Zero Waste Guam Forum for Mobilization and Implementation

Buenas yan Håfa Adai,

The Leon Guerrero-Tenorio Administration is committed to implementing zero waste initiatives to help preserve Guam’s precious natural resource for future generations. In conjunction with the Zero Waste Working Group (ZWWG), we invite you as a key stakeholder in Guam’s sustainable solid waste management community, to attend the “Zero Waste Guam Forum for Mobilization and Implementation” to be held at the Hyatt Regency Grand Ballroom on March 1, 2023, at 8:00 a.m.

Highlighted during this forum will be the recent completion of the Guam Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan update (ISWMP) and the Zero Waste Master Plan (ZWMP) update. The ISWMP reviews Guam’s solid-waste-management system and charts the path toward developing a sustainable materials management system in Guåhan. This event is particularly relevant in light of the transition of the Guam Solid Waste Management Authority away from federal receivership back to the people of Guam.

The ZWMP provides sustainable solutions and a long-term programmatic approach for the government and people of Guahan to make real the aspirations of a zero-waste Guam using a green circular economy as the strategic plan to develop a more sustainable, robust, and resilient economy. These important planning initiatives align with the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and the Guahan 2050 Sustainability Plan, Public Law 35-110, which creates a framework for comprehensive land use reform based on sustainability.

The forum will bring together all the relevant entities of the ZWWG – Guam EPA, the Port Authority of Guam, the Bureau of Statistics and Plans, the Office of Infrastructure and Policy Coordination, the business community, and non-governmental organizations. At the forum, they will learn about and discuss a whole-systems approach to planning, recycling, reuse, waste reduction, green economic opportunity, regulatory compliance, and the nexus between zero waste and funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This forum also offers subject matter experts, solid waste management stakeholders, and interested community members the opportunity to discuss real-world, actionable strategies that work. The discussion will underscore that zero-waste is climate action–implementation of zero-waste initiatives are among the fastest and most cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change and build resiliency.

The agenda for the day’s presentations and activities will be forthcoming.