7th 3R International Scientific Conference on Materials Cycles and Waste Management (3RINCs)

UNCRD delivered an opening address at the 7th 3R International Scientific Conference on Materials Cycles and Waste Management (3RINCs), 11 and 15-19 March 2021, co-organized by the Japan Society of Material Cycles and Waste Management (JSMCWM), Korean Society of Waste Management (KSWM), Society for Solid Waste, Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences (SSW-CSES), NIES-KMUTT-KU Collaboration Research Laboratory and supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ), UNCRD, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), SWAT, and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).

The Conference aimed to cater the needs of stakeholders working in the area of scientific and technology developers as well as policy makers in 3R and sustainable waste management. About 400 participants from 30 countries comprising of academia, NGOs, national and local government officers, private sectors, UN and international organizers and donor agencies took part in the Conference. The Regional 3R and Circular Economy Forum in Asia and the Pacific (jointly led by UNCRD and MoEJ/Government of Japan) and 3RINCs process are interlinked and mutually reinforcing towards achieving the SDGs. Among others, UNCRD remarked that while few countries have made progress in advancing institutions and governance mechanisms for the implementation of 3R policies and programmes, including development of dedicated 3R infrastructures (e.g., science parks, theme parks, resource recovery facilities, eco-industrial zones, etc.), a conventional style of institutions of governance still prevails in large part of the Asia-Pacific region. It is important that countries should drive a science, innovation and technology based culture in overall policy setting and development agendas; this could be enabled by promoting networks of innovation and national innovation centers for resource efficiency and also by promoting government and international collaborative research projects in the areas of strengthening basic statistics, material flow and waste accounting and analysis, and material and waste footprint analysis and resource productivity analysis; and by promoting research and development (R&D) oriented industrial structures to address resource efficiency related problems in industry sector, including SMEs.

More information: https://www.3rincs.org/3rincs2021-online/