The Pasig City local government promised a more efficient garbage collection system to its citizens on Tuesday, July 4, following inquiries from Pasigueños about the changes in its collection schedule brought about by the city's change of garbage contractor. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto said that there is an ongoing transition period on the city's garbage collection scheme following the disqualification of its previous contractor. The normalization of the garbage collection scheme will start next week. "Inaasahan na magiging mas maganda ang performance nitong bagong contractor, PhilEco (nagsimula nung July 1 lang at may mga backlog yung previous contractor) (We expect a much better performance from our new contractor, PhilEco. It started on July 1 and is just finishing the backlog left by the previous contractor)," he said. "Expected na medyo mag-adjust pa sila sa umpisa, pero dahil nakaalalay ang Solid Waste Management Office (SWMO) natin, napapabilis naman ang nagiging transition. Dumating na rin ang karamihan sa mga truck ng PhilEco at may commitment sila na darating ang 15 pang truck sa loob ng tatlong araw (We expect that they are still adjusting to the city's garbage collection scheme, but with assistance from our SWMO, the transition period will be much faster. Most of PhilEco's trucks have already arrived and the company expressed its commitment that the 15 other trucks will arrive in three days)," he added. Aside from PhilEco, the city government also started its "collection by admin" method where the local government unit (LGU) itself leads in the collection and management of the city's garbage to  reduce some of its spending expenses since it will no longer need contractors for the service within five years. The pilot run of the new garbage collection scheme started last April 2022 and has since been gradually applied to various barangays in the city. "Singit ko na rin po ang good news: yung area na LGU na mismo ang humahakot (wala nang contractor), maganda ang feedback. Nasa 15 percent na po ito ng koleksyon sa Pasig at palalawakin pa natin ang sakop nito. May trucks tayong parating ngayong 2023 at mas marami pa sa 2024-25. We will be the 3rd city in Metro Manila to do "garbage collection by administration" (Let me also share with you another good news: we have received positive feedback from areas where the LGU itself is the once collecting and managing the garbage. This accounts for 15 percent of total waste collection here in Pasig and we are targeting to further expand it to other parts of the city. There are additional trucks arriving this  year and more will arrive in 2024-25. We will be the 3rd city in Metro Manila to do "garbage collection by administration")," Sotto noted. On April 17, the city government acquired two more garbage trucks for the SWMO as it seeks to improve its garbage collection system pursuant to its vow to set greener policies for the city. The new garbage trucks will add to the existing eight that were used in the pilot runs in Barangay Pinagbuhatan last year. There are over 30 field staff of SWMO who are conducting the collection. Since April 15, the local government, led by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) and SWMO, started conducting the Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS). CENRO and SWMO Chief Allendri Angeles described WACS as an in-depth study using science and data-gathering to quantify the amount of garbage that is thrown away by Pasiguenos daily as well as the percentage of each kind of waste. The results of this study will be included in the updates of the city’s 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan, Angeles said. The local government is conducting the system in cooperation with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the private sector.