Country-Led Initiative to Improve the Effectiveness of The

UNEP/CHW.12/INF/6

Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention
on the Control of Transboundary Movements of
Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
Twelfth meeting

Geneva, 4–15 May 2015

Item 4 (a) (i) of the provisional agenda

Matters related to the implementation of the Convention:
strategic issues: follow-up to the Indonesian-Swiss

country-led initiative to improve the effectiveness of the

Basel Convention

Follow-up to the Indonesian-Swiss country-led initiative to improve the effectiveness of the Basel Convention

Fact sheets on specific waste streams and a report assessing possible incentives to encourage the private sector to invest in environmentally sound management

Note by the Secretariat

As referred to in the note by the Secretariat on the follow-up to the Indonesian-Swiss country-led initiative to improve the effectiveness of the Basel Convention (UNEP/CHW.12/3), annex I to the present note contains fact sheets on specific waste streams and annex II contains a report assessing possible incentives to encourage the private sector to invest in environmentally sound management. The annexes were developed by the expert working group on environmentally sound management. The present note, including its annexes, has not been formally edited.

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Annex I

Fact sheets on specific waste streams

Contents

1.General information on Fact Sheets...... 3

2.Fact sheets on specific waste streams...... 6

A. Electrical and electronic waste (E-waste)...... 6

B. End-of-life vehicles...... 9

C. Medical or healthcare waste...... 12

D. Household waste...... 15

E. Mercury waste...... 18

F. Used lead-acid batteries (ULABs)...... 21

G. Used oils……………...... 24

F. Waste tyres.…...... 27

1. General information on Fact Sheets

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Waste / Non-waste Determination

In some instances, Parties to the Basel Convention may have different views as to whether a particular transboundary movement is subject to the Convention's controls as a result of differing understandings of what constitutes waste. While there is considerable agreement that used equipment is not waste if it is fully functional and intended for direct reuse, the distinction between waste and non-waste is particularly relevant when importing used and near end-of-life goods that soon become waste. Also of significance are differing criteria regarding the conditions under which a substance or object is to be considered a by-product or when some waste streams cease to be waste.

To ensure that wastes are managed in an environmentally sound manner and consistently within their respective territories, Governments should ensure that clear legislation is developed defining what is meant by “waste” and “non-waste”. Relevant guidance for distinguishing wastes from non-wastes has been issued by, among others, the European Commission (e.g. Correspondents' Guidelines, Interpretative Communication on waste and by-products, methodology for the development of end-of-waste criteria) and OECD, as well as individual countries (e.g. Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Further work on clarifying this matter under the Basel Convention is in progress (e.g. work of the Indonesian-Swiss Country-Led Initiative, and the development of technical guidelines on transboundary movements of e-waste and used electrical and electronic equipment).

Best Available Techniques and Best Environmental Practices for Waste Management

Managing hazardous or other wastes in an environmentally sound manner is a fundamental obligation of Parties to the Basel Convention. The use of “Best Available Techniques” (BAT) and “Best Environmental Practices” (BEP) is considered a useful tool for ensuring that waste is managed in an environmentally sound manner within a particular waste management facility.

Under the Basel Convention, environmentally sound management (ESM) means “taking all practicable steps to ensure that hazardous wastes or other wastes are managed in a manner which will protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects which may result from such wastes”. The framework for the ESM of hazardous wastes and other wastes, developed to improve the effectiveness of the Convention, establishes a common understanding of what ESM encompasses, identifies tools to support and promote the implementation of ESM, and identifies strategies to foster and enhance implementation of ESM of wastes. General guidance on ESM has also been developed by the OECD.

To ensure that wastes are managed in an environmentally sound manner, Governments should foster continual improvement within the waste management sector, including the development and implementation of measures to ensure facilities operate according to appropriate BAT and BEP, in a step-wise manner, which take into consideration the protection of the environment and the technical, operational and economic feasibility of doing so, while working toward continually improving environmental performance.

A number of technical guidelines have been developed and adopted under the Basel Convention for the ESM of specific waste streams, such as used and waste pneumatic tyres, and waste lead-acid batteries. Technical guidance for the use of BAT in waste treatment industries and waste incinerators has been published by the European Commission in the form of “BAT Reference Documents” (BREFs). In addition, BREFs covering specific industrial sectors contain information on relevant aspects of waste treatment (e.g. non-ferrous metals processes). BREFs are a useful tool to identify BAT, their performance, and costs (investment and operating costs). Guidance has also been developed under the Stockholm Convention on how to reduce or eliminate unintentionally produced Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) by using BAT and BEP. Among other source categories, the guidelines address emissions from waste management installations such as waste incinerators, secondary metal production, shredder plants for the treatment of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), cement kilns firing hazardous waste, and waste oil refineries.

Extended Producer Responsibility

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) extends a producer’s responsibility for a product to the post-consumer stage of its life cycle. Policy approaches based on EPR can be used by governments to encourage environmentally sound recycling schemes. A guidance manual has been produced by the OECD which provides information to governments on EPR issues and benefits, and on the actions required to establish effective EPR policies and programmes. The European Commission has likewise published guiding principles for member countries.

There are three basic categories of EPR instruments: take-back requirements (product take-back), economic instruments (deposit/refund schemes, advance disposal/recycling fees, material taxes, upstream combination tax/subsidy), and performance standards (recycled content standards). Take-back requirements and economic instruments can be used to meet policy objectives by assigning responsibility for the end-of-life management of products. In addition, performance standards can be established to specify a particular percentage of recycled materials to be used in a product. Other complementary measures include unit based pricing (pay-as-you-throw, waste volume charges); landfill bans and taxes; removal of virgin material subsidies; materials, product and chemical bans and restrictions; eco-labelling; green government purchasing; marketable permits; and recycling credit programmes.

The OECD database on instruments used for environmental policy and natural resources management provides information on environmentally related taxes, fees and charges, tradable permit systems, deposit refund systems, environmentally motivated subsidies and voluntary approaches used in environmental policy in various countries.

Clear policy goals (e.g. source reduction, waste prevention) and programme objectives (e.g. reducing the amount of waste going to final disposal) should be established for designing an effective EPR scheme. Products, product groups or waste streams should be matched with the most appropriate EPR policy mechanism, and decisions on whether to make the programme voluntary or mandatory, or to use a combination of the two (e.g. negotiated agreements), should be made early on. Targets for recycling and quotas for the take-back of products should be set according to the capacity of the recycling market. Any EPR programme needs to address “free-riding”, “orphan” and “existing” products.

Capacity and Feasibility

Building sufficient domestic infrastructure and capacity to ensure availability of adequate facilities to undertake waste management operations allows wastes to be managed in close proximity to where they are generated, minimizing the need for them to be exported for management elsewhere. The lack of adequate and sufficient treatment facilities represent a drive to subject wastes to transboundary movements. In contrast, the Basel Convention is based on the general principle that transboundary movements of wastes should be reduced to a minimum and Parties are required to ensure the availability of adequate disposal facilities for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and other wastes, preferably and to the greatest extent possible, located within their own territory.

In order to develop an understanding of waste treatment capacity needs, governments should prepare and maintain an inventory of hazardous and other wastes, including recovery and disposal capacity.

As provided for by Article 13, paragraph 3, of the Basel Convention, Parties are required to inform each other of disposal facilities authorized, permitted or registered to operate in their territories. This information can be found in the Convention’s online reporting database.

Permitting

The permitting and control of installations and activities is essential for ensuring the ESM of hazardous and other wastes. The practical manual on permits and licenses developed under the Basel Convention provides detailed information on procedures and requirements (e.g. environmental requirements, occupational safety and health requirements) associated with permits, licenses and monitoring.

Certification and Auditing Systems

Environmental management systems (EMS) can help organisations identify and manage their environmental impacts as well as compliance with environmental legislation. Dismantlers and recyclers can become certified (e.g. using ISO, EMAS or industry standards) by demonstrating to an accredited, independent third-party auditor that they meet specific standards to safely recycle and manage wastes. An organization can, however, achieve the same benefits from an EMS whether or not it pursues certification. Non-standardised systems can in principle be equally effective provided that they are properly designed and implemented.

A practical manual on certification schemes developed under the Basel Convention provides guidance on how standards and certifications support the implementation of ESM.

Enforcement

The ESM of wastes requires a regulatory and enforcement infrastructure that ensures compliance with legal instruments and standards. Consideration should be given to a national (or regional) policy that includes provisions to allow effective enforcement actions to be undertaken, including sanctions that will serve as a deterrent to non-compliance.

Transboundary Movements

Parties to the Basel Convention have the obligation to ensure that transboundary movements are reduced to a minimum consistent with an environmentally sound and efficient management, and these should not be allowed to occur when there is a reason to believe that the wastes in question will not be managed in an environmentally sound manner.

Where a transboundary movement is allowed by the competent authorities, it should be conducted in a manner which will protect human health and the environment, in accordance with generally accepted and recognised international standards and practices and any applicable international transport agreements (e.g. UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods; International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code).

Notifications received by the Secretariat of the Basel Convention from Parties on decisions to prohibit or restrict the import/export of hazardous or other wastes are available on the Convention’s website.

Adequate sanctions for illegal traffic should be considered to discourage such movements in the future. Various guidance documents have been developed under the Basel Convention with a view to achieving the objectives of preventing and combating illegal traffic.

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2. Fact sheets on specific waste streams

A. ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC WASTE (E-WASTE)

* Target audience: Dismantlers and recyclers

Classification

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Waste / Non-waste Determination

The classification of waste as regards the distinction between waste and non-waste is different across countries. This is relevant when importing used and near end-of-life goods that soon become waste. There is considerable agreement that used equipment is not waste if it is fully functional and intended for direct reuse. In the European Union, if the reuse criteria and the 'minimum requirements for shipments' (as specified in Annex VI of Directive 2012/19/EU on e-waste) are not met, used electrical and electronic equipment is to be regarded as waste. Additional recommendations are available from the European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL).

Further work on clarifying this matter under the Basel Convention is in progress (e.g. development of technical guidelines on transboundary movements of e-waste and used electrical and electronic equipment).

Storage

Storage areas should be sheltered and have an impermeable surface with sealed drainage system with, where appropriate, provision of spillage collection facilities. Batteries, PCB/PCT-containing capacitors, and other hazardous components should be stored in dedicated, labelled and appropriate containers.

Packaging

E-waste should be packaged in a manner that prevents breakage and release of hazardous components to the environment, during transportation, loading and unloading. Unbroken devices may be stored in drums, boxes, or the cartons they originally came in.

Transportation

Transport should be carried out by a licensed, permitted or otherwise authorised carrier, according to the applicable laws and regulations. The “UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Model Regulations”, contains provisions for the packing, marking, labelling and placarding of dangerous goods, which may be considered in cases where there is no specific legislation. Class 9 placards should be visible, except where national law requires differently.

Emergency response information (e.g. safety data sheets, ERICards) and hazardous waste manifests (consignment notes), as required by national law, should accompany each shipment of e-waste.

Best Available Techniques and Best Environmental Practices for Waste Disposal

E-waste should only be treated in facilities that are properly licensed, permitted or otherwise authorised, and that practise environmentally sound management (ESM) by taking all practicable steps to ensure that wastes are managed in a manner which will protect human health and the environment against adverse effects. General guidance on ESM has been developed under the Basel Convention and by the OECD.

Detailed guidance on the ESM of used and end-of-life computing equipment and mobile phones has been developed under the Basel Convention Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE) and Mobile Phone Partnership Initiative (MPPI), respectively. Also, a comprehensive set of technical requirements with respect to e-waste operations is contained in the WEEELABEX standards designed by a WEEE Forum project co-financed by the LIFE Programme of the European Commission.

Where appropriate, priority should be given to the reuse of whole appliances, and then components, sub-assemblies and consumables.

Storage and treatment areas require impermeable surfaces for appropriate areas with suitable spillage collection facilities, and where appropriate, decanters and degreasers. Hazardous or fluid-containing e-waste should be provided with weatherproof coverings where exposure to the weather could result in the escape of hazardous substances. In the European Union, requirements applicable to treatment and storage sites can be found in Annex VIII of Directive 2012/19/EU on e-waste.

Appropriate procedures should be in place to ensure that components or materials likely to contain PCBs, mercury, radioactive substances, RCFs or asbestos are identified, and work is not initiated without adequate controls being taken.

To ensure ESM of e-waste, treatment should include the removal of all fluids and, among other things, the safe removal as a whole of the following items: PCB-containing capacitors; mercury-containing components; toner cartridges; asbestos; components containing refractory ceramic fibres (RCFs); components containing radioactive substances; gas discharge lamps; CRTs; electrolyte capacitors; batteries and accumulators that can be removed prior to treatment. The following can be removed as materials: plastic containing BFRs; CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs and hydrocarbons; external electric cables; circuit boards; LCDs; the fluorescent coating in CRTs; small batteries on circuit boards. Once removed these should be stored separately in suitable labelled containers.

Mercury should be removed from gas discharge lamps through a treatment process designed to prevent fugitive emissions of mercury vapour or dust. Batteries should be handled according to their specific characteristics and having regard to the potential fire risk associated with them. Gases that are ozone depleting substances (ODS) or have a global warming potential above 15 should be properly extracted and treated; refrigeration appliances should be presumed to contain ODS unless confirmed otherwise. Removed cable should not be smouldered. In the European Union, requirements applicable to the selective treatment of e-waste can be found in Annex VII of Directive 2012/19/EU. Detailed guidance on best available techniques has been published by the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.