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Thai
National Pollution Prevention Roundtable unveils draft action plan at
Bangkok conference.
The newly formed Thai National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (Thai NPPR)
held its first conference March 25-26 in Bangkok, with more than 300
representatives from industry, academia, government, and nongovernmental
organizations in attendance. Catalyzed by US-AEP through its partnership
with the U.S. National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, the Thai NPPR�s
objectives are to promote information sharing on pollution prevention (P2),
forge consensus among Thai stakeholders regarding P2 activities, and serve
as an ongoing forum that accelerates implementation of P2 practices.
At the conference, participants reviewed and discussed Thai NPPR�s draft
action plan, which was written by the Thai Ministry of Science, Technology
and Environment�s Pollution Control Department (PCD) in an effort to
incorporate P2 into all aspects of Thai environmental regulation and
enforcement. Focus groups formed at the conference will meet over the next
few months to deliberate on specific P2 themes that are central to the plan,
including industry, government and NGOs, academia, agriculture, tourism, and
donor coordination. (Note: The conference was organized by the Thailand
Environment Institute and supported by the Thai PCD and Kenan
Institute-Asia.)
OPIC and
US-AEP seek proposals by April 26 for innovative environmental projects in
Asia.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a self-sustaining
U.S. government agency, and the US-AEP are partnering to implement a pilot
program to provide funding for innovative environmental management and/or
technology projects in Asia. A total of $1 million in financing is available
in a grant/loan combination to help support environmentally sustainable
development in the region. Applicants must be privately owned and operated
U.S. nongovernmental organizations with relevant experience in Asia, or a
consortium of business entities. Projects funded by the program will be
undertaken in the following countries: Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and
Vietnam. The deadline for proposals is April 26, 1999; more information can
be found on the following website:
http://www.opic.gov/subdocs/environmental.htm or by contacting Mitchell
Strauss of OPIC at 202-408-6300.
WET work in
Indonesia is making news.
A new article on the US-AEP-supported Water Efficiency Team (WET) in
Indonesia has been added to the News and Publications section of the US-AEP
website. The story by Elisabeth Tata, published in the February issue of the
Indonesian magazine INDIKATOR, discusses the critical condition of
the local water enterprises (PDAMs) and how WET is enhancing PDAMs�
efficiency. Ms. Tata participated in the 6th World Congress of Environmental
Journalists in Sri Lanka last October through the Environmental Exchange
Program, administered by the Institute of International Education. The
article can be found on the website at
https://www.usaep.org/articles/article29.htm.
The latest news on WET, according to Urban Environmental Infrastructure
Representative Jim Woodcock, is that 16 PDAMs have been evaluated;
preliminary plans have been made to implement WET�s recommendations on nine
PDAMs.The plans involve almost $2 million in loans from the Asian
Development Bank and World Bank, and will generate 150,000 person-days of
employment and 20,000 new connections of clean water for the urban poor in
Indonesia. The first phase of the project will end in April, and the second
phase, funded entirely by US-AEP, will involve integrating WET activities
with the PDAM rescue plan established by the government of Indonesia and the
World Bank. In addition, a May seminar will enable WET technical personnel
to provide local government officers and PDAM managers with training to
improve efficiency and facilitate public-private partnerships.
Policy
forum hosts series of briefings on renewable energy.
On April 6, US-AEP�s Policy Forum will host a brown bag lunch forum on
renewable energy, the first of three briefings on this subject. Dr. Paul
Klimas, USAID/Global Bureau�s director of Renewable Energy Programs, will
discuss policy instruments that can affect the use of renewable energy
technologies in newly industrializing countries in this first briefing. The
briefing will be held at 12:30pm on the 7th floor of 1720 Eye Street, NW,
Washington, DC. For more information, contact Brenda Bateman at
bbateman@usaep.org.
Indian
delegation seeks U.S. technology to clean textile wastewater.
Through the US-AEP Environmental Exchange Program (EEP), a
seven-member Indian delegation observed U.S. textile dyeing technologies in
action during a March 15-24 study tour. The delegates, who represent the
Tirupur Dyers Association and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, are
seeking cost-effective technologies to treat wastewater generated by
Tirupur�s 750 bleaching and dyeing units. Steps taken as a result of this
tour will help the firms meet an Indian Supreme Court mandate to address the
wastewater problem or face closure. Hazardous wastewater from Tirupur�s
textile facilities contains high levels of toxic dye chemicals that have
contaminated the Noyyal River and put a strain on the already acute shortage
of clean water in the area. The water is unfit not only for drinking and
cooking by the hundreds of thousands of people who live in the area, but
also for industrial use. As a result, local textile firms must truck in
roughly 300,000 gallons of water each day for their factories.
"The Tirupur Dyers Association came to me and asked if US-AEP could do
something to help them," said US-AEP Technology Representative Sundaresan
Subramanian, who selected the participants for the exchange and accompanied
the group on the tour. The Institute of International Education, which
administers EEP, set up visits to six textile technology firms: Praxair,
Inc. in Georgia and the following North Carolina companies: Virkler;
Technology Research Laboratories, Inc.; Martint, Inc.; Gaston County
Environmental Systems, Inc.; and PSP Marketing. The group also visited North
Carolina State University�s College of Textiles, where staff addressed
pollution prevention and best management practices.
Study tour participants are now considering the U.S. technologies that
will be most cost-effective and offer the best results. Potential sales
include equipment and consulting services for wastewater treatment plants to
serve hundreds of small- to medium-sized enterprises in the Tirupur area.
These plants will directly improve the quality of water for community and
industrial use. According to Mr. Subramanian, expected improvements include
"less hazardous effluents and less emissions of fuel," since fewer trucks
will be needed to transport water to the factories.
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Technology
Representative Sundaresan Subramanian and Carolyn Chang of the
Institute of International Education examine the dyeing operation at
Belmont Dryers in North Carolina. The tour of this facility was
arranged with Martint, Inc.
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Study tour
participants examine wastewater before it goes through the recyling
process.
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Engineer Larry
Offil of Martint, Inc. in North Carolina explains another process
for recycling wastewater to interested study tour members.
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