In celebration of the 37th commemoration of World Ozone Protection Day, GIZ Proklima conducted learning sessions for Environment Regulatory and Enforcement Personnel in Manila and Davao City. These sessions featured hands-on demonstrations by technicians and insights into destruction technology, emphasizing the importance of Refrigerant Recovery, Identification and End of Life Management.
Cool Contributions fighting Climate Change II (C4II (opens in a new window)) and the Climate and Ozone Protection Alliance (COPA (opens in a new window)) implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV-IKI) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (IKI-BMWK) supported learning sessions on Refrigerant Recovery, Identification and End of Life Management (RRI-EOL) learning sessions for the regional regulatory and enforcement personnel of the Environmental Management Bureau Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-EMB).
Two learning sessions were conducted as part of the World Ozone Day (opens in a new window), month long celebration in Manila at Delsa, Inc. a DENR recognized hazardous waste collection, transport and storage (CTS) facility on 18 September 2024 and at Korphil Regional Training Center in Davao City on 26 September 2024. The two learning sessions were attended by all sixteen (16) DENR-EMB regional offices who regulates chemical consumption and hazardous waste disposal from local industry within their jurisdiction.
The basics of refrigerant recovery and identification was demonstrated to the participants with proper recovery equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE). Actual hands-on demonstration was conducted by certified advanced technicians and trainers on refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). For the Davao learning session, Holcim, which operates the cement kiln destruction facility also provided an overview of the destruction technology and the compliance requirements to ensure that environmental integrity is maintained for the carbon markets.
As a token of partnership with the DENR-EMB and TESDA, a 100 kg recovery tank was turned over by GIZ Proklima which signifies the potential mitigation action through adequate collection infrastructure is possible for both hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) and ozone depleting substance (ODS) refrigerants recovered during training, assessment and certification in TESDA accredited RAC training institutions. DENR-EMB however highlighted that the process of CTS must secure adequate environmental permits such as environmental compliance certificates (ECC), hazardous waste generation and storage certifications.