An Assessment of the Solid Waste Management Practices in the Upland Communities of Cebu City

Abstract

Cebu City, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines, has portions of its boundaries being part of one of the highly significant landscapes in the Philippines, the Cebu Central Protected Landscape (CCPL). Because the city has limited flatlands, developments are encroaching vertically on the uplands. The uplands could be threatened with solid waste issues, which could harm the CCPL. The Philippines has RA 9003 in response to these issues. An assessment of the current waste management practices of residential and commercial areas in the uplands was done to check if the upland communities abide by the provisions of RA 9003. The assessment became a basis for formulating strategies to reduce waste. Information was collected through questionnaires and interviews through convenience sampling. Due to convenience sampling, the study can serve as a pilot on solid waste management studies in Philippine uplands. Overall, the residential and commercial sector respondents have shown outstanding efforts in treating solid waste through proper segregation and employing other waste reduction techniques like composting. However, initiatives at the barangay level need improvement.