In a major push toward a circular economy, Deputy House Speaker and Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez launched city-wide partnerships with local businesses on Monday afternoon, June 8, to convert used cooking oil into affordable biodiesel, providing a much-needed lifeline to local fishermen struggling with high fuel costs.
Representatives of the participating business establishments gathered at the SMX Convention Center Bacolod to sign memorandums of agreement (MOA) with Green Solutions Inc., the company tasked with implementing the “Biodiesel: Collect, Recycle, Renew” project.
Green Solutions Inc., headed by Ian Fred Solas, is an accredited waste transporter and treatment, storage, and disposal facility.
The initiative aligns with Bacolod City Ordinance No. 1022, also known as the “Bacolod Cooking Oil and Grease Trap Regulation Ordinance”.
Enacted on Feb. 15, 2023, the ordinance supports the “Collect, Recycle and Renew” program launched during Benitez’s tenure as mayor.
It establishes strict policies to minimize health hazards, ground pollution, and water pollution caused by the improper disposal, transport, storage, or reprocessing of waste cooking oil and grease trap waste.
Under the agreements signed Monday , waste cooking oil from local restaurants, food outlets, food chains, food courts, and food stalls will be collected weekly or as needed by Green Solutions Inc. for processing.
The partner establishments that inked the agreements were Natures Village Resort, Mushu (The Row), Quino’s (Buri and Lacson Street), Chicken House, Sandok (Lacson and Shopping), Avenue Suites, and Saltimboca Tourist Inn and Restaurant.
Also joining the initiative were L’Sea, Kaisei, Ayala Capitol Central, Park Inn by Radisson, Felicia’s Pastry Shop, Twenty Six Herb Garden, The Forth, Sugarland, SM, 5 Star Chicken (Pleasantville and Fuentevella-Gregorio), Bantug Lake Ranch, East View Hotel, Jinky’s Kitchen, JNC, 21 Restaurant, and Chicky Farm.
The biodiesel generated so far has benefitted 1,070 fisherfolk communities in Barangays 1, 2, 10, 14, Banago, Singcang, Punta Taytay, Sum-ag, Tangub, and Pahanocoy in Bacolod City.
Benitez explained that the project directly addresses the economic challenges of local fishers.
The production cost of the recycled biodiesel is estimated at ₱22 to ₱25 per liter, representing a significant difference from current commercial diesel prices, he said.
“The aim is to establish cooperatives in the barangays to produce biodiesel as a livelihood program. If they sell their biodiesel at ₱35 to ₱40, it will be sufficient to sustain their operations,” Benitez said.
For that to be able to work, it needs the help of everyone, he said.
“It is part of the circular economy concept that we have established… we want Bacolod to be able to recycle and reuse waste, to prevent the pollution of the environment,” Benitez added.
He also cited the 25-hectare Bacolod Integrated Recycling Technology Hub (BIRTH) in Barangay Felisa, Bacolod, where incoming recycling plants will be located.
“Our target is to achieve 80 to 100 percent recycling of Bacolod’s waste into more productive uses,” Benitez said.
Park Inn by Radisson Bacolod, the city’s certified pioneer for global Hotel Sustainability Basics, has already successfully integrated this circular economy model into its operations, Reljun Oloroso, Radisson Hotel Group’s Director of People and Culture, said.
In his speech, Oloroso said that the hotel achieved a milestone 100 percent food waste diversion rate last year, a massive improvement from its first year of operation when it sent 2,000 kilograms of waste to landfills.
Through a bokashi composting program launched in 2022, food waste is transformed into fertilizer for partner local farms. This sustainable loop has grown to benefit approximately 55 Negros Economic Development Foundation (NEDF) farmers as of April 2026, Oloroso said.
In addition to food waste management, the hotel drives community-focused upcycling through its “Tela Tales” program. Launched in November 2024 alongside the Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC), the initiative transforms condemned hotel linens into marketable products like shoe and laundry bags, he said.
The program provides vital livelihood opportunities for local artisans and has since expanded to empower a group of women volunteers from Barangay Felisa who previously relied on scavenging at the local landfill, Oloroso added.
Park Inn also became the first hotel in Bacolod to convert used cooking oil into biodiesel. Launched in May 2025 in partnership with Green Solutions and the Bacolod City Planning and Development Office, the hotel has donated 3,100 liters of used oil to fuel-production initiatives, supporting over 150 local fisherfolks, Oloroso said.*
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