LECTURE 4 – DETECTING

HAZARDOUS WASTE

TRAINING WORKSHOP

ON ENVIRONMENTALLY

REGULATED SUBSTANCES

OVERVIEW

Legal frameworks

Enforcement Considerations

Document review

Container inspection

What to look for

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WHAT IS HAZARDOUS WASTE?

Under the Basel Convention, hazardous wastes are:

Wastes with specific toxic components:

Cadmium, lead, arsenic

Wastes resulting from activities known to be toxic

medical care, pharmaceutical industries, photographic industries

Household Waste

Unusable electronics

Transboundary movements of any wastes must follow Basel procedure for Notification, Consent and the accompanying Movement Document as well as any relevant national legislation.

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HAZARDOUS WASTE/ANNEX VIII/ LIST A/BASEL CONVENTION

e.g.

A1010 Metal waste of lead, mercury……

A1180 Waste electrical and electronic assemblies containing hazardous components such as accumulators, mercury switches, glass from cathode-ray tubes etc.

A1190 Waste metal cables containing or contaminated with coal tar, PCB, lead, cadmium etc.

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OTHER WASTE/ANNEX IX/ LIST B/BASEL CONVENTION

e.g.

B1010 Metal waste, non dispersible form, like iron and steel scrap, copper scrap etc.

B1110 Electrical and electronic asemblies not containing hazardous components

B1115 Waste metal cables not included in A1190

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WHAT IS ILLEGAL TRAFFIC?

ANY transboundary movement of wastes:

Without notification to all States concerned;

Without consent of a State concerned;

With consent obtained from States concerned

through falsification, misrepresentation, or

fraud;

That does not conform in a material way with

documents;

That results in deliberate disposal (e.g. dumping)

of wastes

Basel Convention Parties are required to consider

illegal traffic as a crime and to take action

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BASEL CONVENTION REGULATORY SYSTEM

Establishment of notification procedure to ensure

prior informed consent of State of import and

States of transit before export of waste can take

place

Requirement that all practicable steps are taken to

ensure environmentally sound management of

waste

Restriction on exports to any country not Party to

the Convention; and

Duty of exporting state to re-import where export

has not complied with provisions of Convention. 7

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE

EXPORT -> IMPORT & TRANSIT

Competent Authority of Export transmits a

Notification Document to Competent Authority of

Country of Import and Competent Authorities of all

Countries of Transit.

Provides detailed, accurate and complete

information

on waste itself

on proposed disposal operation

other details relating to proposed shipment.

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CONSENT

IMPORT & TRANSIT -> EXPORT

Competent Authority of Import must provide its

written consent or denial to notifier.

CA must confirm existence of a legally binding

contract between exporter and disposer

Contract must specify environmentally sound

management of waste

Competent Authority of Transit countries must

provide written consent or denial to notifier.

Countries of Transit may waive requirement of prior

written consent for transit shipments if it informs all

Parties through Basel Secretariat 9

MOVEMENT DOCUMENT

Competent Authority of Export

issues Movement Document

Movement Document must

accompany consignment at all

times.

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EXPORT OF WASTE OUT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

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European Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR)

Art.35 Export of waste for disposal

Export of any waste for disposal is forbidden

Art. 36 Export of waste for recycling

Export of hazardous waste to non-OECD countries is

forbidden

Export of other waste to non-OECD countries is

forbidden, if the country of import has forbidden import

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Waste, which is allowed to be exported from

European Community to Vietnam

Basel-Member-State

Non-OECD-Country

Export of hazardous waste from the European

Community to Vietnam is forbidden.

Export of non-hazardous waste from the EC to Vietnam

allowed only for some special Basel keys out of Annex

IX Basel convention, e.g.

B1010 Metal waste in non-dispersible form

B2020 Glas waste in non-dispersible form

B3010 Solid plastic waste

B3020 Paper waste

COMMONLY OBSERVED MODI OPERANDI

Documentation

Basel Convention Notification Procedure not complied with

Deliberate and accidental mislabeling

New goods, second hand goods

Non-hazardous materials

Generic / Non-specific labeling of waste

Falsifying test certificates indicating the state of the good

Packaging

Mixing legal and illegal goods

Shipment with 100 broken TVs hidden among 200 working TVs

discovered in Germany bound for Ghana

Concealment

Hiding broken electronics within secondhand vehicles

Hiding waste towards rear or center of container

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Access to

data

Intelligence led

inspections in seaports

More

detailled

inspection

Using risk

indicators

+

=

CONDUCTING AN ADMINISTRATIVE

INSPECTION: GOOD PRACTICES

After shipment has been selected for investigation,

review the shipment’s paperwork, which may

include:

Customs Documents

Transport Documents

Movement Documents

Certified copy of Consent Document

Notification Form

Safety Date Sheets / Certificates

Contracts and invoices

Make copies from relevant documents (e.g.,

invoices, contract, packing list)

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OBSERVED EXAMPLES OF FALSE LABELING

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HS Code Declared as Contained

3915 Plastic scrap Waste plastic mixed with other waste,

medical waste, household waste, e-waste,

CRT monitors

7204 Metal scrap Waste batteries, cables, contaminated

scrap, electronic waste, CRT monitors

2420 Personal goods E-waste

8701, 8703 Second-hand vehicle CFC containing fridges, e-waste

8708 Engine spare parts Contaminated/not cleaned engine parts

8528 CRT monitors Waste/broken monitors

Mislabeling waste is most common illegal practice

reported to INECE

CONDUCTING A PHYSICAL INSPECTION: GOOD

PRACTICES

A physical inspection or X-ray may be necessary to

verify the actual load and the composition of the

waste.

Ensure officials have the legal authority to open the

container.

Take safety precautions when opening container

Take photographs or videos of the contents of the

container, with a timestamp if feasible.

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CAREFULLY INSPECT CONTAINERS

Containers must be appropriate to

hazardous materials they contain:

Corrosive materials should be in plastic containers

Solvent materials should be in metal containers

Verify that containers have no leaks or visible spills

Verify that container is not bulging

Verify that container is not dented or mishandled

Products must be kept in good condition in order

to be acceptable to a lawful consignee.

Inspect recently painted drums to determine whether

paint covers old labels or markings 18

EXAMPLES

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Household waste

declared as paper

waste

Metal scrap

Container of

computer monitors

GLOBAL WASTE FLOWS & HOTSPOTS

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