National 3R Policy Formulation Meeting in Hanoi, Viet Nam

2005/12/20 to 2005/12/22
Hanoi, Viet Nam

Dates: 20-22 December 2005

Place: Hanoi, Viet Nam

Organizers: UNCRD and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Viet Nam

Participants: Vietnamese governmental officials from relevant ministries, national experts, and staffs of UNCRD (C.R.C. Mohanty and Ken Shimizu)

As an integral part of the UNCRD initiative on Promoting Sustainable Production and Consumption/3R in Asia, UNCRD in collaboration with the Department of Environment (DoE)/ Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) in Viet Nam organized the national consultation meeting on Viet Nam's National Policy formulation on Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R). The main objective of this meeting was to facilitate the formulation of Vietnamese National 3R Strategy through a participatory process involving key government agencies and other stakeholders.

Background

The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development has underlined the importance of changing consumption and production patterns as one of the essential elements for sustainable development. This was also recognized by the G8 leaders who agreed to launch the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) initiative in June 2004. In April 2005, the 3R Initiative was officially launched by the Ministerial Conference held in Tokyo. Furthermore, UNCRD has conducted a mission to Viet Nam in 2004 where it had identified that one of the policy priorities for Viet Nam is to formulate a Strategy (cum-Action Plan) for waste minimization through sustainable consumption/3R & Life Cycle Approach (LCA). In July 2005, the Vietnamese government also expressed its strong interest to formulate National 3R Policy with the assistance of UNCRD.

Based on these development and as an integral part of our ongoing UNCRD initiative on Promoting Sustainable Production and Consumption/3R in Asia, the national consultation meeting on Viet Nam's National Policy formulation on Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R) was held from 22 to 24th November 2005 in Hanoi, Viet Nam.

Objectives

The primary objectives of the meeting were to:
-Facilitate the formulation of Vietnamese National 3R Strategy through a participatory process involving key government agencies and other stakeholders
-Obtain basic information on 3R related policies, issues, and priorities in Viet Nam as inputs for the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) in March 2006 in Tokyo

Participants

22 participants total actively participated in the meeting, which consisted of Vietnamese governmental officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and other relevant agencies, national experts, and staffs of UNCRD (C.R.C. Mohanty and Ken Shimizu).

Presentations

Introduction of 3R Initiative and experiences of solid waste management in Japan
C.R.C. Mohanty, Environment Programme Officer/Coordinator, UNCRD/Ken Shimizu, Researcher, UNCRD

Building the national strategy on waste reduce, reuse and recycle
Dr Nguyen Van Tai, Department of Environment, MONRE

Solid waste in craft villages in Vietnam - challenges and opportunities for applying 3R
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Kim Chi, IInstitute of Environmental Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Technology

Current situation of Healthcare Waste Management in Vietnam and 3R application
Dr. Nguyen Trong Khoa, MSc. Department of Therapy, MoH

Application of 3R for domestic solid waste management in Viet Nam
PhD. Nguyen Thi Kim Thai, Associate Professor. Centre for Environmental Engineering in Towns and Industrial Areas (CEETIA), University of Civil Engineering –Ha Noi

Industrial Solid Waste and Opportunities for 3R Application
Dr. Dang Xuan Toàn, Ministry of Industry

The Status of Solid Waste Management and Disposal in Hochiminh City - Opportunities for 3R Implementation
Ph.D. Nguyen Dinh Tuan and M.Eng. Nguyen Thi Thuc Thuy, Hochiminh City Environmental Protection Agency (HEPA)