Each year, the Philippines generates 14.6 million tons of municipal solid waste, based on data from the 2025 World Bank What a Waste Global Database.
With close to 15 million tons of municipal solid waste, the Philippines landed 27th out of 50 countries in the database, which covers almost all countries and 330 major cities.
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Dr. Rogelio Alicor Panao, INQUIRER Metrics data scientist and associate professor at the University of the Philippines, said in his analysis that ‘this places the country ahead of wealthier economies such as Australia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands in terms of waste produced.’
He pointed out that in the Philippines, ‘the link between garbage and flooding is often underscored, with clogged waterways worsening inundations during heavy rains.’
This, especially since the Philippines is once again on the top of the World Risk Index, the yardstick for being highly exposed to extreme weather effects, like flooding.
The World Risk Report 2025, published last week, discussed the disaster risk for 193 countries worldwide, covering all member states of the United Nations and over 99 percent of the population.
As pointed out by Panao, ‘globally, the problem [of waste generation] is even more pronounced, with China on the lead at 398.08 million tons, followed by the United States (265.22 million) and India (189.75 million).
Large middle-income nations such as Brazil (79.06 million) and Indonesia (65.20 million) also add substantially to the world’s total, alongside industrialized countries like Germany (50.63 million) and Japan (42.72 million).
For Panao, ‘these figures reveal a universal challenge: growing volumes of waste are straining both rich and developing nations alike.’
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However, in the case of the Philippines, ‘the crisis is compounded-solid waste remains a driver of flooding even as longstanding issues of corruption and inefficiency in flood control projects continue to hinder effective solutions.’
Last July, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned corruption in the government’s multi-billion flood control projects, lamenting how these could have helped mitigate flooding, especially during the onslaught of typhoons and monsoon rains.