掲載日：2016年12月20日

FY2016 Environmental Protection Course Takes Place for Officials from São Paulo, Brazil

The International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer, ICETT, conducted a Mie Prefecture-commissioned training course on environmental protection for environment-related officials from the State of São Paulo, Brazil.

ICETT would like to express its gratitude to the lecturers, company staff, and local government officials for their cordial cooperation and support for the course.

　1) Duration
　October 17 (Mon.) to 28 (Fri.), 2016

　2) Participants
　Three officials engaged in environmental matters from the State of São Paulo, Brazil

　3) Summary
In August, 2013, Mie Prefecture marked the 40th anniversary of its friendship with the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Based on the sister agreement, Mie concluded arrangements to renew the friendly relationship and set the environment and climate change as one of the fields to cooperate on with its Brazilian counterpart. In these circumstances, the prefectural government invited three officials from the State of São Paulo, Brazil, to this course. The participants engage in environmental administration and management, research work regarding environmental protection, and environmental protection in the industrial field.

The fiscal 2016 course focused on medical waste treatment and recycling (use of waste heat after incineration) to contribute to promoting environmental pollution control in the São Paulo state.

(Lecture scenes at ICETT)

At the lectures, the participants studied the Japanese waste management systems and efforts to create a recycling-oriented society. They also visited waste disposal contractor, hospital and other facilities in Mie prefecture. They learned about the intangible and tangible aspects of how to properly dispose of waste, and how Japan promotes recycling and manages and treats medical waste. There are large differences between São Paulo and Mie in various areas: the severity of environmental problems, social conditions such as legal systems, and cultural conditions such as awareness of the environment among local people. Considering the situation in the Brazilian state, as many question-and-answer sessions as possible were offered to the participants so that they could understand what they saw and learned about in the course.

(Visiting a waste treatment facility and a hospital)

The participants not only showed an interest in the highly advanced waste disposal facilities in Mie Prefecture. They also regarded the high level of the waste management technologies and the responsible handling of the waste issue as important assets the prefecture can be quite proud of. The local governments and residents cooperate with each other in sorting garbage, which helps raise recycling rates. Medical workers properly manage infectious waste, which prevents it from being improperly treated. All these aspects were highly appreciated by the participants who commented that these points would help them consider how to cope with environmental issues in São Paulo.

It is highly expected that the participants will take advantage of what they experienced and learned in this course and contribute to solving waste problems in the São Paulo state and that this course will help further promote friendship between Mie and São Paulo. 

(Commemorative photo in front of ICETT)