IIST has carried out a project for developing human resources with the goal of establishing a recycling-based economy in the APEC region out of the recognition that effective utilization of resources and minimizing wastes are essential for realizing sustainable economic development in the APEC region.
This APEC project aims to establish a recycling-based social system commonly applied in APEC through not only corporate and policy/regulatory efforts, but also the establishment of social infrastructure, development of related industries and technologies, as well as changing the behavior of consumers and corporate managers.

It is necessary to consider effective utilization of resources and minimizing wastes in the APEC region as a whole in order to realize sustainable economic development in the region. Some measures have been promoted for reducing the use of and reusing resources in some areas or some industries in the APEC region, while designing recyclable products have also been advanced in others.

In many areas of the APEC region, however, the introduction of such measures has only just started. Recycling of resources will not be realized by corporate and policy/regulatory efforts alone, but also by the establishment of social infrastructure, development of related industries and technologies and changes in behaviors of consumers and corporate managers. In other words, the establishment of a recycling-based economy is necessary.

In addition, the liberalization of trade and investment in the APEC region is leading to increased production and consumption across national borders, which, in turn, is expanding and complicating the recycling-based economic system. It is desirable that a recycling-based economy common to the APEC region be established.

As the first step to address these important issues, IIST has implemented the Project entitled “CapacityBuilding for Recycling-Based Economy” as an APEC human resources development project. It has been carried out as a joint project with APEC Human Resources Development - Capacity Building Network and APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

The project tries to advance the efforts of establishing the most effective recycling-based society in the APEC region and move forward to establish a sustainable economic development. Specific objectives of the project are:

To understand the current status and issues on reduction, reuse and recycling of resources in the APEC region.

To share best practices of recycling systems.

To clarify needs for human resources development to realize a recycling-based economy.

To jointly prepare and implement human resources development programs to address the needs. Develop necessary training materials for such a program.

To widely share program results and training materials among related organizations in the APEC region.

To establish a network of experts to promote recycling-based economy in the APEC region for sharing information even after the completion of the project.

The project composed of the following multiple activities:

１.

Preparatory Committee Meetings in Japan（fiscal 2003）

2.

Project Kick-off Meeting（August 2004, Gotenba）

3.

Round Table Discussion　（February 2005, Mexico City）

4.

Conference(June 2005, Yinchuan, China）

5.

International Symposium　（June 2005, Pattaya, Thailand）

6.

Final Workshop　（October 2005, Chinese Taipei）

7.

Report publication (December 2005)

IIST invited lecturers from abroad to the “Formation of Resources Recycling Network in Asia” international symposium for international division of labor in Asia, which was held in Kita-Kyushu from December 2 to December 5, 2002. They exchanged opinions with environment and recycling experts residing in Kita-Kyushu.

Contact : Human Resource Development Dept. info@iist.or.jp