November 1, 2010
Training on Implementation of the Integrated Resource Recovery Center Approach for Secondary Cities and Small Towns
In Training
Training on Implementation of the Integrated Resource Recovery Center Approach for Secondary Cities and Small Towns
Implemented by: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in partnership with Waste Concern, with financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 20 to 23 September, 2010
A four-day long training workshop entitled `Implementation of the Integrated Resource Recovery Centre Approach for Secondary Cities and Small Towns’ was organized by Waste Concern in partnership with UNESCAP under a project supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
About 33 participants including four mayors and vice mayors representing four cities and officials of Vietnam government, private sector and senior officials from ENDA Vietnam and the Association of Cities of Vietnam (ACVN) participated in the aforementioned training program. The participating cities are Quy Nhon City, Kon Tum City, Hoi An City and Ha Tinh City along with the Binh Dinh province. Two representatives from UNESCAP and one from UNDP Bangkok regional office also participated in the training workshop.
On the first day (September, 20, 2010) during the opening session, the Secretary of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of Bangladesh Dr. Mihir Kanti Majumder and His Excellency Mr. Nguyen Van That, Ambassador of The Embassy of Vietnam in Bangladesh graced the opening session as Chief Guest and Special Guest respectively. Mr. A. H. Md. Maqsood Sinha, Executive Director of Waste Concern gave a welcome address. Ms. Karin Anderson, Environmental Affairs Officer, ESCAP gave a brief project overview On the second day (September 21, 2010), a field visit was organized by Waste Concern to expose the delegation from Vietnam with practical hands-on experience on composting and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
They visited two compost plants, one is a medium sized (can process 10 tons of waste per day) and the other one is a large sized one (can process 130 tons of waste per day). Both these plants are located 1-1.5 hours, approximately 30 kilometer south east of Dhaka from the city center. The medium sized 10 tons per day capacity compost plant is operated and owned by Waste Concern and the large plant located in Bulta, Roopganj, is a Joint Venture project owned and operated by Waste Concern with its Dutch Partners.
On the third day a detailed discussion was carried out on the opportunity of carbon trading, specially CDM and voluntary emission reduction opportunity from composting and recycling municipal waste. During this session A. H. Md. Maqsood Sinha of Executive Director of Waste Concern gave a presentation on Carbon financing opportunities in solid waste management. The need for source separation of waste was also discussed for production of good quality recyclables and compost. In this connection experience of a source segregation initiative in Sector 5, Uttara Model Town, Dhaka was demonstrated by Waste Concern as an example. It was also highlighted during the discussion that the Ministry of Environment of the Government of Bangladesh has recently taken an initiative to source segregation and recycling initiative for few areas of Dhaka and Chittagong using its climate change fund.
On the fourth day (September 23, 2010) each participating city from Vietnam, gave a presentation on the following topics:
– Vision of City
– Action Plan to Implement IRRCs
– Medium and Long Term Target
Finally on the second half of the fourth day, Md. Sayeed Ali, Director General, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) graced the closing ceremony of the training program and distributed certificates among the participants. In his remarks, Mr. Ali gave full support on behalf of DAE to promote compost in agriculture for sustainable agriculture practice in the country. Dr. Mahfuzul Haque, Chief Training Coordinator made the closing remarks.
