Mayor John Masinsin of Pililla, Rizal is sounding the alarm over rising garbage collection costs and is calling on residents to reduce their waste.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Masinsin said the local government is spending 9.5 million Philippine pesos on garbage collection this year, a 67.77 percent increase since 2021, when the cost was P5.6 million.

This spike is significantly higher than the town’s population growth of 5.8 percent over the same period.

The mayor noted that biodegradable waste accounts for 31.1 percent of the town’s garbage, followed by recyclables at 30.6 percent, disposables at 19.7 percent, residual waste at 8.4 percent and special waste at 10.2 percent.

Masinsin urged residents to follow existing waste management laws by segregating, recycling and composting their garbage to help address the problem.

The local government is also taking steps to curb waste, including a ban on single-use plastics and bottled water. A new hotline has also been set up for residents to report environmental concerns.

In a separate development, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority has issued a final notice to the City of Manila to redirect its waste disposal to the New San Mateo Sanitary Landfill in Rizal following the closure of the Navotas dumpsite.

The shift has created logistical challenges for Manila, which must now transport its waste about 30 kilometers to the new facility, a significant increase from the 10-kilometer trip to Navotas.

City officials warned that the new garbage collection schedule, implemented Wednesday, could cause delays.

Some residents, like Amilyn delos Reyes, expressed concerns about the health effects of delayed collections. “It’s important that it doesn’t pile up because of the children’s health,” she said.