The highly urbanized city on Tuesday proudly welcomed its recognition as one of 20 cities worldwide advancing innovative solutions— from reducing food waste to building circular economies—by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Zero Waste, with support from UN-Habitat and the UN Environment Programme.

“This global acknowledgment affirms that our local efforts are contributing to a much bigger movement toward sustainability, climate action, and responsible urban development,” Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas said in a statement.

She noted the local government’s Sustainable and Inclusive Resource Circularity (SIRCOL) has been seeing concrete and measurable results, including the diversion of 2,290 metric tons of waste from the landfill, PHP16.3 million generated from recyclable waste recovery and plastic credits, 2,748 metric tons or carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gas emissions were avoided, and 360 green livelihood opportunities were created.

The awareness programs reached 10,000 individuals and strongly collaborated with 12 key partners, and established critical facilities and tools.

Treñas said the city government will further expand efforts through large-scale awareness campaigns and cross-sectoral initiatives that will engage communities, businesses, institutions, and all stakeholders across Iloilo City.

“This is not a single, isolated program – it is a unified, city-wide movement that integrates multiple sustainability goals. Through this, we are positioning Iloilo City as a champion of a resilient, inclusive, innovative, and environmentally sustainable urban ecosystem,” she said.

In a separate interview, General Services Office head Neil Ravena said considering the population of a highly urbanized city, one could not imagine the possibility of achieving zero waste.

“However, we emphasized here that we have recycling initiatives and waste diversion techniques for reduced disposal at the sanitary landfill. But the impact of our waste-to-energy or the Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility will give us a diversion target of up to 90 percent. This will give us a picture of a zero-waste, highly-urbanized city,” he said.

Ravena said they also emphasized the role of the waste pickers association – organized by the city government to help in waste diversion – in their documentation that was submitted to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) in September 2025.

“We will be monitored by the UNEP in some of our programs, and we can now access some of the United Nations funding institutions that will help us expedite all the projects and waste diversion initiative,” he said. (PNA)