Decision 2020/1829 - Submission, on behalf of the EU, of proposals to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II and IX to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal for consideration at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, and on the EU position at that meeting as regards proposals by other Parties to that Convention to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II, VIII and IX to that Convention - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 409/28

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (the ‘Convention’) entered into force in 1992 and was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision 93/98/EEC (1).

Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) implements the Convention and Decision C(2001)107/FINAL of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Council concerning the revision of Decision C(92)39/FINAL on the control of transboundary movements of wastes destined for recovery operations (the ‘OECD Decision’) within the Union. The disposal operations listed in Annex IV to the Convention are referred to in several Union acts, such as Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3).

Pursuant to the Convention, the Conference of the Parties is to consider and adopt, as required, amendments to the Convention. Amendments to the Convention are to be adopted at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

At its fifteenth meeting, which is scheduled to take place in July 2021, the Conference of the Parties will, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 18 of the Convention, consider proposals submitted by the Union or any other Party to the Convention to amend Annexes II, IV, VIII and IX to the Convention.

A proposal to amend Annex IV to the Convention should be submitted on the Union’s behalf in order to: include a general introduction clearly distinguishing the terms ‘non-recovery’ and ‘recovery’; clarify that all disposal operations that occur or might occur in practice are covered regardless of their legal status and regardless of whether they are considered to be environmentally sound, and that operations occurring prior to submission to other operations are also covered; include captions and introductory texts explaining what is meant by ‘non-recovery operations’ (Annex IVA) and ‘recovery operations’ (Annex IVB); update and clarify the descriptions of operations in line with scientific, technical and other developments which have occurred since the Convention was adopted in 1989; and ensure, through the introduction of catch-all provisions, that all operations not specifically mentioned are covered by the Convention’s requirements.

The descriptions of ‘disposal operations’ contained in Annex IV to the Convention are general and could benefit from further clarification. The Union should therefore propose that explanations or guidance be developed by the Conference of the Parties to further clarify the content of such operations, or be supportive of such a proposal from other Parties. Such explanations or guidance should provide clarifications and examples of the operations covered, and should not be included in the text of the Convention. Such explanations or guidance should preferably be adopted before amendments to Annex IV to the Convention become effective.

The objectives of the proposals concerning Annex IV to the Convention are: to ensure that the appropriate control mechanisms of the Convention are fully applicable and would therefore, if adopted, improve controls on shipments of waste; to facilitate the prevention of illegal shipments; to improve legal clarity and establish a common understanding and interpretation among the Parties to the Convention of the disposal operations; and to support the environmentally sound management of waste at global level and contribute to the transition towards a global circular economy.

As a consequence of the proposal to amend Annex IV to the Convention, proposals should be submitted on the Union’s behalf to amend entries on plastic wastes in Annexes II and IX to the Convention, as they refer to a certain disposal operation listed in Annex IV to the Convention.

The Union should support in principle amendments subsequently proposed by other Parties to the Convention concerning the list of disposal operations in Annex IV to the Convention, the entries for waste electrical and electronic equipment currently listed in Annexes VIII and IX to the Convention and new proposed entries for such waste in Annex II (Categories of wastes requiring special consideration) to the Convention, provided that they could achieve the same objectives as those behind the Union’s proposals concerning Annex IV to the Convention.

It is appropriate to establish the position to be adopted on the Union’s behalf at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties with regard to proposals by other Parties to the Convention to amend Annex IV and certain entries in Annexes II, VIII and IX to the Convention, as the envisaged act (amendments to Annexes to the Convention) will be binding on the Union and affect the scope and the content of Union law, in particular Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 and Directive 2008/98/EC.

It is appropriate to maintain the current situation for shipments of non-hazardous waste electrical and electronic equipment within the Union and the European Economic Area (EEA), and therefore not use the control system stemming from the possible addition of entries in Annex II to the Convention for such shipments. To that end, the Union should, to the extent necessary, use the procedures set out in the OECD Decision, without prejudice to the notification submitted in accordance with Article 11 of the Convention, to ensure that no additional control is imposed on shipments of non-hazardous waste electrical and electronic equipment within the Union and the EEA, as a result of the adoption of amendments to Annex II to the Convention,

to ensure that the appropriate control mechanisms of the Convention are fully applicable, to improve controls on shipments of waste and to facilitate the prevention of illegal shipments of waste;

to support the environmentally sound management of waste at global level and to contribute to the transition towards a global circular economy; and

to improve legal clarity and to establish a common understanding and interpretation among the Parties of the disposal operations covered by Annex IV to the Convention.

include in Annex IV a general introduction clearly distinguishing the terms ‘non-recovery’ and ‘recovery’, and clarify that all disposal operations that occur or might occur in practice are covered regardless of their legal status and regardless of whether they are considered to be environmentally sound, and that operations occurring prior to submission to other operations are also covered;

include in Annex IV captions and introductory texts explaining what is meant by ‘non-recovery operations’ (Annex IVA) and ‘recovery operations’ (Annex IVB); and

update and clarify the descriptions of operations in Annex IV in line with scientific, technical and other developments which have occurred since the Convention was adopted in 1989, and ensure, through the introduction of catch-all provisions in Annex IV, that all operations not specifically mentioned are covered by the Convention’s requirements.

disposal operations listed in Annex IV to the Convention;

new proposed entries for waste electrical and electronic equipment in Annex II (Categories of wastes requiring special consideration) to the Convention; and

the entries for waste electrical and electronic equipment currently listed in Annexes VIII and IX to the Convention.

Deposit in an aboveground engineered landfill isolated from the environment

Surface impoundment (e.g. placement of liquids or sludge into pits, basins or tailing dams)

Deposit onto land other than covered by D20 and D21 (e.g. permanent aboveground storage)

Permanent underground storage (e.g. placement of containers in a mine)

Deposit into land other than covered by D23 (e.g. injection into wells, salt domes of naturally occurring repositories)

Treatment of land in situ (e.g. biodegradation or biological or chemical treatment)

Release into a water body except seas/oceans

Release into seas/oceans including sea-bed insertion

Release to the atmosphere (e.g. venting of compressed or liquefied gases)

Thermal treatment other than covered by R24 in section B (e.g. incineration)

Non-recovery other than covered by D20 to D29

Biological treatment prior to submission to any of the operations in section A

Mixing, including blending, prior to submission to any of the operations in section A

Manual treatment (e.g. separation), physical/mechanical treatment other than covered by D32 (e.g. separation, size reduction, evaporation, drying, autoclaving), physical/chemical treatment (e.g. solvent extraction), chemical treatment (e.g. neutralization, chemical precipitation) or immobilization (e.g. stabilization, solidification) prior to submission to any of the operations in section A

Repackaging prior to submission to any of the operations in section A

Other treatment than covered by D31 to D34 prior to submission to any of the operations in section A

Temporary storage prior to submission to any of the operations in section A

Preparing for reuse (e.g. checking, cleaning, repair, refurbishment)

Recycling of organic substances (e.g. physical/mechanical treatment, chemical treatment)

Recycling of metals and metal compounds (e.g. smelting, hydrometallurgy, physical/mechanical treatment)

Recycling of inorganic materials other than covered by R22 (e.g. physical/mechanical treatment, chemical treatment)

Thermal treatment with the principal result to generate energy (e.g. incineration)

Recovery other than covered by R20 to R24

Biological treatment prior to submission to any of the operations in section B

Mixing, including blending, prior to submission to any of the operations in section B

Manual treatment (e.g. separation), physical/mechanical treatment other than covered by R27 (e.g. separation, size reduction, evaporation, drying, autoclaving), physical/chemical treatment (e.g. solvent extraction) or chemical treatment (e.g. neutralization, precipitation) prior to submission to any of the operations in section B

Repackaging prior to submission to any of the operations in section B

Other treatment than covered by R26 to R29 prior to submission to any of the operations in section B

Temporary storage prior to submission to any of the operations in section B