Save Our Seas: Philippines

The Philippines—comprising over 7,500 islands—contributes approximately 2.7 millions tons of plastic waste into the marine environment annually. Keeping waste out of the ocean is a challenge due to rising consumption of single-use plastics and overwhelmed waste management systems. Much of the country’s solid waste ends up in open dumping sites that allow leakage to waterways and threaten livelihoods in key sectors such as tourism and fishing. In response, the Government of the Philippines is implementing its National Plan of Action on Marine Litter, which has an overarching vision to achieve “zero waste to Philippine waters by 2040” and the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022, which aims to hold companies responsible to reduce and/or recover for reuse, recycling, treatment, or proper ecological disposal of the plastic packaging waste that they release to the domestic market. The government also continues to implement the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act that was passed into law in 2000.

USAID has been working in partnership with the Government of the Philippines to address plastic pollution since 2016 through various global and bilateral programs, beginning with the Municipal Waste Recycling Program (MRWP). Through this program, USAID provided grants to 10 local organizations to supply technical assistance to local governments to strengthen solid waste management planning, waste collection, and recycling.

Under the Save Our Seas Initiative, USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program collaborates with the national and local governments as well as civil society partners, providing technical assistance in waste management and recycling and grant support. The program also advances gender equality and empowerment of women waste collectors to establish or improve their waste businesses through the program’s Women in Waste’s Economic Empowerment activity. USAID is working across Metro Manila, which includes Pasig City, Paranaque City, and Manila City; Tingloy Island and Batangas City in Batangas Province; Iloilo City; Puerto Princesa City; and recently in Tuguegarao City. The program has so far improved solid waste management systems and services for more than 2.1 million people and diverted more than 1,900 metric tons of waste from the environment.

In 2024, USAID launched the CIRCLE Alliance: Catalyzing Inclusive, Resilient, and Circular Local Economies, a new partnership between Unilever, USAID, and EY to help enterprises across local plastic value chains to scale their collection and processing capabilities, improve the recyclability of flexible plastics so that landfills and incineration can be avoided, and develop and scale reuse-refill models to reduce plastic use. In addition, USAID, through its Strengthening Private Enterprises for the Digital Economy (SPEED) project, also supports initiatives to reduce plastic waste in the e-commerce sector. Together, these endeavors aim to achieve significant improvements in solid waste management and advance a circular economy in the Philippines.

Current Programs

CIRCLE Alliance: Catalyzing Inclusive, Resilient, and Circular Local Economies (2024-2029)

The CIRCLE Alliance is a new $21 million public-private collaboration to reduce plastic use and tackle plastic waste. Founded by Unilever, USAID, and EY, it aims to support women’s economic empowerment, improve livelihoods, and accelerate the development of circular economies through direct support to social enterprises and policies like Extended Producer Responsibility. CIRCLE is implemented by Resonance.

SPEED (2022-2026)

USAID’s Strengthening Private Enterprise for the Digital Economy Activity, the Agency’s flagship e-commerce project, is working to help small and medium enterprises participate effectively in the digital economy, while addressing the challenges arising from the increasing volume of plastic waste generated by e-commerce packaging. SPEED collaborates with the government, the private sector, and the logistics industry to reduce ocean plastic waste by supporting the adoption of sustainable practices and making e-commerce more environmentally responsible.

Clean Cities Blue Ocean (2019-2025)

USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean (CCBO) is a six-year, $67 million global program working in more than 25 cities across ten countries of Asia, Latin America, and Pacific and Caribbean islands to target ocean plastics directly at their source. CCBO partners with national and local governments, members of the private sector, NGOs, and local women’s and youth organizations to improve solid waste management systems, build capacity and commitment for the 3Rs, and promote sustainable social and behavior change. Trainings and learning produced under CCBO are publicly available through a self-directed solid waste management online university that has already trained waste professionals from more than 100 countries. CCBO is implemented by Tetra Tech ARD, in association with The Manoff Group and International City/County Management Association.

Past Programs:

Municipal Waste Recycling Program (2016-2021)

Launched in 2016, the Municipal Waste Recycling Program was USAID’s first formal response to the urgent challenge of plastic pollution in developing countries. The program was implemented in four countries that are among the world’s top contributors of marine plastics pollution: the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Through grants and technical assistance for promising solid waste management, waste collection and recycling efforts in urban and peri-urban areas, USAID diverted 20,600 metric tons of plastic waste from the ocean, trained 36,000 women in solid waste management and recycling, and supported over 60 new and improved laws and regulations.