The Clean Metro Manila initiative targets a World Bank loan of roughly $1.07 billion to upgrade waste management and reduce plastic pollution, with board approval anticipated in November.

In NCR, solid waste challenges include heavy organic waste and plastics, underfunded barangays, and limited disposal and plastic-processing capacity, with barangays still largely responsible for waste collection.

The Philippine government plans to borrow about $1.07 billion from the World Bank for the Clean Metro Manila project to improve solid waste management and curb plastic pollution in the National Capital Region.

Philippines is seeking World Bank funding for water, sanitation, and solid waste projects, with two separate loan initiatives under consideration.

Key objectives focus on strengthening policies and institutions, improving local service delivery and waste infrastructure, advancing plastic waste management for a circular economy, and boosting innovation and public awareness to cut plastic pollution in the NCR.

Implementing agencies for Clean Metro Manila are the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

The World Bank highlights major urban infrastructure challenges in the Philippines, including land shortages, health and safety risks in blighted communities, and varied LGU priorities; informal waste workers play a significant but marginalized role, diverting about 32% of recyclables yet lacking stable inclusion in planning.

The Philippines has been identified as a top contributor to marine plastic pollution, with about 9% of mismanaged plastic waste entering the ocean annually.

Metro Manila is a solid waste management hotspot, with projected waste volumes of 23.6 million tons by 2025 driven by organics and plastics, plus challenges in disposal, capacity, and plastic processing.

The project aims to increase access to safely managed water supply and sanitation services and improve the performance of water service providers in selected areas of the Philippines.

The ESRS concept summary notes that loan amount, terms, and counterpart funding have not yet been disclosed, with World Bank aiming for loan approval on November 27, 2026.

The first phase of the Clean Philippines program will cover Metro Manila, involving 17 LGUs and 1,710 barangays, serving about 14 million people.