To commemorate Earth Day 2026, the Taguig City Environment and Natural Resources Office held its annual tree-giving activity on 22 April at the Taguig City Hall compound, distributing free saplings and plants suited for home gardening to residents as part of the city’s urban greening efforts.

Phillip Carl Catigay, Taguig CENRO chief of administration and operations and lead for solid waste management, emphasized the importance of community participation in environmental programs.

“This annual tradition is part of our efforts to green the city and encourage residents to contribute to environmental preservation. This year is particularly special due to our collaboration with ReCirca, NutriAsia, and PCX Solutions,” Catigay said.

Aligned with the Earth Day 2026 theme “Our Planet, Our Power,” the event also highlighted the pilot launch of RefillKa, a refill initiative developed by social enterprise ReCirca to help reduce plastic pollution by enabling sari-sari store owners to offer household product refills.

ReCirca founder and chief executive officer Ces Rondario said the initiative aims to divert one billion sachets from waste streams by 2030.

“We have set a lofty target to divert 1 billion sachets by 2030. With the overwhelming support from the city and our partner stores, we are confident this is achievable. We all have a role to play in keeping our waterways and our planet livable for future generations,” Rondario said.

RefillKa kits were distributed to participating store owners from Barangays Ligid-Tipas, Ibayo-Tipas, and Napindan.

The event was supported by James Lim, corporate marketing head of NutriAsia, and Athalie Reyes, senior manager for EPR and projects at PCX Solutions. Both organizations are partners of the Plastic Reboot program, which promotes sustainability and circularity initiatives nationwide.

“We are happy to support Taguig in its Earth Day 2026 activities and we are very excited to move forward with our partnership with the city, Plastic Reboot, and ReCirca through RefillKa and our BYOB (Bring Your Own Bote) initiative. We believe refilling and other upstream activities are steps in the right direction toward addressing our growing plastic pollution crisis,” Lim said.