LAGAWE, Ifugao — Ifugao is stepping up its fight against improper waste disposal as the Provincial Solid Waste Management Board intensifies coordination with municipal governments on segregation, collection, recycling, disposal and other ecological solid waste management measures.
The push gained momentum during the board’s second-quarter meeting, where officials reviewed municipal waste programs and reminded local government units to renew their respective 10-year Solid Waste Management Plans, with submissions due within the third quarter of 2026.
The requirement is more than an administrative exercise. Under Republic Act No. 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, local governments are primarily responsible for implementing and enforcing solid waste management within their jurisdictions. The law also establishes provincial solid waste management boards and assigns them a key role in coordinating local plans and programs.
WASTE DATA TAKES CENTER STAGE
During the Ifugao board meeting, Environmental Management Bureau representative Mark Anthony Solano discussed the Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS), a process used to understand the composition and volume of waste generated in communities.
Solano also introduced an “Indigenous Solid Waste Management” initiative aimed at incorporating traditional cultural practices into formal waste management systems—an approach particularly relevant to a province where indigenous communities and cultural traditions remain central to local life.
The board is also examining alternative waste treatment technologies with the Federation of Organic Science and Technology and the Provincial Government of Ifugao.
The development comes as environmental authorities across the Cordillera continue to push LGUs to look beyond simply sending garbage to landfills. Earlier this year, the Environmental Management Bureau-Cordillera said alternative waste management strategies were needed because engineered sanitary landfills can be expensive to establish and difficult to develop in mountainous areas because of terrain and soil conditions.
MUNICIPALITIES ALREADY MOVING
The provincial effort is being backed by a range of programs at the municipal level.
According to the latest provincial update, Lamut has been conducting regular clean-up drives, operating composting facilities and procuring a multipurpose shredder. Tinoc is monitoring collection and recycling while constructing an ecological sanitary landfill and materials recovery facility.
Aguinaldo is conducting household compliance monitoring, school information campaigns, landfill development, materials recovery operations and eco-brick production. Alfonso Lista, meanwhile, has implemented daily segregated waste collection, barangay information sessions, recycling and eco-brick manufacturing.
Other municipalities are also addressing their own waste challenges, including residual waste disposal, information campaigns, facility development and Waste Analysis and Characterization Study implementation.
LANDFILLS REMAIN PART OF THE EQUATION
The province’s push does not mean landfills are disappearing from the waste-management equation.
A July 2026 report by Balita citing DENR-EMB data said the Cordillera Administrative Region had 14 operational sanitary landfills serving 17 LGUs as of June 2026, with Ifugao accounting for three of those facilities.
But the emphasis is increasingly shifting toward segregation, recycling, composting, recovery and waste reduction before disposal.
That direction is also visible in recent developments in Ifugao. In June, the municipality of Kiangan received a ₱1.153-million allocation from its 2024 Seal of Good Local Governance Incentive Fund to improve its sanitary landfill waste-retention facility.
The province has also begun recognizing municipalities and barangays that demonstrate strong ecological solid waste management practices. In the 2026 search for outstanding ESWM implementers, Aguinaldo was named the municipal grand champion after winning awards for segregation at source, its Materials Recovery Facility and sanitary landfill operations, receiving a total of ₱1 million in cash prizes.
SCHOOLS AND WORKERS ARE BEING BROUGHT IN
The campaign is also expanding beyond municipal governments.
The Department of Education committed to strengthening waste segregation and cleanliness in schools while promoting compliance with the national no-burning policy.
Meanwhile, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority said it would work toward incorporating environmentally friendly or “green skills” into training programs and sustainable livelihood initiatives.
That community-wide approach could prove crucial because waste management ultimately depends not only on government facilities but also on what happens at the household, school, business and barangay levels.
A 2026 study involving Eastern Potia National High School in Alfonso Lista found that biodegradable waste accounted for 71.82% of the school’s waste during the study period, with food waste from the canteen making up a major portion. The researchers recommended stronger composting, segregation and environmental education programs.
THE NEXT TEST: IMPLEMENTATION
The Provincial Solid Waste Management Board is also proposing amendments to the provincial ordinance governing the Search for the Best Municipal and Barangay Ecological Solid Waste Management Implementers of Ifugao.
Board Member Peter Bunnag said proposed changes to the evaluation criteria have already been formally filed and will undergo further discussion and refinement. The goal is to improve the assessment process and give municipalities and barangays a more equal opportunity to demonstrate their environmental practices.
For Ifugao, however, the bigger challenge may not be writing another plan or launching another campaign.
It will be turning those plans into daily habits—from proper segregation at home to reliable collection, recycling, composting, materials recovery and compliant final disposal.
The province is now putting more pieces of that system in place. The question is whether those efforts can keep pace with the amount of waste communities generate—and whether residents themselves will make the changes stick.
The next phase of Ifugao’s waste battle may not be decided in the boardroom. It could be decided at every household garbage bin.
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