CABICHEM hosts an online training course on "Hazardous waste management during the Covid-19 health emergency" for Mongolian stakeholders

On 1 and 2 February 2021 the Institute of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of the Italian National Research Council (ISTM – CNR), with the support of Fondazione FORMIT, held a Training Programme 2 on “Hazardous waste management during the COVID-19 health emergency”, which organised for the Mongolian stakeholders involved in the project. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impairment to travel, the training was held online.

The training – which has been already delivered for Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan – involved more than 20 stakeholders from Mongolian Ministries and Agencies. It had the goal of spreading knowledge and know-how about safety and security issues related to the generation, handling, stockpiling, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste materials, produced and/or found in sites, healthcare facilities and laboratories, in this period of pandemic crisis. The state-of-the-art and good practices about the safe management of SARS-CoV-2-related chemical and/or biological waste is treated, and also a specific session on the use of personal protective equipment in Covid-19 environments is included. The training also aimed at raising awareness about the state-of-the-art and the good practices on how to safely manage SARS-CoV-2-related chemical and/or biological waste, as well as demonstrating how to use personal protective equipment (PPE) to operate in COVID-19 contaminated areas.

During day 1 – following the welcome of Dr. Iryna Iarema, UNICRI Regional Coordinator for Central Asia, and Dr. Christian Raitz von Frentz, IcSP Regional Cooperation Officer for Central Asia – the scientific team provided the most updated information about SARS-CoV-2 and all related information for an efficient response in terms of risk assessment, methods for disinfection and bio-safety. 

During day 2 the current COVID-19 emergency situation in Mongolia and a practical session were discussed and held by the ISTM-CNR scientific team led by Dr. Matteo Guidotti to live show how to don and doff specific personal protective equipment to combat COVID-19.

At the end of the three sessions, all participants thanked the project staff for organising a very interesting and practical training that will help them in properly addressing the pandemic crisis in their country.