MMDA aims to have zero waste in landfills by 2034

by Almira Louise S. Martinez, Reporter

The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) launched its 10-year Road to Zero Waste program on Tuesday, aiming to create a more sustainable future in the metro.  

The ten-year roadmap envisions a ‘closed-loop system’ of solid waste management, wherein waste reduction, recycling, and resource recovery lead to zero waste in landfills by 2034.   

“The program aims to cover all types of waste that employs sustainable, practical, and preferably, local solutions and methods,” MMDA Chairman Romando S. Artes said at the Road to Zero Waste Summit 2024. 

According to Mr. Artes, the agency aims to promote social and behavioral change in the National Capital Region (NCR) and “catalyze pro-active actions.” 

As cited in the 2023 Waste Analysis and Characterization Study in Metro Manila, MMDA reported that 21.44% of household waste can be recycled. Meanwhile, 85% of public market waste is compostable. 

Mr. Artes added that local government units (LGUs) struggle to collect all community-generated trash because citizens throw it in bodies of water, like rivers, which enhances flooding during calamities. 

In line with this, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged all LGUs to participate and give proper attention to implementing Metro Manila’s sustainability initiative. 

“I think it’s very important that LGUs and the Filipino citizens themselves inculcate what the government is teaching us,” DILG Assistant Secretary for Local Government Jessi Howard S. Lanete told BusinessWorld. 

“Walang bagong Pilipinas kung walang bagong Pilipino [We can’t change the Philippines if we can’t change ourselves,”]  he added.