THE Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) has received 14 tablets for use with the TrashTrack app to further improve garbage collection and waste monitoring across the island.
Igacos Mayor Lemuel T. Reyes, together with City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Engr. Kim Joshua Garciano, senior environmental management specialist, accepted the tablets during the presentation of the Deposit Return System (DRS) Feasibility Study for the Philippines held in Quezon City.
The tablets were provided through a partnership among the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), under the Eppic initiative.
“This collaboration marks another step forward in advancing the city’s environmental initiatives and commitment towards circularity,” Samal Island Information wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday, October 31, 2025.
The Eppic mobile application, TrashTrack, is designed to centralize and monitor waste collection and management on the island. It provides real-time data monitoring, allowing the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) to track the volume of waste collected in each barangay, streamline operations, and improve planning for solid waste management programs.
Through the app, garbage collectors can now identify puroks and barangays that need support, quickly respond to collection issues, and implement more efficient waste management solutions.
Garbage situation on the island
According to a Waste Analysis and Characterization Study published by Plastic Smart Cities, Igacos generates an estimated 14.9 tonnes of solid waste daily, of which 11.7 tonnes are collected — leaving around 3.2 tonnes uncollected.
During a clean-up drive on January 24, 2025, held in celebration of Zero Waste Month, the local government unit (LGU) of Samal collected 1,249 kilograms (kg) of non-biodegradable waste, 83 kg of bio-waste, and 30 kg of PET bottles with the help of 364 volunteers.
In a follow-up island-wide clean-up on September 19, 2025, held in time for the International Coastal Clean-up, a total of 1,844.2 kg (1.844 tonnes) of waste—including PET bottles, glass bottles, flexible plastics, and residuals—was collected across the city’s three districts.
Marine litter
In a coastal clean-up drive on January 24, 2025, around 1,249 kg of non-biodegradable waste, 83 kg of bio-waste, and 30 kg of PET bottles were collected from Villarica Baywalk extending to Babak Market.
Meanwhile, in another clean-up led by Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) on November 8, 2024, the group reported collecting 533 mixed waste items from the Sabang Coastline of Igacos. The clean-up covered areas from Purok Cacao to Sabang Cliff, with the collected materials including food packaging, plastic bottles, personal care products, fishing gear, plastic cups, and PET bottles. RGP