Five cities have committed to reduce marine plastic litter (MPL) under the Healthy Oceans and Clean Cities Initiative (HOCCI), a regional project funded by the Government of Japan and being implemented by UN-Habitat in the Philippines. HOCCI aims to enable local governments and communities by strengthening the institutional capacity to support the operationalization and localization of the Philippines’ upcoming National Plan of Action for the Prevention, Reduction, and Management of Marine Litter (NPOA-ML), and the development of improved data collection and waste management systems.
As initial demonstration of this commitment, members of technical working groups and local stakeholders participated in the city inception workshops held on December 3, 4, 7, 10, and 14, 2020 for the cities of Legazpi, Ormoc, Cagayan de Oro, Manila, and Calapan, respectively.
During the inception workshops, cities presented their local solid waste management targets and plans, and ongoing initiatives that contribute to the reduction of MPL. The workshops provided venues for local stakeholders and national government agency representatives to share their inputs to and expressions of support for these city initiatives.
Cities leveled off their understanding on marine litter, the NPOA-ML, and HOCCI project through input presentations by the HOCCI project team. They also learned some best practices and drew inspiration from presentations by HOCCI’s international partners, Arcadis Shelter Program and UN-Habitat HQ’s Waste Wise Cities (WWC).
In preparation for developing local city actions, cities completed the Waste Wise Cities Tool (WaCT) training, a high-level introduction to the application of WaCT, carried out in two batches on January 13 and February 5. Aimed at monitoring the Sustainable Development Goal 11.6.1, WaCT establishes the Waste Flow Diagram (WFD) and identifies measures to address gaps in marine litter reduction. The WFD step gathers information on how much of the generated waste is collected, managed and recovered in controlled facilities, recycled or processed, disposed, and eventually can end up as marine plastic litter. The tool is a valuable complement to their Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS).
During the WaCT training conducted by HOCCI partners from WWC, cities were walked through the details of each step of the methodology and practical tips and best practices from past experiences illustrated how these practices can be applied in the local context.
As of mid-February, the cities are at various stages of preparation for the field application of WaCT in their baselining activities.
The cities are set to engage in HOCCI City Marine Litter Action Planning workshops within the first quarter of 2021.
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