More than 103,000 Filipinos from all 17 regions joined this year’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), collecting over 466,000 kilograms of waste from 369 coastal, river, waterway and underwater cleanup sites nationwide.
Led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the September 19 cleanup brought together national government agencies, local government units, schools, businesses, civic groups and communities in a coordinated effort to remove marine litter and document the waste recovered from waterways and coastal areas.
DENR Secretary Juan Miguel “Mitch” T. Cuna emphasized that responsible waste management remains central to preventing pollution, saying individual responsibility must complement government policies and systems.
In Metro Manila alone, more than 36,000 participants took part in cleanup activities at 11 sites, including Baseco Beach, Manila Bay Dolomite Beach, Pasig River, Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park, Marikina River and other coastal and waterway areas.
Among the commonly collected waste were food wrappers, paper and plastic cups and plates, polystyrene foam containers, straws, stirrers and other discarded materials.
The waste was weighed, sorted and recorded by type to generate data that could help identify marine litter patterns and guide waste-management interventions.
The DENR also highlighted the participation of businesses covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Act of 2022, or Republic Act No. 11898, which requires large enterprises to recover an increasing share of plastic packaging they introduce into the market.
The cleanup comes as the government moves to strengthen the country’s solid waste management system. During his 2026 State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. called for updating Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, to align it with modern waste-management practices and technologies.
Cuna said the proposed update could strengthen the system from waste segregation and collection to recycling, resource recovery, treatment and environmentally sound disposal.
The DENR stressed that while nationwide cleanup drives remain important, the longer-term goal is to prevent waste from reaching waterways in the first place and promote responsible waste management as a daily practice.
Last year’s ICC mobilized more than 104,000 volunteers and also collected over 466,000 kilograms of solid waste nationwide.
