How can hazardous waste be identified and sorted correctly by waste keepers and managers? How to determine the composition of the waste and its hazardous properties?
A unifying methodology for the identification of hazardous waste developed during the Haz-ident project, funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, will tackle these questions and help to address other emerging challenges. It is intended for residents, businesses, state and municipal institutions.
For both waste generators and managers
Proper management of hazardous waste, which will be facilitated by a unifying methodology for the identification of hazardous waste, is crucial for a sustainable future. The methodology explains in detail how to apply national and European Union legislation correctly to ensure the proper and efficient identification and distribution of hazardous waste for its safe collection and management.
It is important that the developed methodology is clearly understood by everyone – residents, businesses, representatives of state and municipal institutions – and adapted for use. A separate annex to the methodology is provided for the identification and distribution of hazardous household waste, which provides guidance not only on the classification and identification of waste but also on where to dispose of it.
The schemes in the three steps of the methodology are used to identify and classify non-domestic hazardous waste – by answering the “yes” or “no” questions, you will find out if the waste you have is hazardous. It is this principle and the schematic algorithms that are expected to facilitate the application of the methodology and address the challenges that the hazardous waste sector is currently facing. The methodology is available on the website of the Ministry of the Environment.
Solutions to problems
On June 1st the State plan for waste prevention and management for 2021–2027 was approved. Among other matters, it also pays close attention to tackling hazardous waste management and proposes measures for the coming years.
The main problem with the management of smaller household hazardous waste remains the same – the lack of information, therefore most of the household hazardous waste is disposed of in the mixed municipal waste (WEEE) stream. And if the sorting requirements are misunderstood, the waste ends up in containers of secondary raw materials.
This is why the plan provides for publicity campaigns to promote the separate collection of waste. At the same time, it is proposed to establish requirements to ensure that municipalities regularly educate the population by providing them with systematic information on the sorting of all waste and household waste collection services.
Existing problems include the inconvenience of separate hazardous waste collection facilities, such as the difficulty of accessing some bulky waste collection sites (DGASA) where hazardous waste ends up in municipal waste containers.
Residents also lack the motivation to collect and/or sort hazardous waste separately. As a result, it is planned to expand the DGASA network by 2027 to ensure its convenient availability in terms of population density, and to provide facilities to dispose of hazardous household waste separately (excluding waste batteries and accumulators) by 2025. Also, it is planned to build special containers for collecting hazardous waste or to provide the population with other means and ways to do so.
Prevention of generating hazardous waste is also planned: financing of eco-design, promotion of less hazardous chemicals and fossil fuels, digital and advanced solutions to reduce waste are proposed. Also, it has been proposed to evaluate the possibility of establishing the manufacturer’s responsibility for hazardous household chemicals and hygiene products.
In addition, the capacity of regulating authorities needs to be strengthened in order for them to control the activities of hazardous waste managers.
Focus on medical waste
It has been noticed that with the development and improvement of the quality of healthcare services, more and more single-use tools are being used, which is leading to an increase in medical waste, including a large amount of hazardous waste.
This is particularly relevant to residents who want to sort waste, as they often confuse such waste with non-hazardous one.
For these reasons, the plan provides for an assessment of the need for a separate collection system for household hygiene and medical devices, as well as means to inform the public about the proper collection (usually done at the pharmacy) and the negative effects of improper handling of such waste on the environment and public health.