A DAVAO-BASED geologist, academic scholar and environmentalist said the proposed waste-to-energy (WTE) facility in Davao City should be treated as one component of an integrated solid-waste management system, not as a stand-alone solution to the city’s garbage problem, amid growing public debate over the project.
Geol. Dana Gabrielle B. Tautho, PhD, EnP, project manager of Ridge to Reef Environmental Consultancy Inc., told SunStar Davao in an interview on October 22 that the city must first establish whether its existing waste-management system can support the proposed facility before determining if the technology is appropriate.
“WTE should be viewed as one component of an integrated solid-waste management system, not as the system itself,” Tautho said.
She said Davao City has an existing solid-waste management framework, segregation policies and investments in waste-management infrastructure, but these alone do not establish the city's readiness for a WTE facility.
The city must first demonstrate effective waste segregation at source, recycling, materials recovery, composting and reliable collection, alongside a proper assessment of the residual waste that would remain for treatment.
“From an environmental planning perspective, the principle should be: understand the waste stream first, then determine the appropriate technology and not the other way around,” she said.
The proposed facility has drawn contrasting views from residents and environmental advocates as the city explores converting combustible waste into electricity.
An October 2026 survey by the Jose Maria College Foundation Inc. Research, Innovation and Creative Work Office found that 64.6 percent of 1,000 respondents across Davao City's three congressional districts supported the project, while 27.5 percent were neutral and 7.9 percent opposed it.
However, 65 percent of respondents expressed concern about air pollution and toxic ash, while 51 percent worried about the possible effects on recycling practices and the livelihoods of informal waste pickers, according to a SunStar Davao report published on October 20.
The survey results indicate that public support does not necessarily translate into unconditional acceptance of the project's design, location, financing or environmental safeguards.
Environmental risks, community concerns
Tautho said the city must carefully assess the potential environmental effects of the facility, including air emissions, greenhouse gases, wastewater, ash and other residual materials, odor, noise and additional transportation impacts.
She stressed that the risks would depend partly on the technology selected and the characteristics of the waste to be processed.
“The first concern is that Waste-to-Energy should not create a new environmental problem while attempting to solve an existing one,” she said.
A reliable supply of suitable waste is also essential, she added. Directing recyclable or compostable materials to a facility simply to maintain its required operating volume could undermine efforts to reduce waste and recover reusable resources.
The proposed project is a thermal WTE facility that would use controlled combustion to generate energy. Under this process, suitable combustible waste is burned to produce heat, which can generate steam to drive a turbine and produce electricity.
The city has identified a site in Barangay Biao Escuela, Tugbok District, for the proposed facility. City officials have targeted completion by 2028 or 2029, subject to procurement and construction, with a projected gross generating capacity of about 13 megawatts and an estimated net output of 11 megawatts.
Published reports have placed the facility's proposed processing capacity at around 600 tons of waste daily, compared with the city's reported generation of 700 to 800 tons per day.
Tautho said the city should not rely on these estimates alone but must establish the actual composition and volume of waste that would be available after segregation, recycling and composting.
Site selection must likewise account for surrounding communities, land-use compatibility, environmental receptors, transport networks, disaster exposure and climate risks.
“Most importantly, these impacts should be evaluated using site-specific data and a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment. Decisions of this scale should be based on evidence rather than assumptions about what the technology can deliver,” she said.
She also emphasized the need for reliable baseline data on air and water quality, community health conditions and other environmental indicators before operations begin.
Once operational, monitoring should be continuous, transparent and accessible to residents, including emissions monitoring where applicable, proper ash management and periodic environmental and health surveillance.
Community engagement, she added, should continue beyond the permitting stage, with clear mechanisms for residents to raise concerns, access monitoring results and receive timely responses.
“From our perspective, social acceptability should not mean merely obtaining consent at one point in time. It should mean maintaining public confidence throughout the life of the facility through transparency, compliance, and demonstrated environmental performance,” Tautho said.
Waste reduction before energy recovery
The debate also comes as environmental group Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (Idis) has opposed the proposed incineration project, arguing that the city should prioritize waste prevention, recycling, composting and resource recovery.
In an earlier report published by SunStar Davao on April 5, Idis raised concerns that incineration could undermine circular-economy efforts and affect informal waste workers, junk shops and recycling businesses that depend on recoverable materials.
A circular economy seeks to keep materials in use through waste prevention, reuse, repair and recycling instead of relying primarily on disposal.
Tautho's call for an updated waste assessment is consistent with the broader waste-management hierarchy under Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which provides for waste reduction, segregation, reuse, recycling, composting and proper disposal.
The law establishes an integrated approach to solid-waste management rather than treating disposal as the sole response to growing waste volumes.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) has also clarified that public scoping for Davao City's proposed WTE project is a preliminary step in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, not an approval or rejection of the facility.
In an April 2026 statement reported by SunStar Davao, the bureau said issues raised during public scoping would help determine the scope of technical studies required for the project's Environmental Impact Statement. The EIA process is intended to assess potential environmental and social impacts before a decision on an Environmental Compliance Certificate is made.
Tautho said the city must evaluate the project's technical feasibility alongside its financial viability, environmental risks, institutional capacity, regulatory compliance, social acceptability and long-term contractual obligations.
For her, the priority should be establishing how much waste genuinely requires treatment after the city has maximized reduction and recovery efforts.
“WTE should deal primarily with the appropriate residual fraction after recoverable materials have already been removed, rather than becoming an incentive to generate or collect more waste,” she said.
Tautho, who currently serves as project manager at Ridge to Reef Environmental Consultancy Inc., said decisions on the proposed facility should be guided by a comprehensive assessment of the city's waste stream, environmental risks, financial viability, regulatory compliance and long-term effects on communities.
Ridge to Reef is a multidisciplinary environmental consultancy that assists public- and private-sector proponents in assessing and managing the environmental implications of development projects. Its work includes environmental impact assessments and permitting, environmental planning, feasibility studies, geosciences, biodiversity and environmental monitoring, health and social assessments, and geographic information system analysis.
The firm's approach considers how development projects interact with communities, land, water, ecosystems and infrastructure, recognizing that environmental impacts can extend beyond a project's immediate site.
Drawing from this environmental planning approach, Tautho stressed that Davao City must first maximize waste reduction, recycling, materials recovery and composting before determining the appropriate technology for the remaining waste.
“Ultimately, the question should not simply be, ‘Can Davao build a waste-to-energy facility?’
“The more important question is, ‘After maximizing waste reduction, recovery, recycling, and composting, is waste-to-energy the most environmentally sound and economically responsible option for the residual waste that remains?’
“That is the assessment that should guide the decision,” Tautho said. DEF