Ulaanbaatar
Waste management issues discussed at the national forum
Environment
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Ministry of Environment and Tourism organized the national forum on waste management under the theme ‘Transition and solutions to waste-free economy’ on May 7, 2019. Representatives of relevant ministries, private entities, NGOs and local municipal authorities participated in the forum.
Opening the forum, Minister of Environment and Tourism N.Tserenbat said “Increasing correspondence between the government agencies will help address the issue of waste management. Thus, we are mainly focused on this. Also, we would like to call the media to cooperate with us in educating the public. After the appointment, I initiated the ‘Let’s change our attitude’ project, successfully implementing package of works including the campaign to change public impression on that matter and call to action campaigns.”
A draft law on Eco fee to charge the entities that produce waste and support recyclers has been developed and a working group was established in this regard. Recycling business in our country is not sustainable due to low population. Thus, the waste management issue is facing some financing difficulties. We are planning to transform the Ulaan Chuluut landfill, the work will start as we develop the main concept and submit it to the Parliament. One of the objectives of ‘Mongolia Sustainable Development Vision 2030’ is to increase the amount of recycling to 40 percent of the total waste by 2030. However, about 50 percent of the total waste is recyclable and we are recycling only 10 percent, noted Minister.
In her speech, the UNDP Resident Representative Beate Trankmann emphasized that the United Nations and its specialized agencies will be supporting Mongolia’s effort to improve the waste management. By reducing, reusing and recycling the waste, we can maintain Mongolia’s green fields, create clean cities and healthy environment for everyone.
In 2018, a total of 3.4 tons of waste was disposed at 390 special points, while 150 thousand tons of waste disposed off the designated area. Some 22 hectares of polluted area was cleaned.
Recycling companies displayed their products at the forum. Various products including well lining, keychains and chimney cap made of recycled plastic bags, cardboard boxes made of paper waste and concrete made from pebbles waste were displayed at the expo.
