Report: transboundary hazardous waste management. part II: performance auditing of treatment facilities in importing countries.
Before implementing the self-monitoring model programme of the Basel Convention in the Asia, Taiwan has conducted a comprehensive 4-year follow-up project to visit the governmental authorities and waste-disposal facilities in the countries that import waste from Taiwan. A total of nine treatment facilities, six of which are reported in this paper, and the five countries where the plants are located were visited in 2001-2002. France, Belgium and Finland primarily handled polychlorinated biphenyl capacitors, steel mill dust and metal waste. The United States accepted metal sludge, mainly electroplating sludge, from Taiwan. Waste printed circuit boards, waste wires and cables, and a mixture of waste metals and electronics were the major items exported to China. Relatively speaking, most treatment plants for hazardous waste paid close attention to environmental management, such as pollution control and monitoring, site zoning, system management regarding occupational safety and hygiene, data management, permits application, and image promotion. Under the tight restrictions formulated by the central environment agency, waste treatment plants in China managed the environmental issues seriously. For example, one of the treatment plants had ISO 14001 certification. It is believed that with continuous implementation of regulations, more improvement is foreseeable. Meanwhile, Taiwan and China should also continuously enhance their collaboration regarding the transboundary management of hazardous waste.
Chang
Tien-Chin
TC
Institute of Environmental Planning and Management, National Taipei University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. tcchang@ntut.edu.tw
Ni
Shih-Piao
SP
Fan
Kuo-Shuh
KS
Lee
Ching-Hwa
CH
D003132:Commerce; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D007220:Industrial Waste
D006256:Hazardous Waste; D007220:Industrial Waste