WORKSHOP PAPERS
Waste management policy ranks among one of the most important issues governing business activity in the Slovak Republic. Beside those responsible for producing waste, there are also businesses which specialize in the economic processing of waste. Waste management is thus regulated in accord with free market principles.
Similar to other branches of the economy, waste management is also regulated by legislative and economic measures which help to ensure it is undertaken most effectively. Such management is necessary because of the degree of environmental damage caused by the mistreatment of waste products.
The problem of establishing a coherent waste management policy in a single piece of legislation was not solved until 1991, with the enactment of the Waste Management Act, No. 238/1991 ('The Waste Act'). Further regulations addressing other issues and activities related to waste management have been drafted on the basis of this act.
Within the scope of the so-called 'First Series', the following legal norms were issued in the area of waste management:
Beside these legislative norms, the Slovak Ministry of Environment (MZP SR) also established several conceptual programs, the most important of which is the Waste Management Program, approved by Government Regulation No. 500, issued July 13, 1993.
The above-mentioned legal norms regulate the rights and obligations of those responsible for producing waste, managers of waste separation plants, waste management authorities, and related subjects.
The first waste management laws in the Slovak Republic were created drawing on foreign experience and other available knowledge. Although acceptance of this legislation was an important contribution to environmental protection, there were some obstacles to its implementation. Indeed, an analysis of the effectiveness of the above legal norms should have been performed much earlier than 1994. This analysis forms the basis for the preparation of amendments to the Waste Management Act and numerous other legislative rules. Besides increasing their effectiveness, one of the main aims of these amendments is the implementation of international commitments as well as the harmonization of Slovak legislation with the regulations of the OECD and the EU.
The key international commitments in waste management policy ensue from the Slovak Republic's membership of the Basle Convention, which concerns the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. The Basle Convention was signed under the patronage of the UN. Its aim is to monitor and minimize the transport of dangerous waste products from one state to another and to provide for their neutralization.
The Basle Convention includes a list of hazardous waste and another of hazardous substances. Any waste materials containing these substances are also considered to be hazardous. Besides this, the Convention also includes a list of hazardous qualities and their characteristics. Those members of the Basle Convention may enlarge this list by adding other wastes through national legislation. The signatories are obliged to issue regular reports on the establishment of toxic waste storage sites on their territories and on the import, export, and transport of such waste.
The Slovak Waste Management Catalogue (SWMC) issued in 1991 and currently in force, does not list all those hazardous wastes included in the Basle Convention. This has resulted in problems when submitting the required reports. Also, the 'hazardous qualities' of waste materials listed in the Slovak catalogue are defined in a manner not entirely in accord with the Basle Convention, and will require amendment.
Any future amendment to the Slovak Waste Management Catalogue (SWMC) should be prepared in accordance with international norms. Since this is a rather complex task, an initial 'Minor Waste Management Catalogue' is being prepared and will be available in the near future. Its aim is to harmonize the SWMC with the Basle Convention and to eliminate other inconsistencies.
In amending the Waste Management Act, it must be realized that there are numerous foreign catalogues and lists which are incompatible. Waste management classification systems have been established in many countries, and one is in the process of being established in the Slovak Republic. In spite of the depth of the task, many have called for an internationally recognized classification system which would harmonize all waste code symbols currently in use.
At an international level, the main legislative tools on the classification of wastes are:
The C(88)90 (Final) document includes a list of hazardous waste whose trans-border shipping requires specific regulation. The Basle Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal adopted the basic features of this document, as well as the list of hazardous wastes. Therefore, the harmonization of the C(88)90 (Final) document with Slovak legal norms is similar to the process of complete harmonization with the Basle Convention. Indeed, the Basle Convention includes various measures aimed at limiting and registering the transport of toxic waste.
The OECD Decision on checking the trans-border transport of waste for material exploitation, issued on March 30, 1992 - C(92)39(Final), completed on July 23,1993 - C(93)74(Final), includes three lists of wastes (the so-called Green, Amber and Red lists). Those included in the Green List are considered exploitable and may be transported over national borders without restraint as a category of goods. The Amber and Red Lists include unexploitable and hazardous wastes. Each list is divided into individual groups according to their material composition.
These lists were adopted by the EC Council Regulation No. 259/93 on the checking and transport of waste within, from, and into the EU. The Regulation also provides instructions on managing the import, export and transport of different types of wastes. The lists included in both the OECD Decision and the EC Regulation are coded in such a way that they are compatible with the Customs Catalogue. This makes it easier to transport the given wastes across state borders. These lists are used in all OECD member states for the purpose of international transport of waste products, with the coded symbols used in transport passports.
The European Waste Catalogue (EWC) is an initiative of the European Commission to create a general nomenclature for waste. Developing this is a long, gradual process. It aims to list, among other things, the dangerous qualities of hazardous wastes. Other data, enabling more effective identification of wastes and their typology have also been proposed for inclusion. However, the working group which first prepared the EWC, has not yet completed all these tasks. Therefore the EWC was declared under EC Decision No. 94/3/EC as simply a list of wastes divided by origin, and was complemented with a list of hazardous wastes by EC Decision No. 94/904/EC, issued on December 22, 1994.
The wastes listed in the EWC are included elsewhere in addition to the documents mentioned above and with different code symbols. As those experts responsible for compiling this catalogue state, its current form is not definitive and further efforts must be made prior to its completion. From this standpoint the extent to which the catalogue is binding in each of the EU Member States is questionable. The decisive question is whether waste classification should adhere to EU Council Regulation No. 259/93 or to the EWC. As regards the classification system, a parallel existence of the two different classification systems is practically untenable.
Another problem with regard to the implementation of international Directives into Slovak legislation is discord between EC Council Regulation No. 259/93 and the Basle Convention. The Green List also includes waste products considered dangerous under the Basle Convention, and their trans-border transport is possible only with the agreement of the concerned states and must be registered. Because of the need to harmonize Slovak legislation with European legal norms, these questions are due to be clarified through discussions with foreign experts, so that amendments to Slovak legislation may be prepared according to a unified standard.
The basic conflict between the legal norms governing waste management in the Slovak Republic and the legislation of the EU is in the judgment of the import and export of wastes. In accordance with Act No. 238/1991 on Waste Management, the import of waste to the Slovak Republic for neutralization is prohibited, and its import with the purpose of exploitation as a secondary raw material is possible only with the permission of the MZP. The free shipment of waste, as provided by OECD C(92)39 (Final) Decree and elaborated by C(93)74(Final) and EC Regulation No. 259/93, is impossible in the Slovak Republic. The country's acceptance of these provisions means it will be subject to OECD and EU requirements to import waste products for their exploitation as secondary raw materials. The experience of the countries preparing to enter the EU, and those which have recently entered (e.g., Austria), shows that it is necessary to immediately and entirely accept the Green List.
The import of waste can be realized gradually, however, only in accord with the given reprocessing capacities of each country. The development of such capacity will presumably allow the gradual liberalization of the import of various kinds of exploitable waste products.
Another principle change necessary in formulating new legislation in accord with European Directives is establishing the responsibility of the producers, importers and distributors of waste. Besides the general principles on such responsibility, expected to be codified in the Waste Management Act, a concrete proposal for a legislative regulation on packaging materials is also being prepared. This is important because packaging materials are a key constituent among waste products, particularly in the consumer sphere. On the other hand, packaging simultaneously represents a major source of secondary raw materials that should be recycled. The aim of the proposed regulations should be to place a priority on the use of returnable containers and packaging produced from recyclable materials, and to apply limits on packaging whose exploitation is problematic or impossible.
Besides establishing responsibility for the management of waste that originates from consumer goods, work is also underway to determine liability for environmental damage. Among the proposals in this area are the introduction of fees for the shipping and handling of hazardous waste, an obligation to fund landfill closure, the establishment of an accident fund, and other forms of financial guarantees.
New regulations must be prepared in accordance with the OECD and the EU, since, on the basis of past experience, this helps to eliminate the weaknesses of present practices and legislation. The Slovak Ministry of Environment is supplementing legislative regulations by issuing conceptual programs containing proposed solutions to environmental problems. Supporting the country's waste management policy is the Waste Management Program which is being elaborated according to the principles of an integrated waste management policy.
This Program sets forth objectives aimed at improving the present state of affairs and the handling of wastes. At the same time, it contains a list of measures necessary for the achievement of these objectives. The objectives and measures are scheduled for implementation in 1996, 2000 and 2005. They focus on the reduction of waste, separation of waste, the construction of regional landfill sites, the building of facilities whose operation entails dealing with hazardous waste, and the construction of incinerators.
The implementation of the Waste Management Program among districts and waste producers has been elaborated with respect to the Slovak Republic's integration with the EU. The fulfillment of this Program is regularly evaluated, revealing key obstacles to the achievement of its objectives.
The implementation of this Program and all related waste management measures in 1996 has been prepared in accordance with the experiences of highly developed countries, as discerned by way of the Slovak Republic's participation in international communities.