Exploring Policy Interactions: A System Dynamics Study on Sustainable Household Waste Management in Rural Municipality

This study investigates household waste management challenges in Argao, a first-class rural municipality in Cebu, Philippines, using a System Dynamics (SD) modeling approach. It assesses four policy scenarios: banning household waste burning, implementing recycling and composting programs, establishing a municipal recycling center, and a combined strategy incorporating all three scenarios. The findings show that banning waste burning significantly reduces carbon emissions but shifts waste to landfills, stressing limited disposal capacity. Recycling and composting policies improve waste recovery by 20%, decrease landfill reliance by nearly 9%, and reduce emissions similarly, while increasing household income by over 400% in ten years. The municipal recycling center had the most substantial impact, boosting waste recovery by more than 30%, lowering landfill dependence by nearly 14%, and creating nearly 10,000 jobs locally. When combined, the integrated approach delivered the highest overall benefits, with a net present value of ₱15.9 million, offering a sustainable path to comply with Republic Act 9003. These results demonstrate that a phased, integrated strategy-beginning with household-level actions and expanding to infrastructure investments-can effectively enhance waste diversion, improve environmental health, and generate significant economic opportunities in Argao.