Organic solvents play a vital role delivering wide benefits to society in producing modern materials including medicines and surface coatings. Post use requires responsible management of resulting waste streams. The European Solvent Recycler Group (ESRG) and Hazardous Waste Europe (HWE) are pleased to announce a programme of co-operation sharing a common interest in promoting high standards to the management of hazardous waste organic solvent streams. Both parties wish to see Sustainability and Environment policies and their associated legislation to be relevant, correctly targeted, and properly implemented and enforced. Joint overall aims of HWE and ESRG’s co-operation is to promote the waste hierarchy and in particular the European Union chemicals strategy developed under the auspices of the sustainability and circular economy agendas. Both entities wish to ensure there is no dispersion of waste or residues, no dilution of waste and emissions in the environment and to ensure traceability throughout the entire waste management chain of solvent recycling and recovery and similarly for other hazardous wastes. In respect of a circular economy contribution and carbon neutrality objective, independent studies have demonstrated that by recovering and reusing organic solvents, savings of up to 90% Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions can be attained compared with the replacing of used solvents by new. Note for Editors: More information is at http://www.esrg-online.eu and www.hazardouswasteeurope.eu ____________________________ HAZARDOUS WASTE EUROPE (HWE) is an international trade body established in 2011 representing 155
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HAZARDOUS WASTE EUROPE was present at the BRS COPs in Geneva Very positive decisions were taken and important revised Technical Guidelines have been adopted or progresses have been made in others for an Environmentally Sound Management of hazardous wastes and other wastes. Also a very good initiative from the Présidence française du Conseil de l’Union européenne, the European Commission and its Member States consisting in gathering challenges in the application of the PIC procedure. Ready to work on this in the coming months! Meetings of the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions: http://www.brsmeas.org/20212022COPs/Overview/tabid/8395/language/fr-CH/Default.aspx
Hazardous Waste Europe (HWE) welcomes the https://ec.europa.eu/environment/publications/proposal-new-regulation-waste-shipments_en We are very pleased to see that most of the main issues raised by HWE have been addressed with concrete and appropriate proposals: adaptation of the amount of waste in case of experimental treatment trials, clarification of the timing and deadlines regarding the requests for information, clarification about the effective end of a notification period, streamlining the conditions under which a facility can be pre-consented, implementation with deadlines for the electronic data interchange system, new perspectives to solve cases of disagreement on classification issues with a warning point on our strong expectation for the implementation of article 6 point 2 of the Waste Framework Directive. Nevertheless, HWE urges the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Members States to improve the proposal on the following points: Ensure that POP non-hazardous waste are covered by the prior written consent procedure, Include in the ESM perimeter the management of residues generated by the waste treatment as they are likely to be mismanaged, specifically in third countries. Not only disposal but also recycling operations should be covered because recycling operations may lead to the generation of hazardous residues when decontamination is properly performed, Ease public access to notification, Adapt requirements of article 11 to the case of hazardous waste management. Hazardous waste facilities including those providing disposal
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Hazardous Waste Europe is a member of the Zero Pollution Stakeholders Platform. During the High Level Launch Meeting, on December 16th, our President delivered the HWE’s core message: Hazardous Waste Europe is a EU business association of hazardous waste operators present on the whole value chain of hazardous waste management, from collection to final treatment. We treat pollution of all kinds by providing hazardous waste its appropriate treatment. It can be regeneration, recycling, material recovery, hazardous waste incineration, physico-chemical treatments specifically of wastewaters, soil remediation, and hazardous waste landfilling. We operate IED and SEVESO installations and we have expertise in the treatment of the most harmful chemicals including those internationally recognised like POPs and mercury. As we stand at the end of the value chain, we definitively act as the last bastion to destroy toxicity, limit dispersion of pollutants in the environment and we ensure non-toxic recycling. It is our responsibility. Our existence results from the necessity to manage all unavoidable hazardous waste inherent to our way of living even though we expect it to be much more sustainable and resilient in the future. Consequently and according to the zero-pollution hierarchy, our commitment in the platform would mainly bring expertise in Eliminate & Remediate and Minimise & Control. HWE expects the Platform to develop operational tools supporting stakeholders benchmarking their
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