Iloilo City Powers Up Waste Management with Project AGUBAY

According to the City Environment Office (CENRO), Iloilo City, home to nearly half a million residents, faces a growing waste crisis, generating more than 314 metric tons of waste daily - nearly 40% of which is plastic¹.

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To address this urgent challenge, Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines Inc. (CCFPI), Central Philippine University (CPU), and the Iloilo City Government have launched Project AGUBAY, a first of its kind data-driven Solid Waste Management Information System (SWM-IS) covering 180 barangays.

The project's name, AGUBAY - derived from the Ilonggo word meaning "to support, to guide, to help" - also stands for Awareness, Guidance, Unity, Biodiversity, Action, and Yield. This reflects its mission of empowering communities with tools and knowledge to create more sustainable waste solutions.

ADDRESSING ILOILO CITY'S WASTE CHALLENGE

Iloilo City's waterways and coastal areas have long been vulnerable to plastic pollution, worsened by the surge in single-use plastics during the COVID-19 pandemic. With nearly half a million residents across 180 barangays, including 26 situated in riverine and coastal areas, inefficient collection systems and nonfunctional material recovery facilities (MRFs) have left waterways vulnerable to pollution.