Germany: Traffic Police and Chemical Waste. The German Traffic Police stop and check heavy-goods vehicles using a risk-based targeting approach and regularly found leaking barrels of battery acid or other hazardous substances. Although the waste is temporarily confiscated to address the immediate danger, the case reports are rarely accepted for prosecution by criminal police units or the public prosecutor agency because, as noted by EnviCrimeNet, the incident is not a priority within those institutions. The lack of coordination, of consistent priorities across agencies, and of a mandate to target and prioritize such crimes create an enforcement gap. Indonesia: Satellite Data and Illegal Logging. Indonesia established a satellite mapping program to gather information intended to help improve detection of illegal logging over large areas that are difficult to patrol on a regular basis. However, it was reported that between 2002 and 2003, no legal cases were initiated because the satellite images and analysis of the images were never provided to forest law enforcement or the prosecutor’s office. Formalizing procedures for the exchange of information is an essential and cost-effective step to promote stronger enforcement. In both instances, simple increased coordination among agencies could result in significant increases in fighting environment-related crimes.

The Regional Action Plan for Marine Litter (RAPMaLi) for the Wider Caribbean Region was originally developed in 2007 to promote problem solving at the national and local levels, recognizing that unique regional characteristics should inform innovative solutions to the problem of marine litter. The RAPMaLi action plan has since been implemented through selected pilot projects in Guyana, Barbados and Saint Lucia.

The implementation of RAPMaLi is supported by the adoption of several international agreements with implications for the Wider Caribbean Region, including the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol) of the Cartagena Convention. The LBS Protocol helps UN Member States in the Wider Caribbean Region to meet the obligations and requirements of UNCLOS and the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA). The Protocol includes regional effluent limitations for domestic wastewater (sewage) and requires the development of plans to address agricultural non-point sources of pollution. Specific schedules for implementation are also included in the Protocol. In addition the LBS Protocol allows countries to develop and adopt future annexes to address other priority sources of land-based pollution such as marine plastic.

The operative Annexes describe the work that each Party must accomplish, and provides guidance for the development of regional actions. In particular:

• Annex I establishes a list of land-based sources and activities and their associated contaminants of greatest concern to the marine environment;
• Annex II outlines and establishes the process for developing regional standards and practices for the prevention, reduction, and control of the sources and activities identified in Annex I.
• Annex III establishes specific regional effluent limitations for domestic sewage; and
• Annex IV requires each Contracting Party to develop plans, programmes and other measures for the prevention, reduction and control of agricultural non-point sources of pollution.

The implementation of the Protocol and the development of future source-specific annexes will be determined by the States with assistance from a Scientific, Technical and Advisory Committee.

SEE FURTHER BELOW:

In addition, one of the outcomes of the XXII Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean in February 2021 was a pollution and waste agenda. Ministers highlighted the need to urgently address the issue of marine litter and microplastics and adopted a new Action Plan on regional cooperation for the management of chemicals and waste 2021–2024.

Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy

The European Union’s Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy has set in motion a comprehensive set of initiatives, with business and governments responding to a challenge of serious public concern. These initiatives include increasing the uptake of recycled plastics and contributing to more sustainable use of plastics by implementing mandatory requirements for recycled content and waste reduction measures [UNEP, 2021].

Waste Governance 

Similarly, within the European Union there is a waste governance landscape comprising policy structures, regulations and standards at multiple administrative levels aimed at reducing and recovering materials over the resource life cycle. The specific directives are discussed below.

Member State Commitments

European Union Member States have also established targets to achieve a 90 per cent collection target for plastic bottles by 2029; plastic bottles must have at least 25 per cent recycled content by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030.

Relevant Directives

The relevant European Union Directives in this area are:  

• 2000 Water Framework Directive (WFD);
• 2008 Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD);
• 2008 Waste Framework Directive;
• 2019 Single-Use Plastics Directive.

WFD and MSFD

Overlapping spatially (the WFD extends to 1nm from the coastline, the MSFD covers all of the Exclusive Economic Zone from the territorial baseline) and conceptually, the WFD and MSFD reflect a movement towards an integrated approach to the interface of freshwater, coastal and marine waters. 

• The MSFD requires the development of marine strategies or measures to achieve “good environmental status” by the year 2020. Taking into account ecosystem structure and functioning, the MSFD is the first European directive to be based on an ecosystem approach to management [UNEP, 2021].
• The assessment of “good environmental status” is based on qualitative descriptors contained in Annex I of the Directive, including ensuring that “properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine environment”.

Waste Framework Directive

The EU’s Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) of 19 November 2008 establishes the legislative framework for the handling of waste within the EU. It applies a number of obligations on EU member states that are relevant to the control plastic pollution and marine plastics, including the following waste hierarchy:

1. Prevention;
2. Preparing for re-use;
3. Recycling;
4. Other recovery, e.g. energy recovery;
5. Disposal.

Single-use Plastics Directive

EU rules on single-use plastic products aim to prevent and reduce the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, in particular the marine environment, and on human health. They also aim to promote the transition to a circular economy with innovative and sustainable business models, products and materials. The Directive targets the 10 most commonly found single-use plastic items on European beaches, alongside fishing gear, which represent 70% of all marine litter in the EU. These are:

• Cotton bud sticks
• Cutlery, plates, straws and stirrers
• Balloons and sticks for balloons
• Food containers
• Cups for beverages
• Beverage containers
• Cigarette buts
• Plastic bags
• Packets and wrappers
• Wet wipes and sanitary items

Cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, and sticks for balloons, cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, and all products made of oxo-degradable plastic:

• Cannot be placed on the markets of EU Member States where sustainable alternatives are easily available and affordable.

All other single-use plastic products:

• The EU is focusing on limiting their use through:
  • Awareness-raising measures;
  • Introducing design requirements, such as a requirements to connect caps to bottles;
  • Labelling requirements;
  • Waste management and clean-up obligations for producers, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes.

Specific targets under the Directive include:

• A 77% separate collection target for plastic bottles by 2025 – increasing to 90% by 2029
• Incorporating 25% of recycled plastic in PET beverage bottles from 2025, and 30% in all plastic beverage bottles from 2030.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) is the Pacific Regional Centre for the Joint Implementation of the Basel and Waigani Conventions. The objective of the Waigani Convention, adopted in 2001, is to reduce and eliminate transboundary movements of hazardous and radioactive wastes, minimize the production of hazardous and toxic wastes in the Pacific region, and ensure that disposal of wastes in the Convention area is completed in an environmentally sound manner.

The Waigani Convention:

• Includes each Party’s Exclusive Economic Zone (200 nautical miles) rather than extending only to the outer boundary of each Party’s territorial sea (12 nautical miles) as under the Basel Convention;
• Is strongly related to the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (the London Convention). 

There has also been investment in improving waste management under the Waigani Convention through Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded work on reducing the unintentional release of persistent organic pollutants (UPOPs) and the European Union funded PacWaste projects.

AUTHORS:

Carlos Jairo Ramírez Rodríguez, 14, Coordinator of the of Productive Sectors Sustainability Group, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development

ABSTRACT:

In 2018, Colombia established the principle of extended producer responsibility for the reverse management of packaging waste by producers, applying a transition period for the implementation of pilot projects that guarantee the design and development of operational, technical and financial resources for the proper management of waste. Colombia progresses firmly towards the management of waste containers and packaging Aiming to boost the circular economy and green growth, the Ministry has been implementing an environmental management system for waste containers and packaging made from paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and metal, promoting the use of and encouraging innovation and eco-designing of containers and packages that are placed on the market, and applying a transition period to facilitate the incorporation of producers and regulatory authorities for compliance with their obligations. The aforementioned management system is based on Resolution 1407 of 2018 which establishes the obligation of producers (national producers and importers) of goods on the market in containers and packaging, to formulate, implement and maintain updated an Environmental Management Plan for Waste Containers and Packaging, in the framework of the extended producer responsibility, which must be monitored by the National Authority for Environmental Licenses - ANLA. Producers must reincorporate into the production cycle a minimum of 10% by 2021 until gradually reaching 30% in 2030, with respect to the total amount by weight of the containers and packaging placed on the market by the producer. According to the regulatory impact analysis carried out by the Ministry of Environment in 2015, and document CONPES 3874 of 2016, waste containers and packaging represent 15% of the waste generated in Colombia.

Following a review process carried out by the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, through the Directorate of Urban and Sectoral Environmental Affairs, technical guidelines were defined in consultation with producers for the presentation of pilot projects and the requirements for processing companies as established in the Resolution, after which the producers submitted 21 pilot projects within the framework of the extended producer responsibility principle, which were presented prior to December 31, 2019 to the National Authority for Environmental Licenses - ANLA. The support process for the development of pilot projects conceived within the framework of Resolution 1407 of 2018 and which are executed by producers, will enable the standardization of criteria for the presentation of waste management plans for containers and packaging, to establish the requirements that must be met by processing companies to verify the tons that were actually used and create other control mechanisms to ensure proper traceability of information on the flow of materials. Additionally, it will facilitate the construction of a baseline for the tons of containers and packaging materials placed on the market for which the consumption goal, the required registration systems and the establishment of organizational models especially for collective plans for the environmental management of containers and packaging are calculated. The aforementioned technical guidelines will be validated and complemented during the execution of the pilot projects for the management of waste containers and packaging, and with the support of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development these will enable the construction of technical tools to complement and support the producer and the control and monitoring entity to implement on a mandatory basis the reverse management strategy for containers and packaging and guaranteeing their effective implementation as of 2021, when it is expected Compendium on Waste Management 69 that more than 200,000 tons of this waste would be reincorporated into the production cycle, a figure that will continue to increase gradually, based on the goals established in the current regulations.

REFERENCES:

Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development 2019, Resolution 1407 of 2018.

Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2015, Regulatory Impact Analysis of the management of containers and packaging.

Department of Nacional Planning, CONPES 3874 of 2016,

Establishing and enforcing lead paint laws is an effective way to improve public health. Currently only one third of countries have lead paint laws. High levels of lead in paint have been found in countries that lack legal limits on lead in paint, and are also found in some countries that have such laws but lack effective enforcement and compliance mechanisms. To address this challenge, UN Environment and the World Health Organization are leading the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (the Alliance) to help countries around the world take action. This voluntary global initiative includes national governments, the paint industry, non-governmental organizations, and academics working together to promote laws to phase-out lead paint. The Alliance has created tools to help countries develop lead paint laws, including a lead paint elimination toolkits and a guidance and model law for regulating lead paint.