Brief: Reducing Ocean Plastic Pollution in Paranaque City, Philippines

Ocean plastic pollution has reached crisis level, directly threatening marine ecosystems and their related industries, and exacerbating global challenges such as food security, health, and climate change. This issue is especially apparent in the Philippines, where about 1.9 million metric tons of mismanaged plastics enter the ocean every year — one of the highest volumes in the world. Metro Manila, which includes the nation’s capital and its surrounding metropolitan areas, is the epicenter of the Philippines’ plastic pollution challenge: the region accounts for 25 percent of waste in the entire country, with a high reliance on flexible plastic packaging. The waste flow from Metro Manila has immediate negative impacts on the surrounding environment; Manila Bay, which borders the area, is facing water quality deterioration and ecosystem degradation due to pollution.

A Systems Approach to Reducing Ocean Plastic Pollution

In Metro Manila and around the world, the most effective way to address the ocean plastic pollution challenge is at the source: the proliferation of single-use plastic packaging combined with solid waste management (SWM) systems that are unable to process rising amounts of waste. USAID has developed a set of five building blocks that create the foundation for the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and robust SWM, ultimately reducing ocean plastic pollution.

Download the full brief here.

Applying USAID’s Approach in Parañaque City

Through the Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Program (CCBO), USAID is partnering with the local government and other organizations in Parañaque — a city in the Metro Manila region of the Philippines — to establish the building blocks by promoting locally-led solutions to the city’s plastic waste challenge and supporting the national government’s priorities to rehabilitate Manila Bay