Home⇛Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives⇛vol. 3 no. 2 (2025)

Localized E-Waste Recycling Framework for General Santos City: A Circular Economy Approach

Renante M. Garcia

Discipline: environmental sciences

 

Abstract:

The global electronic waste (e-waste) challenge is particularly acute in urbanized cities like General Santos City, Philippines, due to inadequate infrastructure, weak legal frameworks, and a reliance on informal recycling practices. Despite global advancements in recycling technologies, localized, contextspecific solutions for e-waste management remain a significant gap. This study utilizes Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Semi-Partial Correlation Coefficients (SPCC) to examine e-waste categories and their recycling implications. PCA identifies Factor 1, including Temperature Exchange Equipment (TEE), Screens and monitors (S&M), and Small ICT devices (SICT), explaining 50.24% of the variance (eigenvalue = 3.014), driven by widespread ownership and common disposal patterns. Factor 2 (eigenvalue = 1.091) accounts for 18.18% of the variance, highlighting challenges in disposing of Large Electrical Equipment (LEE) and Lamps. The remaining factors (eigenvalues 0.618–0.266) emphasize the need for targeted recycling for Small Electrical Equipment (SEE) and emerging categories like medical devices, drones, and EV batteries. SPCC analysis further refines these findings, revealing a strong correlation (r = 0.509, p < 0.001) between TEE and S&M, suggesting that clustering these categories could optimize collection efforts. Moderate correlations were also found: (r = 0.419, p < 0.001) between SEE and LEE and (r = 0.395, p < 0.001) between SEE and SICT, indicating that material types and recycling convenience influence disposal practices. The weak correlation between Lamps and other categories (r = 0.067, p > 0.05) underscores the urgent need for specialized recycling solutions and establishing policy-driven collection points in high-traffic areas. This study strengthens e-waste management theory and provides a practical framework for enhancing collection systems, processing, and recycling systems, data monitoring and formalization of urban mining, and institutional mechanisms within a circular economy.



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