semi-batch basis with organic waste. Process liquor is re-circulated between the solid stage units and a high rate digestion system to harness the biogas potential from the waste. It is proposed that the digested material is used for fertiliser or peat replacement.

A 21t/d unit is anticipated for a Phase 1 system leading to a 70t/d full scale plant. The value of carbon emissions mitigated using this approach could be used to fund the plant under the Clean Development Mechanism. The programme including a Carbon Change seminar in Manila and the system is currently under consideration.

Waste Collection