CEBU City residents will no longer see garbage trucks every day. Following the closure of the Binaliw landfill, the city has officially moved to an “interval-based” system, meaning neighborhoods now have specific days for trash pickup and much stricter rules for sorting waste.
The shift comes after a tragic trash slide closed the Binaliw landfill on January 8. Since then, the city has struggled to find enough space for its waste.
Currently, Cebu City produces about 350 to 400 tons of trash daily. However, the private facility in Consolacion that the city is currently using only allows for 100 to 150 tons per day. This "bottleneck" means that once the daily limit is reached, trucks cannot dump their loads and must sit idle, causing delays in local neighborhoods.
Under this interim system, garbage trucks now operate on a rotating schedule—usually Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. There are also different rules depending on where you live:
Upland Barangays: Collection is limited to twice a week. Residents are required to manage their own biodegradable waste (like food scraps) on their own property.
Urban Barangays: While trucks follow designated days, they often face "standby" periods where they must wait for their turn at the landfill before returning to their routes.
Mandatory Sorting: To reduce the weight of the trash, the city is strictly enforcing waste segregation. Items like plastic bottles must be separated before the truck arrives.
Moving the trash has become a logistical challenge. Heavy rains in early February damaged the roads leading to the Consolacion facility, making them dangerous for heavy trucks. In areas like San Nicolas Proper, this has led to cancelled pickups.
Barangay captains have expressed concern that even a one-day delay causes trash to pile up quickly in crowded neighborhoods, creating worries about bad smells and health risks.
While the city manages the current crisis, a debate is brewing over whether the Binaliw landfill could reopen. Councilor Joel Garganera recently questioned Mayor Nestor Archival’s interest in using "three remaining hectares" at the Binaliw site that were not affected by the slide.
In an interview with SunStar’s Beyond the Headlines on Feb. 10, 2026, Garganera noted that the mayor mentioned this option just three days after the disaster, while search operations were still ongoing. Garganera argued that the city must prioritize a transparent investigation and safety assessments before even considering a return to the site.
The current deal with the Consolacion landfill is set to end in March. This leaves the city with a looming deadline to find a new long-term solution or negotiate an extension.
In the meantime, officials are fast-tracking road repairs and setting up new recovery facilities to filter waste. The big question remains: if a new site isn't found by March, where will the city's 400 tons of daily trash go? (with reports from Jerra L. Librea)