CITY : Island Garden City of Samal
COUNTRY : Philippines
POPULATION : 104,123
SIGNED DECLARATION : August 25, 2022
MAYOR : Hon. Al David T. Uy
CITY CONTACT : City Environment and Natural Resources IGACOS
CONNECT : [email protected]

IGACOS is a 4th class city located in the province of Davao Del Norte. It is composed of one main island and seven islets, with Talikud Island as the biggest islet. The city covers a total of 30,130 hectares of land and consists of 46 barangays, of which 31 are coastal barangays and recorded a population of 104,123 in 2015 (PSA,2015). The City is divided into three(3) districts-Babak District, to the north, Samal District at the center, and Kaputian District to the south. IGACOS is known for its pristine water beaches, lush gardens, and stunning mountain and underwater views.

IGACOS is part of the WWF Global initiative, Plastic Smart Cities from 2019. The Island Garden City of Samal became a pilot area within the Plastic Smart Cities protocol signed by WWF Philippines and IGACOS. The project aims for the Island Garden City of Samal to become a role model in the fight against plastic pollution making innovative solutions in reducing, reusing, and recycling all potential waste that can be released into its natural environment. An environment affected by plastic pollution will always change its natural form. IGACOS envisions itself as a livable and highly resilient city. They see the island city as garbage–free through policy implementation, increased awareness, community empowerment, and in-place recycling infrastructure that all contribute to a well-balanced ecology wherein people live in a clean and green environment. The city government of IGACOS hereby commits to reducing plastic pollution by 30% every two (2) years.

WWF is implementing the No Plastics in Nature initiative - a global movement to stop plastic The Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) in Davao del Norte has the overall responsibility for the implementation of the Action Plan which outlines key focus areas, measures to be implemented, and monitoring processes to measure the successful outcome. For its implementation, the Plastic Smart Cities (PSC) project aims to support and push for its integration in the city’s 10-year Solid Waste Management (SWM) Plan, mandated under the Republic Act of 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Results of a waste analysis and characterization study (WWF, 2021) found an estimated 14.9tonnes of solid waste are generated daily, of which around 78% or 11.7tonnes is collected, almost half of the generated waste are biodegradables, plastics and recyclables waste while 22% or 3.2tonnes are uncollected waste is potentially released to the natural environment either through burying underground, burning, or discharge directly to the land. All collected waste is brought to the sanitary landfill located in the Ecological Solid Waste Processing Park (EcoPark).

The city government aims to reduce the following:

1. Eliminate the use of unnecessary plastics through waste prevention and reduction measures;
2. Encourage communities to practice waste segregation at all sources;
3. Increase plastic recovery for reuse and recycling for local revenue and entrepreneurship;
4. Improve waste collection and management processes to minimize leakage; and
5. Monitor city-wide activities aimed at reducing, minimizing and managing plastic waste, in an effort to optimize interventions.

The City of Samal (IGACOS) and WWF Plastic Smart Cities has identified entrepreneurial solutions that build a micro-recycling facility that converts and upcycle plastic waste into profitable home furnishing by providing equipment and training to capacitate landfill personnel. These solutions are based on the results of the Mindanao showcase held in 2020 attended by the representatives of the City/Local Government Units.

The Hugpong sa Manggagama sa Isla (HUGMAI), a women's group in the Island driven to reuse and recycle plastic waste into products in addressing plastic pollution, WWF facilitated training to boost their sales using the influence of social media marketing.

The Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort is a high-end resort with a good solid waste management plan. Plastic waste reduction is implemented through bulk buying of ingredients and disallowing visitors from bringing outside food and drinks into the resort. They also do not serve beverage drinks in PET except for water. As much as possible, they use reusable items and veer away from plastic items. For collection, they have waste collection bins distributed in different parts of the resort, a designated area for their MRF, and they even have their own collection truck for bringing their segregated wastes into the City Sanitary Landfill.

Implementation of the City Ordinance No 2018-293, Series of 2018 “Regulation on the use of Plastic and Styro Foam Materials for Packaging”