Cagayan de Oro City brought its green economy agenda to a regional stage this week, presenting local circular economy initiatives at the ASEAN Regional Dialogue on Circular Economy held September 22 to 23 at New World Makati. The dialogue gathered partners working to keep resources in use longer and cut waste across Southeast Asia.
The city was represented by Local Circular Economy Action Teams, or LCEAT, members Elvisa “Bing” Mabelin and Hanin Laguindab. They facilitated the presentation of Cagayan de Oro’s circular economy portfolio and related programs aimed at building a more circular and climate-resilient city.
According to City Hall, the portfolio groups practical solutions under three pillars: organic circularity, plastic circularity, and green tourism. Those pillars are backed by enabling policies, behavioral change campaigns, partnerships, innovation, and community participation rather than one-off projects alone.
The work is anchored on HIGALA, short for Harnessing Innovation for a Green and Adaptive Local Action. City officials describe HIGALA as the framework that ties local innovation to climate adaptation and greener economic activity on the ground.
During the dialogue, the Cagayan de Oro team highlighted ongoing efforts in waste reduction and diversion, composting, and plastic waste recovery. They also pointed to the integration of the informal waste sector and collaboration with stakeholders who already handle much of the city’s recycling and recovery work.
Those themes matter in a fast-growing urban center like Cagayan de Oro, where households, markets, and tourism all generate material that can either become waste or re-enter productive use. Composting and organic circularity aim to keep food and garden waste out of landfills, while plastic recovery programs target packaging that is often hard to manage through traditional collection alone.
Green tourism sits alongside those waste-focused tracks. By linking visitor experiences to more responsible resource use, the city is trying to show that hospitality growth and circular practices can move together rather than pull in opposite directions.
The ASEAN Regional Dialogue itself underscored how local governments can accelerate the shift from a linear take-make-dispose system to a circular one. Cagayan de Oro’s presentation framed city-level action as a practical contribution to that regional transition, not only as an environmental goal but as an economic pathway.
City Hall’s coverage of the event stressed that keeping materials in circulation and minimizing waste depends on more than technology. Policies, partnerships, and everyday community habits all appear in the portfolio the LCEAT representatives shared in Makati.
For residents, the takeaway is a clearer picture of how local programs on composting, plastic recovery, and informal-sector inclusion fit into a wider ASEAN conversation on circular economies. Cagayan de Oro’s presence at the dialogue signals that Northern Mindanao’s largest city wants its green economy work recognized, refined, and connected to regional partners.
Source: City Government of Cagayan de Oro (https://mail.cagayandeoro.gov.ph/index.php/item/4465-city-hall-presents-initiatives-for-oro-s-green-economy.html) ; GMA News Online (https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/1002459/ph-to-host-asean-regional-dialogue-on-circular-economy-on-sept-22-23/story/)
