Dr Agamuthu FASc, is a Senior Professor (with 48 years of experience) in the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University (SU). He is also the Associate Dean (Research and Postgraduate Studies) at the School of Interdisciplinary Sciences, SU. He is a Global top 2% Scientist in Environmental Sciences by Stanford University.
He is a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences, Malaysia. He is appointed as the High-Level End Foreign Expert for the Ministry of Science and Technology, China and is also a Visiting Professor for Zhejiang University of Technology in Hangzhou, China. He is the Chairman of the International Consultant Committee of Waste to Energy, based in Zhejiang University.
He was an Associate Editor/ Senior Editor in Chief of Waste Management and Research (WM&R) for 20 years, and is currently an International Advisory Board member for WM&R. He is on the editorial boards of several journals such as Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management and Journal of Safety and Environment. He is the Vice-President of the Society of Solid Waste Management Experts in Asia and Pacific Islands (SWAPI). He is the Founder Head of the Center for Research in Waste Management and the Founder President of the Malaysian Society of Waste Management and Environment. Currently he is the Chairman for the Organization for Climate Change (OFCC), Malaysia. He is an Honorary life member of International Solid Waste Association (ISWA). He has published 22 books, 34 chapters in books and authored over 480 peer-reviewed articles, proceedings and invited papers. He has done over 75 consultancy projects and supervised over 200 Master’s Degree students and 45 doctoral students. His research interest includes Solid Waste Management, Plastic and Microplastics, Marine Debris, Landfills and Biomass/Waste to Energy, ESG, to name a few. He has international cooperation and collaboration in several countries such as the UK, China, Austria, Japan, Korea, India, Norway, Finland, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, to name a few.
Dr. Amila Abeynayaka is a researcher specializing in Quantitative Sustainability Assessment, with a focus on plastic pollution. He brings over 15 years of experience primarily from his work on waste management, life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, microplastics research, capacity building programs, and environmental policy studies in Asia. Currently based at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Dr. Abeynayaka's research centers on advancing methodologies for life cycle impact assessment (LCIA), particularly in evaluating human health and environmental impacts, including climate change and biodiversity loss caused by microplastics, nano-plastics, and plastic related chemicals. Amila serves as a technical committee member of the American Centre for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA), a steering committee member of the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Plastics Group, and a steering committee member of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty. Additionally, he is recognized as a Fellow at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in Japan and a member of the board of directors at the Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research (MIPPR) in California, USA.
Mr. Bishal Bhari has experience working on various environmental projects related to solid waste management, plastic waste management, end-of-life vehicle management, sustainable cities, circular economy, material cycle, industry 4.0, sustainable agriculture, and water treatment. Prior to working in RRC.AP, Bishal was doing research on material cycle and material flow analysis at the Environment Preservation Research Center at Kyoto University. He has also published a peer-reviewed journal and book chapter. His role in RRC.AP is to assist in the implementation of, among other things, a regional project on marine plastic debris knowledge management. His current work interest lies in the harmonization of quantitative environmental indicators on Plastic Waste Management for ASEAN focusing on its material flow. Bishal Bhari received his M. Eng in Environmental Engineering and Management from Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand and he holds a B. Tech in Environmental Engineering from Kathmandu University, Nepal.
Dr. C. Visvanathan, is an Emeritus Professor of the Environmental Engineering and Management Program, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology. Currently he is working at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering , at Mahidol University, Thailand. He has a Ph.D. (Chemical /Environmental Engineering) from Institute National Polytechnique, Toulouse, France. His main areas of research interests include: Sustainable Consumption and Production, Membrane technologies for water and wastewater treatment and solid waste disposal and management. In the field of solid waste, his main research interests focus around waste recycling and reuse, landfill pre-treatment technologies, plus Plastic Waste Management. He has published more than 170 international journal papers. He has more than 35 years of experiences teaching environmental engineering and management related courses at graduate level. Prof. C. Visvanathan is one among the 2% of top scientists in a global list compiled by the prestigious Standford University in the year 2020 - 2022.
As a dedicated member of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Ms. Chochoe Devaporihartakula has significantly contributed to a multitude of projects targeting solid waste and plastic waste challenges. Her work at IGES includes pivotal roles in Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund's Strengthening Capacity for Marine Debris Reduction in ASEAN region through Formulation of National Action Plans for ASEAN Member States and Integrated Land-to-Sea Policy Approach, UNESCAP’s Closing the Loop Project, G20 Marine Plastic Litter Implementation Framework, Alliance to End Plastic Waste’s Zero Plastic Waste Island, and Asian Development Bank’s Scaling Up Local Innovation project. Furthermore, her involvement extends to the World Bank's Knowledge and Partnerships Platform of the Southeast Asia Regional Program on Combating Marine Plastics (SEA-MaP), ERIA’s Regional Knowledge Centre for Marine Plastic Debris (KRC-MPD), and UNEP's One Plastics Initiative, among others. These efforts highlight her dedication to knowledge sharing, innovative solutions, and capacity building in the fight against plastic pollution. In her capacity as Programme Manager for the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN), Ms. Devaporihartakula also leads efforts to improve adherence to environmental laws across 18 countries, emphasising the importance of environmental protection and sustainability. She holds a Master's degree in Energy Technology and Management from Chulalongkorn University.
Ms. Dini Trisyanti holds an M.Sc. in International Program of Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure, (EESI) from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden in 2004, with a Bachelor of Engineering, from Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia in 2000. She is currently the Deputy for Capacity Building and Technical Assistance and Board Member of the Indonesia Solid Waste Association (InSWA) and the Director of Sustainable Waste Indonesia (PT. Sendang Bumi Wastama). She specializes in solid waste management with over ten years of experience in technical assistance for environmental programs. She has been involved in projects within the World Bank, ESP-USAID, Unilever, Danida, GIZ, as well as ministerial and local governments of Indonesia. Her interest is in Municipal solid waste management, facilitation of dialog between government – private – communities, building capacity on multi-aspect of municipal solid waste issues, as well as technically assisting implementation of solid waste management system.
Dr. Guilberto Borongan is Director at the AIT RRC.AP, Thailand. He has over 20 years of experience on various resource scales in waste management and 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle) in Southeast and East Asian countries. He has rich experience in resource mobilization and operations management in international multi- and bilateral funded projects. His focus areas include developing environmentally sustainable national waste management, marine litter, mercury waste management, 3R strategies, low carbon and climate resilient for the developing economies of Asia and the Pacific.
Dr. Borongan has intensive experience in building capacities for local governments and providing technical assistance to partners at both national and regional levels on waste and resource management. Among his many contributions to promoting sustainable waste and resource management in the region, a key highlight is his contributions to the ‘The Next Wave-Investment Strategies for Plastic Free Seas’, particularly the Policy & Practices Recommendations endorsed at the APEC Summit in 2016. He has been engaged in regional policy development and advocacy for the environment and health in Southeast and East Asian countries under the UNEP-WHO Ministerial Regional Forum on Environment and Health. Dr. Borongan continues to contribute impactful feats in promoting, advancing solutions, and developing waste and resource management in the ASEAN.
Maria Antonia N. Tanchuling is a Professor of the Institute of Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines and is the current Dean of the UP College of Engineering. Her research interests include Solid Waste Management, Plastic Leakage Studies, Microplastics, and Disaster Waste Management. She earned her PhD degree in Civil Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
Ms Peeraporn Palapleevalya is the Secretary-General and Committee of Sustainable Consumption and Production Association (Thailand) and Executive Secretary APRSCP Foundation. She has extensive experience in the field of promoting Circular Economy Policy, Sustainable Consumption and Production and Cleaner Production for SME in various sectors. She was an advisor to Sustainability Policy and Future Planning Division , the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO), project manager, Circular Economy Innovation Policy Forum2021 for SCPA (Thailand). She had been involved and initiated the sustainable textile related projects and Ecolabel of Textile products in Thailand more than 15 years. She was the Director of Textile Testing Center, at Thailand Textile Institute. She also worked as project manager and researcher in REACH, Environmental Benchmarking and Thailand National Master Plan on Cleaner Production. She has a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Management from National Institute of Development Administration, Master of Science in Environmental and Natural Resources Economics (International Program), Chulalongkorn University and Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Thonburi, Thailand.
Ms. Reeme Banerjee is the Programme Coordinator for Waste and Resource Management Group, Centre for Environment Education, India. She is overall in-charge of Biomedical Waste Common facility operated by CEE in Karnataka, India. With a Masters Degree in Applied Microbiology from CSS University, Meerut, UP, India in 2000, her areas of interests include Environment Education with focus to Waste Management, Capacity Building of trainers and educators, pedagogy and curriculum development, development of IETC materials, NGO management, Liasoning with Government/ Public and Corporate sectors, CSR programmes, Policy Advocacy, social and community entrepreneurship including waste based enterprises, as well as Training and Facilitation. She is a member at Professional Groups such as Committee of Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (UCCI), Orissa, Healthcare without Harm, Active Citizen, British Council and Asia South Asia Pacific Bureau of Adult Education, and IPLA. She is also Qualified Lead Auditor course on ISO-9001-2008 by British Standard Institution at Kolkata, India.
Solomon Huno is a Senior Programme Officer of the Waste and Resource Management Cluster of AIT RRC.AP. Solomon has over 10 years of hands-on multi-disciplinary experience in public service and private sector consulting and research in Africa and South East Asia. He possesses sound knowledge in project design, policy management, result-based monitoring and evaluation, and is confident in handling complex projects. He has been engaged the design and implementation of key projects related to technology and policy assessment, and monitoring, participatory technology transfer and the provision of technical backstopping in policy and technology deployment for sustainable environmental systems management. His current work and interests are in exploring the development and diffusion of key environmental innovations, and transformative policies to promote pollution prevention, waste and resource management, and sustainability in ecological and the social systems.
Dr. Sunil Herat is a Senior Lecturer at the Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University. Presently the program coordinator of the Master of Environmental Engineering on-line program offered by Griffith University, he is specialized in solid and hazardous waste management especially related to developing countries. He is an expert on training programs in municipal solid waste management, hazardous waste management and cleaner production and eco-efficiency. One area of interest include managing electronic waste (E-waste) in developing countries with special focus on policy development and regulatory aspects, implementing 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) activities in developing countries especially related to implementing cleaner production concepts in small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), managing healthcare waste and resource recovery from waste including energy recovery and composting, and community based solid waste management.
Dr. Vilas Nitivattananon is currently working as Professor in the field of Urban Innovation and Sustainability, Department of Development and Sustainability, School of Environment, Resources and Development at Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand. He has been working in AIT since 2004. His areas of specialization and research interests are climate change risk and adaptation, economic and environmental assessment, management of infrastructure and services, waste recycling and systems management, urban environmental management, and water engineering. He obtained his Ph.D. from University of Pittsburg (U.S.A.), his two Master's degrees from Asian Institute of Technology and Thammasat University, and his Bachelor's degree from Chulalongkorn University (Thailand).