MINDANAO State University – Naawan campus is the host of this year’s Plastics Research Intensive Methods Training Program (PRIMe-TP) Mindanao, an annual gathering of academics, students and other stakeholders alike to do plastics research in the country.
A project of the state-operated UP Marine Science Institute, PRIMe-TP was conceptualized due to rising concerns of the enormity and severity of the plastics pollution problem in the country. For this year, PRIMe-TP Mindanao is being supported by Holcim Philippines, MSU Naawan and MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology campus.
Out of the expected 60+ applicants during the nine-day event from October 14 to 25, Mindanao is represented by 20 selected trainees who are mostly early-career plastic researchers in the country such as government and private-based scientists, academicians and top management members of Holcim Philippines.
Training will include methods to collect, quantify, extract and identify macro- and microplastics from environmental and biological samples using traditional and advanced methods. The workshop aims to train participants in field collection and baseline surveys in select rivers and coastal sites in Naawan, use of different equipment (FTIR, stereomicroscope, drone, automated microplastics counter), techniques (density separation, chemical digestion, vacuum filtration) for analyses and application of AI, among others.
In his welcome message, 2023 PRIMe-TP project head Dr. Deo Florence Onda thanked Holcim for their profound support for the project. The Naawan training is the first leg of the project to be followed by the Visayas leg in March 2024; Luzon leg in July 2024; and National Capital Region leg on September 2024.
“The idea is to bring the science closer to the regions, to decentralize expertise and help build capacity at the grassroots,” Onda said. For her part, Christine Belen of Holcim returned the gratitude and lauded the academe particularly the UP Marine Science Institute for organizing such an endeavor. “I appreciate the fact that we have faculty members in this country who are dedicating their time to answer questions to complex problems and at the same time develop young talent,” she said.
Belen handles Circular Explorer, a solar-powered marine waste collection vessel developed by Holcim Philippines. She will share to researchers the features of Circular Explorer, a catamaran designed to recover up to four tons of plastic waste per day to preserve vital marine ecosystems in a sustainable way.
At the end of the training, PRIMe-TP Mindanao is expected to address the plastics pollution problem one researcher at a time.
