THE Lapu-Lapu City Government officially launched the Purok-Based Solid Waste Management System on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. This new initiative moves the responsibility of trash sorting directly to neighborhoods and households to help reduce the massive amount of garbage ending up in landfills.
Bringing solutions to your doorstep
Mayor Ma. Cynthia “Cindi” Chan announced that City Ordinance 17-016-2025 is now the law of the land. This ordinance requires every home to strictly separate their trash into different categories like recyclables and biodegradable waste.
"We will strictly implement our solid waste management ordinances with consistent monitoring," Mayor Chan said. She emphasized that the program needs the "full support and active participation" of every household, school and local business to work.
How the New "Eco-Warrior" System works
To make the system organized, the City is setting up designated holding stations. Instead of leaving trash anywhere, clusters of households will share one specific area to dispose of their waste at set times.
To keep things orderly, the City has assigned "eco-warriors" to each station. These community guardians will:
• Keep a record of participating households.
• Ensure only authorized residents use the stations.
• Monitor collection schedules to prevent trash from piling up.
Once collected, the waste goes to a neighborhood facility for sorting. Anything that cannot be reused is sent to a main facility in Barangay Mactan before it ever reaches the final dumpsite.
Why this change matters now
The City’s environment officer, Jocelyn Abayan, called the current garbage situation "alarming," especially following recent waste disposal issues in Binaliw in Cebu City. She warned that littering and failing to sort trash leads to clogged drains, polluted oceans and the spread of diseases.
By composting food scraps into fertilizer and recycling more materials, the City expects to reduce the volume of waste sent to the dumpsite by 10 percent to 20 percent.
A call for regional action
Mayor Chan isn't just looking at Lapu-Lapu; she is also urging regional leaders to build a specialized facility that can turn waste into energy. She noted that rising waste amounts and the high cost of hauling trash are creating both environmental and financial challenges for the city.
By focusing on discipline at the household level and upgrading local facilities, Lapu-Lapu City aims to create a cleaner, more sustainable future for all its residents. / DPC