TRANS-BOUNDARY TRANSFER OF HAZARDOUS WASTES: ISSUES AMD OPTIONS :

In response to PIL in the Supreme Court of India on the subject of Hazardous Waste Management, the State Pollution Control Boards/Committees have submitted details of hazardous waste generation. The compiled information is presented in the Table below.

Hazardous wastes are so defined because of their special characteristics, such toxicity, corrosively, flammability and reactivity. Hence, it is necessary to take precautionary measures so that the hazardous component in the wastes are rendered harmless through proper treatment and safe disposal methods.

Recovery of useful materials from hazardous wastes is undoubtedly desirable for environmental and economic reasons. There is a need for adequate precautions to be taken during recycling and disposal of discarded material. Often, the wastes contain admixtures of impurities, and during recovery of useful materials, it is required to take connivance of hazard that could be caused by indiscriminate, disposal of discarded constituents. Proper safeguards to the workers and the surrendering environments during recycling.

Over years, recycling/recovery from wastes has indeed become a thriving business all over the world, particularly in the developing countries. But there is a basic difference in the methods adopted in various countries. While the industries in developed countries have adopted state of the art technologies with environmental safeguards, the entrepreneurs in developing countries, particularly those in the small-scale sector, continue to operate with the crude technologies with scant regard for environmental safety. In some developed countries, with the increasing environmental consciousness and stringent regulations, recycling and disposal of wastes demand a sizeable expenditure. Under such a situation, the industries prefer to export their wastes to other countries. This has led to increased trade in trans-boundary transfer of wasters, particularly to the developing countries. The Basel Convention is in response to the growing concern for regulating trans-boundary transfer of hazardous wastes and for promoting environmentally- sound management practices. However, the coverage of the Basel Convention is limited to transfer of hazardous wastes from OECD to Non- OECD countries.

Top provide a legal framework for ensuring proper management and handling of hazardous wastes, the Ministry of Environmental & Forests, Government of India, notified the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986. the rules entail definition of hazardous wastes, and responsibility of generators and of regulatory agencies (including State Pollution Control Boards, State Government and Central Government) with regard to collection, transport, handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes. The rules also elaborate the regulatory regime for import of hazardous wastes for reuse/recycling. According to these rules, import of hazardous wastes for dumping and disposal shall not be permitted ; and permission for import will be given for reprocessing or reuse as raw material subject to case by case examination of the facilities provided for treatment and safe disposal of residue wastes and also emissions.

As experienced over the years and particularly in the write Petitions filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court (Write Petitions No. 657 of 1995) and the High Court of Delhi (Writ Petition No 819 of 1997), the realities are far sort of the expectations in the rules. This is primarily due to lack of preparedness on the part of concerned organizations. The lesson we learn is that the rules cannot stand-alone without necessary back up of enforcement mechanism. While framing the rules, it is necessary to assess the capabilities as well as shortcomings, and to evolve the action plane for strengthening wherever needed. For instance, the State Pollution Control Board have been already saddled with the tasks of enforcing the provisions of the Water and Air Pollution Control Acts besides enforcement of several other regulations including the conducting of public hearing in respect of projects before granting environmental clearance. In addition the Boards are also expected to enforce the rules for management and handling of hazardous wastes. In order to do justice to such multifarious responsibilities the Boards need commensurate support in terms of funds, professional manpower and infrastructure. such an important requirement has not yet been properly addressed.

In views of the fact that the reprocessing units in the country leave much to be desired, environmentalist demand a blanket ban on import of wastes. On the other hand, the recycling industry and its beneficiaries are opposed to such proposition on the ground that it will adversely affect the economy, and it will be unfair to those entrepreneurs who have adopted environmentally acceptable methods. It is also pointed out that not all the wastes are toxic and hazardous. The debate centering around zinc ash a case in point.

The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, the Basel Convention recommendations and Court orders do not impose blanket ban on import of wastes. The restriction is only in respect of select categories of hazardous wastes and the important precondition for permitting import of wastes is to ensure its safe h addling, treatment and disposal in an environmentally acceptable manner.

For decision on import of selected wastes for the purpose of recycling, the criteria should include the following: