The 13th International Conference on Waste Management and Technology (ICWMT) was held at Xijiao Hotel in Beijing from March 21 to 24, 2018. About 500 delegates from universities, research institutions, enterprises, and government departments from more than 34 countries and regions attended the conference.
The theme of this conference is "Comprehensive Control of Environmental Risks." It was organized by Tsinghua University, the Centre for Solid Waste and Chemicals Management of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Stockholm Convention Centre for Capacity Building and Technology Transfer in the Asia-Pacific Region. The event is co-hosted by Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, the Society of Solid Waste of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, Institute of Soil and Solid Waste, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Macao Environmental Research Institute of Macao University of Science and Technology.
Jinhui Li, Executive Director of the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, chaired the opening ceremony of the conference. The opening remarks will be delivered by Qiwun Qiu, former Director of the Department of Soil Environment Management of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Director of the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, Ruihe Tu, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions and Representative of the United Nations Environment Programme China Office, and Hualong Hu, Deputy Director of the Solid Waste Management and Technology Centre of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Keynote speeches were delivered by Professor Oladele A. Ogunseitan from the University of California, Irvine, Professor Yongfeng Nie from Tsinghua University, Researcher Zijian Wang from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Toshiaki Yoshioka from Tohoku University.
The conference received more than 60 papers in total and selected 9 outstanding papers. A total of 42 presentations were made in the main conference sessions. Alongside ICWMT, the following forums were held: "National Forum for Heads of Circular Economy Institutes," "2nd Regional Chemicals Forum," "Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop on Synergies and Effectiveness of Four Chemicals and Waste Conventions," "7th Environmental Symposium of the East Asian Research Universities Association: Resource Flows and Their Environmental Impact," "UNEP-Tsinghua Student Forum," "Urban Sustainability and Waste System Management," "Symposium on Legal Responsibility for Socially-Generated Hazardous Waste and Annual Workshop for Major National Social Science Fund Project ‘Research on Defining Environmental Responsibility and Governance Mechanisms for Socially-Generated Hazardous Waste,’" "E-waste Recycling and Pollution Control," "Resource Utilization and Management of Organic Waste," "Young Scholars Forum," "Graduate Student Forum," and "5th Asia-Pacific Regional Basel Forum." In total, 117 presentations were made in the thematic forums and in the salon titled "Circular Economy – Angel or Devil."
In addition, the conference organized on-site visits to hazardous waste disposal facilities, e-waste dismantling and processing companies, and landfills. Furthermore, a high-level training course titled 'Belt and Road Initiative Projects - Urban Mining and Pollution Prevention' was also held, along with the National Hazardous Waste Risk Prevention and Control Seminar and the Annual Meeting of the Solid Waste Treatment and Utilization Committee.
During the conference, five activities were organized, including initiatives to promote chemical and waste management under the 'Belt and Road Initiative' framework, a signing ceremony between the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific and Jingcheng Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., the launch of the 'International Research Report on Waste Power Battery Recycling and Treatment Industry (2017),' the Tsinghua University Think Tank Forum, and a high-level forum on the hazardous waste industry.
Since its inception in 2005, ICWMT has adhered to the goal of creating a relaxed and free academic exchange platform. It is dedicated to providing a venue for experts, scholars, and industry professionals in the field of solid waste management and disposal technology to articulate scientific concepts, showcase advanced experiences, and seek solutions. Over the past ten years, ICWMT has gained increasing recognition worldwide and has played an increasingly important role in academic exchanges within the field of solid waste.
