PCB does not decompose in water, acid, alkalis or temperatures below 650 degrees C and is therefore almost completely indestructible in the natural environment.
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info@pnoc-afc.com.ph
The Philippine National Oil Company – Alternative Fuels Corporation (PNOC-AFC) is a government-owned and controlled corporation. One of the company's projects is the creation of a destruction facility for persistent organic pollutants (POPs). POPs are chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has selected the PNOC-AFC to be its partner-operating entity as implementation of the Stockholm Convention's Philippine Project and part of the Global Programme in reducing and eliminating POPs. The UNIDO selected the company based on the criteria that "there already exists the kind of management structure, workforce and access to raw materials needed to operate the technologies." The PNOC-AFC, being the former PNOC Petrochemical Develpment Corporation, operates its Petrochem Park in Bataan with an area of 530 hectares.
With this, the PNOC-AFC has set aside approximately 4,000 m2 in its Petrochem Park for the POPs destruction facility. It is likewise the intention of the project to put up an interim storage facility within the site for about 300 tonnes of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at any one time.
The POPs Project is a part of a global program that will introduce and apply a non-combustion technology to destroy polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) wastes. This is the first of its kind not only in the country but in Southeast Asia as well. The PNOC-AFC has partnered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) under the auspices funding of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for the implementation of the Project. The PNOC-AFC will host and operate the PCB destruction facility to be located in its very own Industrial Park in Bataan.
The specific plan for the installation and technical specifications of equipment foundations and other engineering requirements were finalized. Also, necessary construction permits and other vital documents from the municipal/local government have already been secured.
As part of the Company’s information awareness campaign, the POPs Project was already presented to the surrounding communities. In partnership with the Bataan local government unit, partner non-governmental organization (NGO), DENR-Environmental Management Bureau and UNIDO, the PNOC-AFC Industrial Park had conducted information-education-communication (IEC) activities at the local and national levels.
The construction of the POPs destruction facility had been successfully engaged in bidding out on December 10, 2009. The construction of the said facility is now in full swing. Meanwhile, hiring of technical staff for the project is now ongoing. Further, contracts with Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR), National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), and Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) for the transformers and other materials that will be treated in the said facility are being finalized.
The POPs Project is envisioned to be in full commercial operation by the third quarter of 2010. The POPs Project – the first of its kind in the Southeast Asian Region – will deploy a commercially available, proven non-combustion technology that will address the destruction of remaining PCB stockpiles in the Philippines.
A minimum of 1,500 tons of PCB wastes and contaminated materials is expected to be treated in the POPs destruction facility which assures the viability of the POPs Project. However, the sustainability of the project may further improve since the currently known PCB inventories in the country as reported in the National Implementation Plan of the Stockholm Convention is 6,879.
Aside from UNIDO and DENR, the POPs Project is being supported by MERALCO, NAPOCOR, NGCP, PSALM, and the public sector represented by various NGOs.
About The POPs Project
POPs are chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects to human health and the environment.
In 1995, the United Nations Environment Programme called for global action to be taken on POPs. Following this, the Intergovernment Forum on Chemical Safety and the International Programme for Chemical Safety prepared an assessment. The negotiations for the Stockholm Convention on POPs were completed in 2001. The convention entered into force on 2004 with the ratification by an initial 128 parties and 151 signatories. The Stockholm Convention focuses on eliminating or reducing releases of POPs. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the designated interim financial mechanism for the Stockholm Convention. As of 2003, there are 15 operational programs through which the GEF provides grants. The objective of the GEF Operational Program on POPs is to provide assistance, on the basis of incremental costs, to developing countries to reduce and eliminate releases of POPs into the environment. In 2003, the GEF Council approved the Project Brief for the Global Programme whose overall objective is to develop a Programme which will demonstrate the viability of available non-combustion technologies for use in the destruction of obsolete POPs stockpiles and wastes. The Programme will successfully use such technologies to destroy significant obsolete POPs and it will thereby help remove barriers to the effective implementation of available non-combustion technologies and meet the Stockholm Convention requirement to ensure the use of best available techniques and best environmental practices
In 2004, the GEF Council approved the Project Brief for the Philippines. In 2007, the project was endorsed by the GEF CEO and the project was signed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Philippine Government through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
This specific Project in the Philippines, part of this Global Programme, will introduce and apply a non-combustion technology to destroy significant obsolete PCBs. The National Implementation Plan of the Stockholm Convention in the Philippines favors the application of non-combustion technologies to destroy POPs as it eliminates the formation of dioxins and furans. The project will make available all technical, economic and financial parameters of the selected technology in a comparative, open and transparent way that would facilitate and provide further incentive to the global diffusion of innovative alternative non-combustion technologies.
The immediate project objective is to deploy a commercially available, proven non-combustion technology to address 1,500 tonnes of PCBs-containing equipment and wastes. The currently known PCB inventories reported in the NIP of the Stockholm Convention dated January 2006 include 6,879 tonnes of PCB containing equipment and wastes comprising about 2,400 tonnes of PCBs oil.
UNIDO is the Implementing Agency for the Project.
The selected partner (as the operating entity) is the Philippine National Oil Corporation - Alternative Fuels Corporation.
The Project anticipated that ease or difficulty in successfully deploying alternative technologies that meet Project criteria would depend on a country's pre-existing technological infrastructure and on related considerations of human resource availability.
This emphasized the realization that for purposes of cost and operating efficiency, it was not only desirable but also essential to locate the non-combustion technology with an existing chemical or petrochemical plant, where there already exists the kind of management structure, workforce and access to raw materials needed to operate the technologies. After undertaking a process in identifying and reviewing several potential options for the operating entity, the PNOC Alternative Fuels Corporation (PNOC-AFC), formerly Petrochemical Development Corporation of the Philippine National Oil Corporation (PNOC-PPDC) was selected by UNIDO. It will host and operate the POPs destruction facility to be located at its Petrochem Park in Mariveles, Bataan. The company will be responsible for all of the activities concerning site preparation, installation of the non-combustion unit and destruction activities in their site as well as control and compliance with the license or permits issued by the national and local authorities. PNOC-AFC has set aside approximately 4,000 m2 in its Petrochem Park for the POPs destruction facility. It is likewise the intention of the project to put up an interim storage facility within the site for about 300 tonnes of PCB at any one time.
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