Global hazardous transfers
By Harvey kkowirz
Hazardous wastes, if improperly managed, could harm humans, the environment, or both because these wastes are toxic, corrosive, or combustible and often contain heavy metals. Lists of potentially hazardous wastes have been issued by many countries. In May 1988, the 24 member countries of OECD agreed upon a list of 44 potentially hazardous wastes. The hazardous wastes that cross frontiers destined for disposal in another country are likely to require incineration or physicochemical treatment in the generator country as well as being restricted from sea dumping. On average, a consignment of hazardous was- crosses an OECD frontier every five minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There are more than 100,000 such movements in OECD European countries yearly. In the aggregate, 2.0-2.5 million tons of potentially hazardous wastes probably crossed OECD European M e r s in 1988. (About 9,000 such movements occur annually in North America.) Reasons for such transfer are. that legal disposal in a foreign country is less expensive than at home and that there is no local disposal capacity for these wastes. To date, no definition of adverse health effects from exmure to these wastes has been a g d upon. Within Enrooe. iournevs of un to 1000 lan can be &&plat& by ‘a generator (for hazardous wastes requiring physicochemical treatment or incineration in the home country) in order to reduce. total cost of disposal. The longest recorded distance of a legal transfrontier movement of hazardous wastes is over 17,000 kilometers. Getting wntrnl
Special monitoring and control is required if any of these 44 wastes cross the frontiers of any OECD member countxy on their way to final disposal. Monitoring means that the whereabouts 510 Envimn. Sci. Techrml., W. 23,NO.5,1989
of hazardous wastes are known at all times “from cradle to gave” and that the wastes are directed to an appropriate facility for treatment and disposal. Control means that authorities are aware of waste‘flows and can act r a p idly to ensure that the possibility for inappropriate handlmg of the wastes is .. .
YE$ most of this tratfic takes place among O E D members, certain
quantities of potentially hazardous wastes are exported from the O E D area. In many instances, eastern European countries are the importers. But in 1988 there were outcries against such waste traffic. The Organization of African Unity passeda resolution condemning importation and disposal of potentially hazardous wastes on African soil. ThiEuropean Parliament passed a resolution condemning all sienificant exports of potentid; hazar;lous wastes from the European Community to any country with a developing economy. Legislation has been proposed in the US. Congress which would prohibit export of any waste classed as hazardous under U.S. law unless a special permit (export license) were granted stipulating that the waste would be disposed of as if it were in the United states.
Draft documents Last December, the Environment Committee of the OECD considered a
draft international agreement to create the basii of a comprehensive system to control transfrontier movements of hazardous wastes. The proposed system is compatible with existing international agreements governing transport of dan‘gemus goods and in no way supplants or interferes with documentation required by such agreements. Wastes subject to the proposed OECD control system must be classified by means of an International Waste Identification Code (lWIC), which was formally agreed on by member countries m May 1988. lWIC provides for a cradle-bgrave dossier for any batch of wastes. It is coded against a set of master tables and is thus essentially independent of language. Another draft convention regarding the tsansfrontier movement of hazardous wastes is being considered. In June 1987 the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) decided to proceed with development of a global convention concerning the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes. The goals set by UNEP go beyond effective monitoring and control of transfrontier movement of hazardous wastes and take into account environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes. Kev obiectives of the UNEP convention are.to help solve these problems; to nrevent develooine countries from beComing reposkoGes for improperly identified and improperly managed hazardous wastes; to pinpoint what constitutes illegal traffic; and to ensure mechanisms for redress in case of illegal or inappropriate exports of hazardous wastes to developing countries.
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Where are we today? Existing OECD and European Community requirements are such that a transfrontier movement of hazardous wastes destined for a developing country should be stopped by the exporting country unless an appropriate official of
the importing country has provided written consent to the import and unless the wastes are directed toward an “adequate disposal facility.” For the UNEP proposed convention, the term “adequate disposal facility” could perhaps be defined as “something built, installed, or established to perform hazardous waste disposal operations in a manner such that any and all requirements pertaining to these operations as published in legislation, regulations, policies, or licensing rules in the country of exportation are met.” The OECD opts for a high degree of monitoring and control. In fact, many OECD member countries have defined such controls by means of domestic laws and regulations. There is empirical evidence that developing countries do not want to import wastes if they will be managed less stringently than required under the laws of the country of exportation. Countries of exportation are in the best position to know what standards of waste management need to be applied to wastes generated in their country. If these standards cannot be met, the inescapable conclusion
is that the potential for harm to humans and the environment from the wastes is in some way increased.
The future The basis for a global convention will almost certainly be adopted in 1989. Of necessity, ratification and full implementation will not occur until sometime in the future. In the interim, OECD member country governments have pledged to “make special efforts to ensure that the existing legal and administrative instruments for controlling transfrontier movements of hazardous wastes are applied, consistent with the intent of the draft OECD International Agreement and the draft global UNEP Convention. In so doing, particular attention will be given to measures intended to protect public health and the environment in developing countries.” Clearly, 1989 will be the year in which the bases for effective monitoring and control of transfrontier movements of hazardous wastes will be put firmly in place. The proposed global convention, when fully implemented and enforced, will ensure that this mon-
itoring and control occurs worldwide. Both instruments are still in the drafting stage, and although the aims of both drafts are very much alike, it can be assumed that the UNEP draft is more comprehensive as regards the obligation of countries in the field of monitoring and control. For example, under the UNEP convention developing countries could object to the transfer of wastes through their country. In order to avoid any conflict of requirements under the two conventions, UNEP and OECD will still have to decide on the relation between the two instruments. One caveat is necessary. There must be active, strong, and effective domestic waste management systems in force. If not, an international system may be built on a foundation of sand. The domestic control system must mesh with the international system in order to provide maximum protection for humans and the environment. The views expressed are solely those of the author and not of the OECD or its member countries.
Environmental awards Winners of the 1989 Graduate Student Awards in Environmental Chemistry The ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry is in the fourth year of its program of awards for graduate students. Glenn C. Miller announced the winners earlier this year. Miller, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Nevada-Reno, chaired the awards committee. The 1989 environmental chemistry awards committee consisted of Herbert Allen of Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA), M a n Elzerman of Clemson University (Clemson, SC), Werner Haag of SRI International (Palo Alto, CA), Charles Shorten of EA Engineering (Sparks, MD), and Stanton S . Miller of the American Chemical Society in Washington, DC. Glenn Miller told ES&T that despite the small number of graduate students who competed and won awards this year, the quality of the students who applied was very high. He expressed the hope that the response next year will be greater. The awards consist of one-year memberships in the division and one-year subscriptions to ES&T. We extend our congratulations to the following 13 graduate students who are the winners for 1989. 0013-936)(189/0923-051 1$01.50/0
Lisa M. Alvarez of Stanford University, whose interests include the effects of sorption on the rate of biodegradation of trichloroethylene. Todd A. Anderson of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who is studying structural activity relationships for the degradation of a mixture of organic materials in soil. Debera A. Backhw of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is researching colloids in groundwater and their sorption potential for hydrophobic organic contaminants. Kathy Boswell of The Johns Hopkins University, whose research is in the reductive dissolution of mixed iron, cobalt, and manganese oxides with the subsequent release of toxic metals into natural water systems. Suda Bunduwongse of Tennessee Technological University, who is studying the optimum removal of organic compounds by granular activated carbon. Menachem Elimelech of The Johns Hopkins University, who is studying the chemical aspects of particle deposition in porous media. Mohamad R. Farvardin of
0 1989 American Chemical Society
Clarkson University, whose field of research is preozonation as an aid in the coagulation of humic substances. Gary M. Hutter of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who is conducting research in the soil gas diffusion coefficient of selected organic hydrocarbons. Seungdo Kim of the University of Illinois at Urbana, who is studying the chemical identity and characterization of organic phosphorus in a natural ecosystem. Leslie S. Laudon of the Colorado School of Mines, who is working on the determination of the forms of sulfur in an artificial wetland. Caroline B. Purdy of the University of Maryland, who is working with cosmogenic 36Clas a tracer in groundwater in the Aquia Aquifer of southern Maryland. Janice I! Stowell of the State University of New York at Buffalo, who is studying the chemical degradation of chlorendic (HET) acid by ozonation. Christine L. Tiller, whose research is in colloid stabilization by polyelectrolytes, including model development, experimental measurements, and application to aquatic systems. Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 23,
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