AKIPRESS.COM - On February 1 and 2, 2021, some forty professionals and scientists from Mongolian governmental institutions and national agencies, at the presence of Dr. Bayarkhuu, National Focal Point from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Mr. Marco Ferri, Deputy Head of Mission, EU Delegation to Mongolia, Ms. Iryna Iarema, Regional Coordinator for Central Asia for the UNICRI CBRN Risk Mitigation and Security Governance Programme and Dr. Christian Raitz von Frentz, First Secretary, EC FPI Programme Manager for Central Asia, have discussed the most recent approaches for a safe and sustainable organization of hazardous biological waste in locations affected by biological risk due to COVID-19. The discussion was managed by the Working Package 4 delegation of technical experts of the European Union’s Centers of Excellence for the prevention, protection and mitigation against CBRN risks and threats.

The ongoing pandemic emergency situation forced the EU professionals to pay a special attention to a specific training on best practices for a correct identification, handling and disposal of hazardous waste materials generated in production sites where the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen can be found. Much emphasis was also put on the safe management of potentially-contaminated streams of waste, that have rapidly grown at global level in the last year.

The Italian experts from the Italian National Research Council, CNR-SCITEC, and from FORMIT Foundation in Rome, in collaboration with the National Coordination Team of Mongolia discussed with the local participants the most recent prevention and protection strategies for the safe handling and treatment of hazardous solid and liquid waste. The 2-day-long training session took place as a webinar, in fully-remote mode, to comply with the current international strict travel limitations.

The course also includes training modules on sanitation by chemical solutions to mitigate the spread of virus on waste materials, the use of adequate Personal Protective Equipment to operate in COVID-19-contaminated areas and biosafety aspects linked to this pathogenic agent. The training session is part of the EU CBRN Project no. 65 CABICHEM on “Strengthening chemical and biological waste management in Central Asia countries for improved security and safety risk mitigation”, carried out in five partner countries of Central Asia.