Trash Slide Tragedy Strikes Rizal Landfill, Killing One and Sparking Urgent Calls for Reform
A devastating trash slide occurred at the Rizal Provincial Sanitary Landfill (RPSL) in Barangay San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal, on February 20, 2026, resulting in at least one confirmed fatality and leaving two individuals missing. The collapse involved approximately 420,000 cubic meters of waste, which buried three units of heavy equipment and triggered widespread alarm among residents and environmental advocates.
Dispute Over Casualties and Allegations of Negligence
Local residents and waste workers have contested the official report from the Montalban Disaster Risk Reduction Office, which cited three casualties. Witnesses fear that more victims may be buried beneath the debris. Additionally, allegations have emerged that company marshals prioritized retrieving heavy equipment over rescuing potential victims and offered money to families to leave possible remains in the waste, raising serious ethical concerns.
Environmental NGO Demands Investigation and Accountability
Environmental NGO BAN Toxics is calling for a thorough and independent investigation into the landfill collapse and a comprehensive review of the facility’s compliance with environmental and safety standards. The group emphasizes the need to verify reported deaths and injuries, provide immediate support to affected families, end intimidation of residents and waste workers seeking accountability, and ensure full transparency to deliver justice and prevent future disasters.
History of Disasters and Operational Suspension
This incident adds to RPSL’s troubled history, which includes six previous collapses, an April 2025 fire, and seasonal leachate floods. In response, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) suspended operations in the landfill’s Phase 5, covering around six hectares, on February 24, 2026. The landfill is operated by International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist, Inc. (ISWIMS) through its subsidiary, Green Leap Solid Waste Management, Inc., a company that faced a 2024 Senate inquiry over alleged labor violations in Quezon City.
Worker Exploitation and Demands for Protection
Waste workers at RPSL, who often pay for their own protective gear, are demanding that landfill fees be used to support affected families. Thony Dizon, Advocacy and Campaign Officer of BAN Toxics, stressed the urgent need to formalize and protect informal waste workers and scavengers, ensuring their occupational safety, rights, access to protective equipment, social protection, and compensation funds during disasters. Despite being on the frontlines of waste management and exposed to toxic chemicals, these workers remain neglected.
Systemic Failures in Waste Management Laws
The recent disaster echoes past landfill tragedies, such as the deadly collapse at Payatas in 2000, which claimed over 200 lives, and the January 2026 trash slide at the Binaliw Landfill in Cebu City that left 36 dead and 18 injured. Although the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (RA 9003) mandates waste reduction, diversion, and resource recovery, implementation has been inadequate. BAN Toxics highlighted the need for a comprehensive review of RA 9003, noting that many Local Government Units (LGUs) fail to comply with requirements to divert at least 25 percent of solid waste through reuse, recycling, and composting.
Call for Strengthening Material Recovery Facilities
The group also emphasized strengthening Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) to reduce waste sent to landfills by improving their efficiency and increasing funding for LGUs. A 2023 Commission on Audit (COA) report revealed that only 39 percent of barangays had operational MRFs in 2021, underscoring systemic gaps in waste management infrastructure.
Prioritizing Waste Prevention and Corporate Accountability
BAN Toxics advocates for addressing the waste crisis and plastic pollution at the source by prioritizing waste prevention and reduction, cutting reliance on plastics—especially single-use plastics—and holding producers and corporations accountable for the full lifecycle of their products. The group calls for ensuring that the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law includes enforceable targets for plastic reduction and reuse, alongside promoting zero-waste strategies, single-use plastic bans, and a comprehensive Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products and Packaging (NEAPP) list.
Warning Against Incineration and Emphasis on Sustainable Solutions
Furthermore, BAN Toxics warned against using recent landfill collapses to justify waste incineration or waste-to-energy projects, stressing that burning plastics releases toxic pollutants and poses additional environmental and health risks. Instead, the group urges investment in the effective implementation of solid waste laws and in sustainable, environmentally sound waste management, focusing on reducing waste at the source rather than relying on downstream disposal.
Dizon concluded that this disaster is not an isolated event but a warning. Without decisive reforms centered on waste prevention, corporate accountability, and workers’ rights, communities across the country will remain at risk of similar tragedies.
