MANILA - The Commission on Audit (COA) recently said it observed a "steady increase" in solid waste generation in the country through the years.

Instead of reducing, solid waste generation steadily increased through the years, despite the passage in 2001 of Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (ESWMA), the COA said in its April Performance Audit Report of the government's waste management program.

The COA said it identified the "inconsistent implementation" of waste segregation and waste diversion, which led to an increase in waste production, adding that a "significant" presence of mixed wastes had been found in landfills.

It is projected that the annual solid waste production will increase further in the next decades.

• COA: Waste management program 'not progressively achieving its goals'