On 22-23 June, Tachikawa Jumpei, First Secretary and Agriculture Attache of the Embassy of Japan, attended the launching of the centralized Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and Smart Waste Management System (SWMS) in Legazpi City, Albay Province, under the Healthy Oceans and Clean Cities Initiative (HOCCI).

This launching was attended by Legazpi City Mayor Carmen Geraldine Rosal, Environment Committee Chair Councilor Renato Valladolid, UN-Habitat Country Manager Cristopher Rollo and other LGU officials and barangay members.

These projects seek to reduce the many problems caused by marine litter, which endangers the environment, marine ecosystems, and public health. Managing marine litter is a global issue that also affects the Philippines. While the Philippines has among the highest trash collection rates in Southeast Asia, it remains the world’s third-largest source of marine litter.

Japan has contributed $3 million to UN-Habitat Philippines to implement HOCCI, piloted in six cities: Cagayan De Oro, Calapan, Davao, Legazpi, Manila, and Ormoc.

HOCCI aims to reduce marine plastic litter by strengthening the institutional capacity to support the operationalization and localization of the Philippines’ National Plan of Action for the Prevention, Reduction, and Management of Marine Litter (NPOA-ML) and the development of an improved data collection and waste management system. Japan Information and Culture Center