Vietnam hosts regional forum on waste reduce-reuse-recycling

The 4th Asia-Pacific Forum on the Waste Reduce-Reuse-Recycling (3Rs) kicked off here on Monday, with participation of over 200 delegates from 31 countries and territories in the region.The event was co-chaired by the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), Japan's Ministry of Environment and the United Nations' Center for Regional Development (UNCRD) under the theme of "3Rs in the context of Rio+20 -- The Future We Want".Addressing the forum, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said that the forum is of significance in terms of environmental protection, and that it would promote policy dialogues at high-ranking level among relevant parties to handle the link between the 3Rs and other related issues including management of the solid waste, sustainable production-consumption, and appropriate materials circulation.During the three-day forum, participants will focus on solutions to effectively use the natural resources, towards the goal set forth by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). They will also review the issues relating to the policies and technologies to control the waste, 3Rs infrastructure for effective use of natural resources, among others.The Hanoi Declaration on 3Rs with its objectives for a sustainable Asia during 2013-2023 is expected to be issued before the fourth 3Rs forum concludes on March 20.Initiated in 2004 by MOEJ and first held in 2009 in Japan, the regional forum of 3Rs is organized annually and considered an extremely important event especially in the context of increasing environmental pollution and the negative impacts of rising sea water level globally.The second 3Rs forum was held in 2010 in Malaysia under the theme "3Rs for a green economy and a society of appropriate materials circulation", and the third 3Rs forum in Singapore, themed "Technology transfer and promotion of 3Rs".According to MNRE, over the past four years, 127 countries have signed the regional agreement to reduce the waste, including plastic bags.Vietnam has approved a national strategy on solid waste control to the year 2025 and a vision to 2050, under which there will be solid waste processing facilities in all urban areas by 2025 to ensure civil and industrial solid waste's harmlessness to the residents and environment.