Senator Loren Legarda is calling for a change in how Filipinos deal with waste, saying the problem starts long before garbage reaches the trash bin.
Marking World Clean and Green Week, Legarda said people should look beyond waste disposal and examine how products are made, bought, used, reused and eventually 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,” she said.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that estimated waste generation in the country reached 60.76 thousand tons per day in 2025, up from 60.24 thousand tons per day in 2024.
Legarda also pointed to the increase in materials recovery facilities (MRFs), which reached 20,458 in 2025 from 12,855 the previous year.
“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,” she said.
Legarda is pushing Senate Bill No. 306, or the Philippine Circular Economy Promotion Act, which seeks to promote waste reduction, reuse, recycling and more sustainable use of resources.
The senator also filed measures seeking to impose a tax on certain single-use plastic packaging and establish a national framework for food waste prevention, recovery and redistribution.
“The trash bin should not be the first place where we begin thinking about the environment,” Legarda said.IMT
