FROM DUMPSITE TO DREAMSCAPE: MAYOR JOY BELMONTE'S CIRCULAR REVOLUTION IN PAYATAS

There is a profound power in the places we choose for new beginnings.

- WILSON LEE FLORES

On Oct. 23, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte stood not in a sterile conference room, but on ground thick with memory and symbolism — a reclaimed section of the vast Payatas Controlled Disposal Facility, once a mountain of garbage, tragedy and survival. Here, amid echoes of the past, she led the groundbreaking ceremony for "Unang Habi: Weaving Circular Futures Together," the country's first Circularity Hub.

This pioneering project — a partnership between the Quezon City Government and Anthill Fabric Gallery of Cebu, with support from Pilipinas Shell Foundation and Maybank Philippines — is far more than a building. It is a living declaration of a new urban philosophy: that sustainability, inclusion and creativity can be interwoven into one resilient fabric.

In a world drowning in excess, where the fast-fashion industry ranks among the top global polluters, this hub dares to reimagine waste as raw material for renewal.

Globally, over 92 million tons of textile waste are generated each year. In Quezon City alone, about 2,500 tons of waste are collected daily — much of it textiles. This hub transforms these grim statistics into opportunity.