The Pasig River, once a vital artery through the Philippines' capital, has been choked by plastic for decades—and now a bold five-year international partnership aims to change that. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources signed an agreement Thursday with The Ocean Cleanup, a global nonprofit known for deploying large-scale river interceptors in the world's most polluted waterways, to begin systematically removing waste from the Pasig River and Manila Bay.
The challenge is staggering. Manila Bay and its tributary system represent one of the planet's most critical coastal regions, yet the Pasig River functions as a pipeline funneling millions of kilograms of plastic directly into the ocean each year. This partnership matters because it connects global innovation with local commitment at precisely the moment when both are needed—the Philippines accounts for a disproportionate share of global ocean plastic, and the Pasig River itself has become emblematic of uncontrolled urban waste. "The Pasig River has carried the burden of our consumption habits for far too long," said Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna. "We cannot allow this river to remain a pipeline of plastic to the ocean."
The Ocean Cleanup brings proven expertise to the task. As of April 2026, the organization has deployed 21 interceptors across 10 countries, recovering more than 52 million kilograms of trash from marine environments. The company's technology is solar-powered, automated, and designed for high-capacity operation—precisely what's needed to handle the heavy and continuous waste load flowing through the Pasig. The organization is already surveying deployment sites, having assessed nearly 100 locations across the Manila Bay region. Beyond various Pasig River sites, the first interceptor barrier will be installed at the Meycauayan River in Bulacan.
This initiative is part of The Ocean Cleanup's ambitious 30 Cities Program, which aims to deploy solutions across 30 major cities in Asia and the Americas with a transformative goal: eliminating up to one-third of all plastic flowing from rivers to oceans worldwide before the end of this decade. Manila Bay is one of the program's key priorities, reflecting the scale of the opportunity and the urgency of the crisis. Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup's founder and CEO, framed the partnership as a convergence of local and global strength: "By combining research, data and operational experience, we can identify where our Interceptor technology will have the greatest impact and help stop plastic before it reaches Manila Bay and the ocean."
The agreement also anchors a larger government vision. Environment Secretary Cuna emphasized that the project serves as a technical pillar for the "Pasig Bigyang Buhay Muli" (PBBM) program for sustainable urban renewal, integrating cutting-edge cleanup technology with local restoration efforts. The initiative is being supported by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague, the Dutch Embassy in Manila, and EnergiesPH, underscoring its international dimensions. The DENR has also positioned the partnership within its "upstream regulatory push" under the Extended Producer Responsibility Act, which holds companies accountable for recovering and recycling the plastic packaging they produce.
What makes this moment different is the specificity of action. Rather than broad pledges, this is deployment—interceptors being placed at exact coordinates, surveys already underway, technology being adapted to local conditions. For a river that has symbolized the darker side of rapid urbanization, the Pasig River's path toward recovery has begun.