The Government of Myanmar has officially launched its National Waste Management Strategy and Master Plan (NWMSMP, 2018-2030) at the 6th Green Economy Green Growth (GEGG) Forum organized in Nay Pyi Taw on 4-5 February 2020. The NWMSMP was developed by the Environmental Conservation Department (ECD) of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) with the IGES Centre Collaborating with UNEP on Environmental Technologies (CCET) under the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) and the Ministry of Environment, Japan (MOEJ). The NWMSAP is the first national initiative aimed at institutionalising waste management and as such offers a visionary document and strategic guide for addressing key issues, opportunities and challenges associated with achieving a resource efficient and zero waste society.

The opening of GEGG and launching of NWMSMP were presided by H.E. U Ohn Win, Union Minister, MONREC, with participation of other Union Ministers on Agriculture, Education, and around about 500 participants including diplomats, officials and other key stakeholders from all the parts of Myanmar. At the launching event, Mr. Kazunobu Onogawa, Director of CCET highlighted the function this strategy can play in achieving SDGs in Myanmar, following the introduction of the history of strategy development and collaboration with MONREC and CCET.  Mr. Onogawa also touched upon the necessity of materialization of the concept of the strategy and importance of the implementation on the ground.  In this context, he has introduced the collaboration between Mandalay City and CCET also in support of its city level waste management strategy development with implementation of pilot projects as a way to operationalize the concepts and strategies.