President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. called for the modernization of the country’s solid waste management policies, including the amendment of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, during his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 27, 2026.
Marcos said the government needs to improve its approach to waste disposal by adopting more advanced and sustainable practices to address the country’s growing waste management challenges.
“Sa kabila ng mga ginagawa natin ito, kailangan pa rin natin iwasto ang ating pamamaraan sa pagtapon ng basura,” Marcos said.
The President said one of the government’s key interventions is to update the 25-year-old Ecological Solid Waste Management Act to align with modern waste management technologies, including waste-to-energy initiatives and improved waste treatment systems.
“One systemic intervention is to update our 25-year-old Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, aligning it with modern waste management practices such as waste-to-energy and waste treatment technology,” Marcos said.
As part of efforts to strengthen solid waste management, Marcos said the government can draw lessons from programs being implemented by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), particularly in waste recovery, processing, and upcycling.
He cited the transformation of the former Carmona Sanitary Landfill into the MMDA Nature Park as an example of how waste management areas can be converted into productive and environmentally beneficial spaces.
“What used to be the Carmona Sanitary Landfill of the 1990s is now the MMDA Nature Park. And more than a multi-purpose green space, it shall soon be the base of its high-level disaster preparedness training and simulation exercises,” Marcos said.
The President emphasized that updating waste management policies and adopting sustainable technologies are necessary steps toward creating a cleaner environment and improving the country’s long-term environmental resilience.
