{"id":69035,"date":"2026-04-11T12:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T04:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/?p=69035"},"modified":"2026-04-11T12:08:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T04:08:20","slug":"months-after-deadly-trash-slides-groups-say-gaps-persist-call-out-weak-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/press\/69035\/months-after-deadly-trash-slides-groups-say-gaps-persist-call-out-weak-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Months after deadly trash slides, groups say gaps persist, call out weak policies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by: Miguel Louie de Guzman \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

10 April 2026, Cebu City, Philippines \u2014 <\/em>Months after the fatal trash slides in Cebu and Rizal, impacted communities and civil society organizations say little has changed in addressing the country\u2019s worsening waste and plastic crisis. The groups gathered at the University of the Philippines Cebu for a public forum to push for stronger accountability and upstream solutions, warning that without strong policies and decisive action, the same risks remain.<\/p>\n\n

The public forum, titled \u201cSolving the Twin Crises of Waste and Plastic Pollution,\u201d brought together stakeholders to examine systemic gaps in waste management and to call for urgent reforms that address the problem at its source. The event comes amid growing concern that responses since the landfill collapses have remained largely reactive, with limited action on measures that prevent waste from being generated in the first place.<\/p>\n\n

The forum comes in the wake of trash slides that have drawn parallels to the Payatas dumpsite tragedy, which claimed hundreds of lives more than two decades ago. In Cebu, the recent collapse of the Binaliw landfill, which reportedly left at least 39 people dead, has exposed similar dangers, with surrounding communities and waste workers bearing the immediate and long-term consequences. Beyond the collapse itself, residents continue to face daily exposure to pollution linked to waste buildup, including contaminated water and degraded air quality that affect both health and livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe residents complained before that their area smelled foul and their water source was contaminated because of the garbage in the Binaliw landfill,\u201d said Howell Villacrusis, Secretary General of Alyansa sa mga Mamumuo sa Sugbo-Kilusang Mayo Uno (AMA Sugbo-KMU), who conducted interviews with residents and waste workers living near the landfill.<\/p>\n\n

The forum also emphasized that the waste and plastic crisis is also a social and economic issue, with impacts extending to livelihoods, especially among waste workers and communities living near disposal sites. Limited protections and constant exposure to hazardous conditions continue to shape their everyday realities.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cMany occupational safety and health standards were violated,\u201d Villacrusis continued. \u201cFirstly, their PPE was insufficient with the waste they are segregating. They are only given fabric gloves and uniforms, and then they have to segregate waste that is highly risky to their health, such as syringes and chemicals. Secondly, when the volume of garbage continued to rise, the safety officers dismissed it. They kept saying the situation was okay, but their actual inspection of the site was only an ocular overhead inspection using drones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Experts pointed to both persistent gaps in policy enforcement and limitations in existing policy design as key drivers of the crisis. Despite the mandate of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, implementation remains weak, with critical mechanisms such as the long-delayed Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products and Packaging (NEAPP) list still pending. At the same time, the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022 was flagged for its inherent limitations, as it centers on recovery and diversion rather than reducing plastic production at the source, allowing high volumes of waste to persist.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe have laws that are meant to prevent waste, but they are either not fully implemented or not designed to reduce it at the source,\u201d said environmental lawyer Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos. \u201cAs long as policies allow plastic production to continue at scale and focus only on managing waste after it is created, the system will keep failing. Accountability cannot stop at cleanup. It has to include cutting production and enforcing clear limits on what can enter the market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The discussion also tackled the growing volume of single-use plastics as a major contributor to the problem. Plastic accounts for an estimated 12 to 24 percent of the country\u2019s waste stream, placing added pressure on local governments and waste workers who are often left to manage its impacts with limited protection and resources.<\/p>\n\n

Experts warned that disposal-focused approaches, including waste-to-energy (WTE) technologies, carry long-term environmental and health risks. These include toxic emissions such as dioxins and furans, as well as pollution from microplastics and leachate that can seep into soil and water systems. While less visible than landfill collapses, these impacts continue to expose communities to harm over time.<\/p>\n\n

“We cannot just keep building landfills, which release potent greenhouse gases and quickly fill up with waste, especially plastic waste, which will remain for centuries,\u201d said Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, former chief technical advisor on global environment projects of the United Nations Development Program. \u201cThermal waste-to-energy emits toxic pollutants, including dioxins and furans, which are among the most toxic chemical pollutants known to science and stay in the environment for many generations. They are released\u2014even by the most advanced technologies\u2014into air, water, and ash and eventually concentrate in our food, where they pose risks to communities up to five kilometers or more away. There is no such thing as clean incineration. The solution is not a technology. We must reduce our waste.”<\/p>\n\n

The forum highlighted solutions that focus on prevention and system redesign. Proposed measures include enforceable reduction targets, bans on single-use plastics, and scaling reuse and refill systems that can be integrated into local economies.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe cannot solve a crisis driven by overproduction by doubling down on disposal and false solutions,\u201d said Greenpeace Philippines campaigner Marian Ledesma. \u201cCommunities are already showing that reuse works. These reuse systems reduce waste at the source while creating safer and more stable livelihoods. What we need now is for the government and corporations to support and scale these solutions, instead of continuing to invest in systems that put communities at risk. We already know what works, and what\u2019s missing is the will to act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

### <\/p>\n\n

Notes to Editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

[1] The forum was organized by Greenpeace Philippines, UP Cebu Center for Integrative and Development Studies, UP Cebu Political Science Society, Pagtambayayong – A Mutual Aid Foundation, Justice for Prime Waste 39 Network, Five Pieces Daily Habit, Code Green PH, and Seed4Com, bringing together impacted communities, civil society groups, science and legal experts, and the academe to strengthen calls for accountability and advance solutions to the country\u2019s waste and plastic crisis.<\/p>\n\n

[2] Event photos will be available HERE<\/a>. Please credit the photos to \u00a9 Miguel Louie de Guzman \/ Greenpeace.<\/p>\n\n

[3] Stream the forum online through this LINK<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Quotes from Partner Organizations:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe know that the most sensible response to our waste problem requires moving beyond technocratic fixes\u2014which can be convenient, but can also be expensive, lazy, and potentially damaging to our ecological health. What Cebu needs is a structural shift: enforce meaningful limits on plastic production and use, hold corporations accountable for the waste they generate, and invest in decentralized, community\/barangay-based systems that enable reduction, reuse, recovery, and segregation at source. Institutionally, waste management must be integrated into flood control and urban planning processes, recognizing that ecological breakdown and disaster risk are symptoms of the same underlying imbalance. Ultimately, until Cebu confronts the political economy of its waste\u2014who produces it, who profits from it, and who bears its costs\u2014solutions risk being partial, if not unjust.\u201d
\u2014Prof. Weena Gera
Convenor of the Urban Studies Program
UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe waste crisis has exposed a deeper injustice. We keep spending more to dump garbage than invest in funding solutions that prevent it. We cannot solve this crisis by hauling waste farther and paying more to bury it. Communities have shown that composting, segregation and reducing waste at source work\u2014but they need real support. Public funds must be redirected from costly hauling and dumping into funding and expanding these initiatives.\u201d
\u2014Paula Fernandez
Executive Director
Pagtambayayong – A Foundation for Mutual Aid Inc.<\/p>\n\n

For more information and interview requests, please contact:<\/p>\n\n

Karl Orit<\/strong>
Communications Campaigner
Greenpeace Southeast Asia \u2013 Philippines 
karl.orit@greenpeace.org | +63 919 457 1064 (Viber & WhatsApp)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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