Academic Collaboration
OPTOCE has initiated an Academic Collaboration with Asian Universities to build competence on treatment options for Non-Recyclable Plastic Waste and provide better knowledge about current management practice and the fate of mismanaged plastics. Some examples of studies and pilot demonstrations are provided in the following chapters.
Examples of ongoing activities in China
The Yangtze River is draining waste materials from hundreds of millions of people which leads to turbine problems in the world's largest dam located in the Hubei Province.
Photo: The Three Gorges dam authority collects more than 100 000 m3 of floating material from the Yangtze River in the period July-September 2020
Photo: The collected floating material contains plastic waste
The floating material contains a considerable proportion of plastic waste and will be Co-processed in a local cement kiln in Zigui city, upstream the Three Gorges dam in the coming months if approved by MEE. OPTOCE aims to conduct a Pilot demonstration and document the performance.
Examples of ongoing activities in India
In a 18 month project approved by the Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India, OPTOCE aims to test and compare the performance of treatment options for mined combustible wastes from the Ghazipur dumpsite in Delhi, in a 1) Cement kiln, 2) WtE Incinerator, and 3) Thermal Power plant. The article "India's current and potential MSW use in RDF production" will be published in the International Cement Review in October 2020.
Photo: The Norwegian Minister for Environment and Climate Change is visiting Ghazipur in March 2020
Photo: Ghazipur dumpsite in Delhi is one of the biggest in India; March 2020
OPTOCE is funding research to be conducted by a MSc-student at Jadavpur University in Kolkata. Please also see the article "India’s current and potential MSW use in RDF production - ICR October 2020".
Examples of ongoing activities in Myanmar
OPTOCE will on behalf of the Norwegian Government contribute to prepare a National Plastic Waste Action Plan for Myanmar, planned to be delivered to the President's office by September 2021. The project is coordinated by the World Bank Group and supported by the Asian Development Bank, the Ministry of Environment, Government of Japan, and the Netherland Embassy in Yangon.
Examples of ongoing activities in Thailand
OPTOCE is starting a research study together with the Asian Institute of Technology – AIT aiming to reveal how plastics degrade in dumpsites and how this might contribute to release microplastics to nearby rivers and groundwater.
OPTOCE is a member of the Advisory Panel of the newly established Master of Science in Marine Plastic Abatement (MPA) programme at AIT. The Programme is funded by Government of Japan and is part of UNESCOs Plastic Initiative. OPTOCE is providing lecturers in the Master Programme. The MPA-programme has received more than 200 applications from 31 countries; the first batch with 39 students is ongoing. The next intake will be in January 2021.
Photo: Brochure for the MPA-programme at AIT
Examples of ongoing activities in Vietnam
OPTOCE is starting a research study together with Vietnam National University in Hanoi to study collection and treatment of non-recyclable plastic waste from Hanoi, focusing especially on the practical segregation of recyclable and non-recyclable plastic waste within the informal collection systems.
OPTOCE will cooperate with UNDP in the project "Plastic waste management in Scaling Up A Socialised Model of Domestic Waste and Plastics Management in Five Cities, Viet Nam (DWP5C)" in Binh Duong. The non-recyclable fraction of collected plastic waste will be tried co-processed in local cement industry if found feasible.
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