KEY ASPECTS FOR A SAFE MANAGEMENT OF WASTES CONTAINING OR CONTAMINATED WITH PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS: IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN ACTIONS

Abstract

The continuous release of persistent organic compound or POPs, their toxicity and persistence into the environment, led to establish an international regulatory framework concerning POPs and wastes con- sisting of, containing or contaminated by them (POP waste) aiming to protect human health and the environment in a sustainable way. This regulatory framework has been transposed in the EU by the EC Regulation n. 850/2004. Last year (2017), parties to the three International Conventions of Basel on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, of Stockholm on POPs and of Rotterdam on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, met in Geneva for the triple Conference of Parties (COPs). During the triple COPs parties decided to adopt six technical guidelines (TGs) for the environmentally sound management (ESM) of POP wastes and to start updating TGs or elaborating new ones due to the inclusion of two new POPs under the Stockholm Convention. The POPs content in wastes, mixtures and products as an output of recycling processes is of special concern in order to balance the two fundamental goals to protect human health and the environment and to carry out the EU Circular Economy Action Plan saving natural resources. An effort to strengthen the synergies among the three Conventions is also required to consider wastes more in a life cycle context, and to harmonize the protection levels for human health and the environment among different scopes. A critical issue of the TGs for POP waste ESM is then represented by the definition of the “low POP content” (LPC) for POPs  in wastes, below which wastes don’t exhibit anymore POP characteristics. The update of existing TGs for POP waste ESM could require also a reduction of the values previously defined for the LPC of old POPs. The present work, after a brief introduction about POP characteristics and the Stockholm Convention evolution, summarizes how EU regulates POP wastes. The EC Regulation n. 850/2004 covers now about thirty POPs, industrial chemicals, pesticides and/or unintentional products and obliges Member States and the Commission to take appropriate measures to control and prevent POP spreading in the environment, also  by destroying or irreversibly transforming POP content in wastes below the LPC. The work introduces then the criteria to determine the LPC, decided both  by the EU and by the Small Intersessional Working Group developing TGs. The values recently proposed or approved for LPC by the Triple COPs both for new and old POPs are illustrated and compared with the values provided or going to be provided by the EC Regulation n. 850/2004. Moreover, recent concern raised by high levels of POPs in soil reported for developing countries and countries with economies in transition, where exports of POPs wastes from industrial countries occurs, without an effective and appropriately implemented management and control of POPs. High concentrations in certain plastic materials destined for recycling markets were also reported. Considering these critical issues, the LPC effectiveness towards the provisions of the current European and Italian waste legislation is discussed. Finally, the work informs about the latest activities on the TGs for the ESM of POP wastes as a result of the most recent amendments to the Annexes of the Stockholm Convention approved by the triple COP. The work concludes that the LPC is not sufficient to reconcile the aims of the Conventions with those of the Circular Economy. LPC should be supported by strategies encouraging the use of best available techniques (BATs) and best environmental practices (BEPs), by the inclusion of the all contributions to the risk associated to POP wastes, requiring more research, and finally by improving the coordination among the various scopes: waste, hazardous substances and chemical process management.