Abstract

The objective of this research was to identify thepotential for value-added banana production by adoptingcircular economy concept. The resource utilizationperformance of a banana production factory in the middle partof Thailand was collected in 2020. The economic analysis andcircular economy were used for developing the potential ofbanana production waste as value-added products. Finally,potential scenarios of value-added banana production wereselected by brainstorming with the factory owner based on thecircular economy approach. The result found four types ofwaste in banana production, including wastewater, rejectedbanana material, banana peel, empty banana bunch, and wastegenerated from the production process. Nine scenarios forvalue-added banana production were developed and proposedby the resource performance, economic analysis and circulareconomy implementation. After brainstorming with the bananafactory owner, four potential scenarios for value-added bananaproduction waste under circular economy concept were selected.The details of potential scenarios were as the following: bananapowder form rejected banana, bio-compost from banana peels,re-use of wastewater, and sale of solid waste. From this finding,the circular economy concept should be recommended andimplemented for enhancing the efficiency of the bananaproduction process.