CASE STUDY

Sorsogon City: Options for Developing a New

Landfill

Technical assistance was provided to five municipalities in Asia, including Sorsogon City, to upgrade their 10-year solid waste
management plans. Photo credit: ADB.
Sorsogon City in the Philippines is investigating options for upgrading its
open dumpsites to a properly managed landfill.

Published: 22 March 2017

Overview
Sorsogon City in the Philippines is in urgent need of a new well-operated controlled disposal facility. The
city provides the solid waste management service rather than a private operator. Services range from
waste collection to disposal and includes information, education, and communication campaigns to
reduce waste. One of the city’s two dumps is closed, and the second is poorly operated and generates
landfill leachate with associated environmental and public health risks.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) provided technical assistance on mainstreaming solid waste
management to Sorsogon City and four other cities in Asia. Key assistance was reviewing current
activities and upgrading 10-year SWM plans to improve the overall system as well as delivering one
tailored project for each city. Issues covered were waste avoidance, minimization, and recycling; waste
haulage and disposal; and information, education and communication campaigns.

After consulting stakeholders, the project team and the Sorsogon City developed and agreed on an
enhanced 10-year integrated solid waste management plan with a range of new activities. Due to strong
interest from city, the project team conducted a pre-feasibility study into the design and cost of a
controlled landfill facility based on the site topography and area available.

Project snapshot

Dates
April 2015: Project start
March 2017: Project end

Cost
US$ 1.4 million: Total cost of technical assistance over 2 years

Institutions and Financing

Stakeholders
Asian Development Bank

Others
Sorsogon City, City Environment and Natural Resources Office:
Stakeholders

Challenges
The project identified six significant challenges for solid waste management in Sorsogon municipality.

One is the need to facilitate a shift from non-environment friendly, non-reusable packaging into
environment-friendly and degradable packaging. This should be combined with the second challenge of
implementing an intensified and continuous information, education, and communication campaign on
waste segregation at source.

The third challenge is to strengthen the capability of barangays, the local adminsitration units within the
city, to collect and process waste generated within their respective areas of jurisdiction.

Fourth is to improve the Sorsogon City government’s waste collection efficiency and waste processing
capability.
The fifth challenge is to upgrade the city’s two open uncontrolled dumpsites, Buenavista Dumpsite and
the Bato Dumpsite, to controlled landfill standards.

Finally, the sixth is to develop the new landfill site at Buenavista, using private contractors to design,
construct, and operate it, and to provide the required skills, experience, and training.

Solutions
As the city is in urgent need of a disposal facility to complete its solid waste management facilities, the
project provided assistance in the preliminary design and costing of a controlled landfill facility, based on
the site topography and area available. The project prepared a pre-feasibility study of the facility and the
projected cost of the facility is 19.5 million pesos.

In a November 2016 workshop, private service providers were invited to a meeting with city officers to
discuss possible assistance to establish and operate a controlled landfill facility through a public-private
partnership mechanism.

The project team advised the City Environment and Natural Resources Office to conduct bulk density
measurement of the waste and use the data to adjust the waste assessment and characterization study
values and their corresponding projections.

The project team reviewed, evaluated, and upgraded Sorsogon City’s10-year solid waste management
plan, which was upgraded with changes and corrections based on the waste characterization data and
projections. The updated plan was made more comprehensive based on the solid waste management
plan template of ADB.

Proposed actions in the short term include looking at a range of options for diverting waste from
disposal, conducting training on ways to optimize waste collection, and using correct methods of
operation and maintenance of the disposal system. In the longer term, actions include rehabilitation of
the dump sites and acquisition of expansion site of the controlled landfill.

Projected Capital Expenditure for Landfill Development

CAPEX financed by Unit Number US$ Description

operator
(excluded from the DBO)

Landfill Operating Equipment

Dozer (Caterpillar D6 or Item 1 $250,000 D6 size assumed and high quality supplier
equivalent with landfill blade)

Excavator/ end Loader - Item 1 $100,000 For loading cover soil and any waste to be
assume Caterpillar D200 or relocated. Drain cleanouts.
equivalent

10 wheeler tipping dump Item 1 $60,000 New one just purchased

truck
 8,000-liter Water tank with Item 1 $12,000 For watering gravel roads and fire control. Lifted
pump onto the back of the 10 wheel tip truck when
required. Also used for fire control if required.

Total $422,000

CAPEX = Capital expenditure, DBO = Design-build-operate, US$ = US dollar

CAPEX Items (Additional Information for Equipment)

Equipment years depreciation 7

Civil works years depreciation na

Annual depreciation equipment US$ 60,286

Annual depreciation equipment PhP million 3

CAPEX = Capital expenditure, PhP = Philippine peso, US$ = US dollar

CAPEX included in the DBO contract

Item Unit Value

Total CAPEX in DB structure US$ 568,350

Total CAPEX in DB structure Php million 26

Years repayment DB to operator years 2

Annual payment DB to operator US$ 324,076

Annual payment DB to operator Php million 15

CAPEX = Capital expenditure, DBO = Design-build-operate, PhP = Philippine peso, US$ = US

dollar

Results
Identification of a new landfill site and project planning by Sorsogon City were well timed with the
development of the pre-feasibility study, which proposed outsourcing the design, building, and long-term
operation of the new landfill. In addition, the private contract would encompass the remediation of the
closed Buenavista dumping site and the operating Bato site.

Meetings between city officials and private contractors in November 2016 confirmed there is a growing
pool of experienced landfill contractor operators in the Philippines. The private sector showed
considerable interest. The potential for an operating contract to be long term (10 years or more) did not
deter them even when taking into account that in the Philippines, usual terms are 1 to 2 years post
completion.
A public-private partnership would bring mutual benefit because the private sector will bring multi-project
experience of implementing and operating successful landfill projects in the Philippines. Financial
contractual incentives tied to detailed objective performance standards would motivate their
performance.

The pre-feasibility study highlights some key technical objectives of a design-build-operate, public-
private partnership contract with particular emphasis on the need to correctly shape and compact the
landfill for leachate and stormwater management and to construct and maintain a relatively impermeable
basal liner of compacted clay.

While Sorsogon City officials would optimally seek project funding for all or most of the project through
grants, it is possible to borrow funds on a long-term basis for at least a major portion of the capital cost.
Contractors expressed interest in funding project costs, but their options would typically carry a much
higher borrowing cost than if the city borrows the money.

The city recognizes that it would have to repay either bank loans or contractor investment tariffs from
general fund revenues rather than from solid waste net revenues. This leads to important conclusions
that solid waste revenues should be significantly increased and annual debt payment amounts kept
within limits so as not to compete with other urgent city needs.

Lessons
Sorsogon City’s strong commitment to improve solid waste management was critical to implementing
the project successfully. The stable political environment allowed decisions to be made in a timely and
predictable manner.

The integrated solid waste management plan provided under the project developed a comprehensive
plan of action for the city and allowed priorities to be set despite a budget-stressed environment.

Developing a close working relationship with the city officials allowed the team to identify the need for
external technical support in developing the controlled landfill, and garnered the officials’ support to
approach and commit to using the private sector.

The limited ability of the city to internally finance the landfill project is the driving force for Sorsogon City
to aggressively and creatively source possible funding assistance. They are seeking funds from the
national government and from other financial institutions, including official development assistance using
the pre-feasibility study provided by the project team as a basis for these requests.

Approaching the private sector for technical support can also allow the upfront capital costs to be
devolved to the private developer and to be repaid either as payment milestones (connected with
physical works progress) or as part of the agreed tariff over a longer term.
Resources
Asian Development Bank. 2017. Integrated Solid Waste Management for Local Governments: A
Practical Guide. Mandaluyong City.

Asian Development Bank. Regional Capacity Development Technical Assistance on Mainstreaming

Solid Waste Management in Asia

Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan: Sorsogon City

Related Links
Summary: Improving Waste Management - Solutions from Five Asian Cities

Case Study: Buriram - The Economics of Refuse Derived Fuel Production

Case Study: Mahasarakham - Privatizing Landfill Operations

Case Study: Mandalay City - Outsourcing Waste Collection Services

Case Study: Quezon City: Making Waste Management a Rewarding Investment

Andrew McIntyre
Head of Project Administration Unit, East Asia Department, Asian Development Bank

Andrew McIntyre heads the project administration unit of the East Asia Urban and
Social Sectors Division at ADB. Earlier, he led ADB’s Future Cities Program,
operationalizing a One ADB approach to better engage with Asian cities over the long term, by
facilitating cross-sectoral knowledge and financing partners, broadening project pipelines, and ensuring
integrated results.

Follow Andrew McIntyre on