BACOLOD City – This capital city is hosting a three-day training-workshop on solid waste management, with delegates from all over Asia.
The First Regional Training-Workshop on Measuring and Mitigating Short-Lived Climate Pollutants from the Municipal Solid Waste Sector started yesterday at the O Hotel.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) undersecretary for environment and field operations Juan Miguel Cuna and Commissioner Crispin Lao of the National Solid Waste Management Commission gave keynote speeches.
Maria Delia Cristina Valdez, senior environmental management specialist of the Solid Waste Management Division of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), said around 35 delegates are attending the workshop.
The delegates are from Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Japan.
There are also representatives from the Philippines, including five from Bacolod.
The DENR has requested the city government to make a presentation discussing the role of local government units in implementing national policies on solid waste management.
“This is both an honor and opportunity for us in Bacolod. It is flattering that we were chosen as venue of this international gathering among the many other possible cities, and this is a chance to learn, on a first-hand basis, the latest trends in the care of the environment,” Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.
The workshop is a project of the DENR-EMB, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.
The three agencies are currently developing a national strategy to reduce short-lived climate pollutants from municipal solid waste in the Philippines.
The workshop will focus on policy, technology, and financial aspects to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, the organizers said.
Engineer Eligio Ildefonso, head of the National Solid Waste Management Commission and the Solid Waste Management Division of the DENR, also said the event will address emission of methane, black carbon and other air pollutants from municipal solid waste. (With Bacolod City PIO/PN)
