The NAC Foundation Inc. has donated a P25-million solid waste management facility to the Municipality of Guiuan as the local government seeks to reduce landfill waste and address limited options for waste disposal.
The Guiuan Resources Ecocycling, Extraction, and Neutralization (GREEN) Facility, located within the Guiuan Eco-Waste Management Center and Park, is now operational and equipped to recover recyclable materials, process organic waste and convert discarded materials into usable products.
The facility, donated through the NAC Foundation and Hinatuan Mining Corp.-Manicani, includes a conveyor system for waste segregation, a multipurpose shredder, glass crusher and pulverizer, concrete mixer and eco-brick maker.
“Through the NAC Foundation and Hinatuan Mining Corporation-Manicani, we hope that this new waste management infrastructure would help Guiuan turn waste into useful resources: rich compost for farm soils and sturdy eco-bricks and pavers that can help build local projects,” Nickel Asia Corp. President and CEO Martin Antonio G. Zamora said.
NAC Foundation also provided the electrical line required to operate the machinery after the existing capacity of the Guiuan Eco-Waste Management Center and Park was found insufficient to support the equipment.
Guiuan generates an estimated 15,824 kilograms of waste daily, based on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ waste generation rate of 0.3 kilograms per person per day.
Mayor Analiz Kwan-Gonzales said the municipality faces not only growing waste volumes but also limited options for final disposal.
“Guiuan has transformed significantly. We have become one of the emerging business and economic centers of the province, and we have been recognized among the top 10 fastest-growing economies in the region. More progress, more people, more businesses, more industries, more tourists, all equal to more waste,” Gonzales-Kwan said.
She said the municipality’s geology presents an additional challenge because much of Guiuan is characterized by sinkhole-prone areas.
As a result, the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau has not recommended establishing a conventional sanitary landfill in the municipality, she said.
“This integrated solid waste management system is designed to address solid waste management at a larger scale,” Gonzales-Kwan said.
The facility is also intended to help Guiuan implement Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, which requires local governments to establish systems for waste reduction, segregation, collection, recycling and disposal.
The municipal government is urging households, businesses, institutions and barangay local government units to comply with waste segregation requirements and its “no segregation, no collection” policy to ensure the facility operates effectively.
The waste management initiative comes as Guiuan also strengthens community clean-up and dengue prevention efforts.
Gonzales-Kwan issued Executive Order No. 07-94-2026 directing the municipality’s 60 barangays to intensify clean-up activities and dengue prevention measures following reported dengue cases in July.
“Real, lasting change happens at the LGU level, but to sustain it requires a village. That is all of us,” Zamora said.
“Through this partnership, we hope to empower Guiuan to not only envision a resilient future, but to take decisive, actionable steps toward building a truly sustainable community,” he said.
