On Tuesday, participants heard a keynote address on lessons learned from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

In the morning, they met in two consecutive plenary sessions to discuss performance indicators for 3R and resource efficiency measures, and country-country cooperation for the promotion of 3Rs in Asia.

In the afternoon, participants met in five parallel roundtables to discuss: 3Rs in small and medium enterprises and industries; 3Rs in agriculture and the rural sector; 3Rs for sustainable and resilient cities; multi-stakeholder partnerships in advancing 3Rs and resource efficiency; and 3Rs as the basis for sustainable waste management in small island developing states (SIDS).

The roundtables reported back to plenary at the end of the day. The roundtable chairs reported some common themes, including; the need for cooperation and facilitation to advance 3R practices in industry; poverty alleviation as an underpinning concept in applying 3R in the agriculture and rural sector; the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships; and understanding 3R principles so as to gain the full benefit of adopting 3R policies.

The roundtable on sustainable waste management in SIDS proposed a new approach of “3R+R,” meaning “reduce, reuse, recycle and return.”

NGO groups that met on Monday afternoon, 18 March, also reported back to plenary, noting the active participation of over 90 representtives in the on-site art exhibition and event to commemorate Japan-Viet Nam Friendship Year 2013.