Plastic waste utilization: Challenges and opportunities for waste-to-energy in Baguio City, Philippines

Amounts of residual wastes, such as plastics, paper, and textiles, in urban areas have drastically increased over the years, which hence requires sustainable waste management schemes. Refuse derived fuel (RDF) provides a solution in addressing minimizing waste disposal in landfills and providing energy, particularly in developing nations. In this study, waste-to-energy (WtE) potential from residual wastes in Baguio City was assessed. With an experimental value of 13.738 MJ/kg, it revealed a percentage error of 20.748% when compared with predicted values from an energy regression model. However, ANOVA results revealed that the energy, moisture, and ash content were all statistically comparable to reports across RDF-related studies.