ENGINEERING INITIATIVES IN THE INTEGRATION OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY PRINCIPLES IN LEGAZPI FOOD PARK, BARANGAY BITANO, LEGAZPI CITY, ALBAY
Journal Type:Research Article
Subject:Engineering & Technology
Subject Field:Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
Volume:197, Issue: 1, May, 2026
Publish Date:May 18, 2026 1:42 pm
Pages:406-437
Download:12
Views:25
Abstract
Legazpi City has integrated several circular economy principles aimed at reducing, reusing, and recycling waste. The city adopted its City Plan of Action on Marine Litter (2021–2025), piloting eco-enterprise and community-based recycling efforts—such as using plastic bottles to create eco-pots and repurposing tarpaulins into eco-bags—as part of the UN-Habitat HOCCI program. It installed the first granular plastic shredding machine to prevent plastic burning and reduce landfill volume, and launched a digital Smart Waste Management System with truck-route optimization and MRF tracking to boost resource recovery and curb marine litter leakage. Additionally, Legazpi received a JPY-backed grant to build circular facilities—like centralized recycling hubs—and support materials recovery infrastructure under a circular economy framework. The study evaluated how circular strategies—such as waste reduction, resource recovery, sustainable sourcing, and closed-loop systems—can be effectively applied in food-related enterprises within the city’s context especially for the Legazpi City Food Park. The study identifies gaps in current food business models' waste management, energy consumption, and food sourcing using a combination of qualitative interviews, field observations, and policy analysis. The findings show that incorporating circular principles—like composting organic waste, utilizing renewable energy sources, and supporting local farm-to-table systems—has a lot of potential. When encouraged by policy incentives and education, key stakeholders—such as local government, food business owners, and community members—exhibited a favorable attitude toward circular principles. The study comes to the conclusion that a Legazpi City food park may lessen its environmental effect, increase its economic resilience, and support the city's sustainable development goals by putting a circular economy framework into practice. Public-private collaborations, capacity-building programs, and the development of a local circular economy roadmap are among the suggestions made to encourage long-term adoption.