Crispian Lao

Commissioner Crispian Lao is the Vice Chairman of the National Solid Waste Management Commission under the Office of the President, Republic of the Philippines, as the Private Sector Representative for the Recycling Industry. He is a strong advocate for the environment through proper waste management and the development of enabling policies to promote appropriate, technologically and economically viable investments and support Small and Medium Enterprises in the Philippines. He is a Co-Convener and Founding President of the Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Material Sustainability (PARMS) which brought together stakeholders in the supply and waste value chain with civil society and academe in partnership with government (Manufacturers, Industry Groups, Retail Groups, MRFS/Junkshops/Waste Consolidators & Haulers, Recyclers, NGOs, and Government Entities) whose objective is to “Develop and Implement a Holistic & Comprehensive Program to Increase Resource Recovery and Reduce Landfill Dependence towards Zero Waste”. In 2020, PARMS launched its “ZERO WASTE TO NATURE: AMBISYON 2030” initiative towards developing a roadmap with short (2022) medium (2025) and long term (2030) targets to guide sound and implementable actions on single use product and packaging applications. Within APEC, Mr. Lao also serves as the Co-Chair and Industry Sector Representative to the APEC Virtual Working Group on Marine Debris, and is also a technical working group member of the Climate Change Commission; board member of the Solid Waste Management Association of the Philippines; a Technical Committee member of the Bureau of Product Standards; a member of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Environment and Climate Change Committee; and past president of the Philippine Plastics and Industry Association. In addition to his several professional memberships, Comm. Lao received and conducts trainings on Solid Waste Management, 3Rs, Sustainable Materials Management, Circular Economy, Waste to Energy, Mercury Waste Recycling, among others. Because of his extensive professional experience, he also does consultancy work, project management and plant design, and is regularly invited as a resource speaker on the environment, packaging and emerging technologies. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in De La Salle University, the Philippines. He is part of the UN Ad Hoc Open Ended Experts Group on Marine Litter, attends the UNEP Marine Plastics Expert Workshops, part of the expert panel group that led to the publication of the Study on “Breaking the Plastic Wave” released in the Science Magazine in 2020; and a Technical Advisory Group member of the Global Review on Safer End of Engineered Life and regularly invited as a global and local resource person on Solid Waste Management.