Legarda says the real environmental test is what happens before the trash bin

Senator Loren Legarda marked World Clean and Green Week by calling attention to the country’s “throwaway habits,” saying the environmental challenge begins long before waste reaches the trash bin, a materials recovery facility, or a landfill. She said the more important question is how products are made, used, reused, recovered, and kept in circulation before they are discarded.

“We have become too used to the idea that once we are done with something, we simply throw it away. But waste does not begin at the trash bin. It begins with the choices we make about what we produce, what we buy, how long we use it, and whether something that still has value is simply discarded,” Legarda said.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, estimated waste generation in the country reached 60.76 thousand tons per day in 2025, up 0.9 percent from 60.24 thousand tons per day in 2024. In Metro Manila alone, DENR-NCR reported an estimated 4.34 million tons of solid waste generated in 2025, with per-capita waste generation rising from 0.71 kilogram per person per day in 2024 to 0.75 kilogram in 2025. Households accounted for 35.78 percent of the region’s waste, much of it biodegradable food waste.

“These numbers show why we cannot think about waste only after it has already been created. We need to reduce what we throw away, segregate properly, reuse what still has value, recycle what can be recovered, and compost biodegradable waste. More importantly, we have to examine the habits and systems that allow so much material to become waste in the first place,” Legarda said.

For this reason, Senator Legarda put emphasis on the importance of the current progress in the country’s waste recovery infrastructure. PSA data show that the number of materials recovery facilities or MRFs increased to 20,458 in 2025, up 59.1 percent from 12,855 in 2024. More MRFs form an important part of improving solid waste management system by providing more spaces where recyclable and compostable materials can be sorted, recovered, and processed instead of being sent directly for final disposal.

“The increase in materials recovery facilities is a welcome development because it gives more communities the capacity to recover recyclables, process biodegradable waste, and keep useful materials out of landfills. We should build on that progress by making sure that less waste enters the system to begin with,” Legarda said.

Legarda has long advanced this approach through legislation. She is the author and principal sponsor of Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, and the principal author and principal sponsor of the Climate Change Act of 2009. Her broader environmental legislative record includes the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999, Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001, Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004, National Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008, Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, People’s Survival Fund Act of 2012, Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016, Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018, and Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022.

“Environmental policy has never been only about cleaning up what has already been thrown away. We also have to change the systems that create waste in the first place, use resources more wisely, and recognize that many things we discard still have value,” Legarda said.

In the 20th Congress, Legarda filed Senate Bill No. 306, or the Philippine Circular Economy Promotion Act, which seeks to establish a comprehensive framework for waste minimization, extended producer responsibility, circular procurement, and sustainable resource use. The measure seeks to keep products and materials in use longer and reduce the amount of waste entering the disposal system.

“A circular economy asks us to look differently at the things we use. Instead of treating products and materials as disposable, we should build systems where they can stay useful for longer, be repaired, reused, recovered, or returned to productive use,” Legarda said.

Legarda has also filed Senate Bill No. 811, or the Plastax Act, which proposes an excise tax on specified types of single-use plastic packaging materials. The measure forms part of her efforts to discourage excessive reliance on disposable plastics and encourage more sustainable alternatives.

The four-term senator has also filed Senate Bill No. 509, or the Zero Food Waste Act, which seeks to establish a national framework for food waste prevention, recovery, and redistribution, including the safe donation and utilization of surplus food.

“Food should not become waste simply because it was not sold or served. If it is still safe and usable, there should be a system that allows it to reach people instead of being thrown away,” Legarda said.

Her other pending measures in the 20th Congress include Senate Bill No. 162, or the Magna Carta of Waste Workers, Senate Bill No. 166, or the Low Carbon Economy Act, which proposes an emissions trading system and implementation mechanisms to achieve national climate targets, and Senate Bill No. 525, or the Clean Gateway Cities Act of 2025, which seeks to institutionalize cleanliness, accessibility, regular maintenance of public spaces and facilities, and a cleanliness audit system in major cities.

Observed every September 17 to 23, World Clean and Green Week was established through Proclamation No. 244, s. 1993, which also declared September as National Clean-Up Month and identified garbage reduction, recycling, composting, rehabilitation of waterways, garbage management, and pollution control among the activities to be strengthened during the observance.

“The trash bin should not be the first place where we begin thinking about the environment. By then, many of the choices have already been made. The real test is what happens before that, whether we can use less, waste less, keep things in use longer, and leave less behind,” Legarda concluded. (30)

References:

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2026). Component 3: Residuals, Compendium of Philippine Environment Statistics.
https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/environment-statistics/highlights/component-3-residuals

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2026, August 6). Philippines generated 285.41 thousand tons of hazardous waste in 2025.
https://psa.gov.ph/content/philippines-generated-28541-thousand-tons-hazardous-waste-2025

Department of Environment and Natural Resources–National Capital Region. (2026). DENR-NCR calls for stronger collaboration as Metro Manila’s waste generation continues to rise.
https://ncr.denr.gov.ph/news-events/denr-ncr-calls-for-stronger-collaboration-as-metro-manilas-waste-generation-continues-to-rise/

Republic of the Philippines. (1993, September 3). Proclamation No. 244, s. 1993. The Lawphil Project.
https://lawphil.net/executive/proc/proc1993/proc_244_1993.html