Marikina’s waste-management system offers model for flood control, Marcos says

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants cities across the Philippines to look to Marikina for a practical answer to flooding, one that begins with waste management rather than river dredging alone.

During an inspection of the Marikina River Linear Park and the city’s centralized materials recovery facility in Barangay Sto. Niño, Marcos said effective flood mitigation requires a system that stops garbage from reaching waterways. “It won’t just go directly to the river then you’ll carry out desilting or collect trash,” he said. “But here Marikina, over the last 11 years or so, they have managed to put a system in place. The reason we are here is that this is the best example of a circular economy.”

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It won’t just go directly to the river then you’ll carry out desilting or collect trash. But here Marikina, over the last 11 years or so, they have managed to put a system in place. The reason we are here is that this is the best example of a circular economy.

Marikina has cleared no-build zones along the river, relocated structures from restricted areas and installed trash catchers. Its materials recovery facility processes biodegradable waste into compost and turns plastics into bags, bricks and other useful materials, including components for school desks. The facility includes sorting bins, composting bioreactors, upcycling facilities and biohazard storage, and can process as much as 200 tons of dry waste each day.

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This should serve as a template, and is indeed becoming the template for various cities, especially in the NCR (National Capital Region).

Marcos described the system as a template for other cities, particularly in the National Capital Region. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources supports it with floating trash traps at critical tributaries. By July, the department and Marikina’s local government had deployed 47 estero rangers in 12 barangays to maintain the traps and clean the waterways.

The president credited the local government with linking river cleanup, garbage collection, recycling and waste recovery. “It is not only part of flood management, but it is also in terms of the environment that helps a lot,” Marcos said.

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It is not only part of flood management, but it is also in terms of the environment that helps a lot.