Solid waste management experts in the country met with their counterparts from Korea yesterday (May 16) at the Discovery Suites in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, to discover and learn more about state-of-the-art and environment-friendly recycling technologies developed by Koreans.

The workshop, jointly organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), and the R&D Center for Valuable Recycling (RCVR) of Korea, sought to introduce the technologies developed by the RCVR to the Philippine central and local governments, research institutes, the academe and related industries and associations.

It was also set to establish a communication and cooperation network in the recycling technology field between the two countries, for Korea to understand the technical standards and demands for solid waste management in the Philippines, in order for RCVR to develop locally suitable recycling technologies.

Atty. Juan Miguel T. Cuna, EMB-DENR OIC Director, said that studies revealed that every Filipino generates more than half a kilo of wastes every day, particularly in Metro Manila.

“With a population of more than 92 million, and still growing, we must realize that we do not have enough space to accommodate the disposal of that much waste. Therefore, our efforts in promoting recycling must not stop. We simply cannot afford to slow down our search for a more sustainable approach to solid waste management,” he stressed.

Among the resource persons for the workshop included experts Dr. Jin-Ki Jeong (Recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment (WEEE)) and Dr. Shun-Myung Shin (Recycling of Spent Battery) from the Korean Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources; Ms. Eileen Santos from the Solid Waste Management Association of the Philippines (SWAPP); Prof. Seung-Whee Rhee (Recycling of Spent Fluorescent Lamp) from Kyonggi University; Prof. Woo-Zin Choi (Automatic Sorting for Solid Wastes) from Suwon University; Mr. Arsenio Valdes from Dolomatrix Philippines, Inc.; Mr. Abel Pablo from the Alternative Energy Resource Facility; and Mr. Walter Chua Sy from MetalWealth.

The workshop was an offshoot of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by DENR-EMB and RCVR last March 3, 2012 for the establishment of a recycling technology cooperation network, and the promotion of information and knowledge sharing and collaboration on solid waste management projects, in particular but not limited to recycling.