More than 12 tons of waste were pulled from the coastal and underwater areas of Lapu-Lapu City during a massive cleanup drive that brought together more than 6,800 volunteers.
The International Coastal Cleanup held on September 19 collected 12,334.4 kilograms of garbage packed into 1,779 sacks across 15 coastal sites in the city, including areas on the mainland and island barangays such as Olango, Pangan-an, Caohagan and Caubian.
The operation was not limited to shorelines. Around 100 volunteer divers also participated in the Scubasurero underwater cleanup, retrieving waste from coastal waters.
The scale of the collection highlighted how much plastic and other discarded material continues to reach Cebu’s coastal environment.
Food wrappers topped the list of individual waste items recorded, with 12,747 pieces recovered. They were followed by 6,841 other plastic bags, 6,584 plastic grocery bags and 5,666 plastic beverage bottles.
Volunteers also collected 4,520 beverage sachets and pouches, 4,383 plastic cups and plates, 3,551 bottle caps, 3,463 plastic food containers, 3,096 plastic and foam pieces, and 2,813 plastic sachets, including detergent and shampoo packaging.
The cleanup involved government agencies, environmental groups, civic organizations and communities from across the city. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources Central Visayas and Lapu-Lapu City’s City Environment and Natural Resources Office consolidated the waste data.
City officials said the figures demonstrate both the continuing challenge posed by marine litter and the importance of sustained waste-management efforts.
The amount collected was also significantly higher than last year’s cleanup. However, CENRO officials cautioned that the increase partly reflected the much larger turnout. Lapu-Lapu had about 3,691 volunteers in 2025, compared with more than 6,800 this year.
CENRO said the latest data will help guide information campaigns and other waste-management programs, including efforts to improve waste segregation and enforce regulations on single-use plastics, particularly in coastal communities.
The 2026 cleanup was held under the broader International Coastal Cleanup campaign, observed every third Saturday of September in the Philippines. The national initiative encourages communities to document and remove waste from coastal and marine environments.
For Lapu-Lapu, however, the 12.33-ton haul is more than a one-day cleanup statistic. The sheer volume and dominance of single-use plastics show how much waste can accumulate in marine areas — and how difficult keeping those areas clean becomes when prevention does not happen before trash reaches the water.
