SMC removes 6 M MT waste in river cleanup drive

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has achieved a new milestone in its river cleanup advocacy, having removed a total of six million metric tons of silt and solid waste from various river systems in and around Metro Manila.

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This total includes more than three Marilao, Balagtas and Guiguinto in Bulacan. This is by far the largest and most extensive river cleanup initiative undertaken by SMC under a long-term, comprehensive effort it started in 2020 to clean up heavily polluted river systems including the Pasig, Tullahan and San Juan rivers.

It has successfully removed nearly 1.2 million metric tons of waste from 26 kilometers of the Pasig River; 1.1 million MT from 11 kms. of the Tullahan River and almost 320,000 MT from the San Juan river, from 2020 to date.

In October last year, SMC announced that it was expanding its river cleanup initiative in Bulacan to other provinces and cities, including Pampanga, Navotas, Laguna and Cavite, in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and local government units.

Its efforts to desilt the San Isidro River in San Pedro, Laguna have since yielded 343,836 tons of silt and wastes.