Thethree-day workshop, organised in cooperation with the Association ofCities in Vietnam (ACV) and the Actions for Environment Organisation,attracted more than 70 representatives from international organisations,financial and research institutions, and communities in Bangladesh,Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
Over thecourse of the conference, partners and stakeholders from these countrieswill share their experiences and lessons learned in implementing the“waste-to-resource” approach and adopting the Integrated ResourceRecovery Centres (IRRC) model.
The delegates will also discussbarriers to the waste-to-resource approach in developing countries inthe Asian-Pacific region and propose a set of solutions.
Assoc.Prof. Dr Vu Thi Minh, ACV General Secretary, said the rapid urbanisationand economic development in Asian-Pacific countries were generating agrowing amount of solid waste. Meanwhile, the cost of treating waste,accounting for 20-50 percent of local budget expenditures, had becomeone of the most money-consuming services in urban settings.
Inorder to tackle this challenge, ESCAP is implementing the project“Pro-poor and sustainable solid waste management in secondary cities andsmall towns” in partnership with Waste Concern, she added.
Since2007, the project has been carried out in a number of Asian-Pacificcountries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka, and has helpedtreat 2-10t of waste a day. In Vietnam, the provinces of Binh Dinh andQuy Nhon are benefitting from the project.-VNA