Hazardous wastes transboundary movement management: a case study in Taiwan

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Resources, Conservation and Recycling 40 (2004) 329–341

Hazardous wastes transboundary movement

management: a case study in Taiwan

Hao-Jan Hsing

a,∗

, Fang-Kuo Wang

b

,

Pen-Chi Chiang

a

, Wan-Fa Yang

a

a_{Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University,} 71 Chou-Shen Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC

b_{Department of Risk Management and Insurance, Ming-Chuan University, 250,} Chung-Shan North Road, Sec. 5, Taipei 111 Taiwan, ROC

Received 27 March 2002; received in revised form 15 April 2003; accepted 24 April 2003

Abstract

More than 50,000 tons of hazardous waste are imported and exported worldwide each year. Over 50% of hazardous waste is exported to Southeast Asia, of which leather waste is the major compo-nent. The exportation quantities of hazardous waste to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries are decreasing while they are on the increase to non-OECD coun-tries. Some of these wastes are intended for recycling purposes but the usage of some others is not stipulated. The hazardous waste importation quantity kept fairly steady from 1997 to 2000, of which ash or residues containing copper or copper compounds were the major component. Under existing regulations and measures, the transboundary movement of hazardous waste cannot be effectively controlled and monitored. In order to ensure environmentally sound hazardous waste management, EPA-Taiwan revised the Waste Disposal Act in 2001 and cooperated with the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) to promote industrial waste reduction and recycling projects. Strategies were proposed based on evaluation according to the 3Es Principles and the site investigation in this study.

Keywords: Hazardous waste; The Basel Convention; Annex VIII and IX; 3Es Principles; Implementing strategies

1. Introduction

There are more than 80,000 factories in Taiwan of which most are small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). During decades of rapid industrial development, Taiwanese industries,

∗_{Corresponding author. Tel.:}_{+886-2-2362-2510; fax: +886-2-2366-1642.}

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especially SMEs, have been using progressively more raw and secondary materials for production (Hsing et al., 1998). Some secondary materials are classified as hazardous waste according to domestic regulations. Taking overall profit into consideration, industries would like to use secondary materials for their production rather than raw materials. The reason is simply that secondary material is cheaper, easier to access and saves energy. Thus, waste trading has become an important activity and cannot be ignored, especially in a country without sufficient resources.

According to the latest survey, the total amount of waste generated by Taiwan’s industries reached 18.21 million tons in 1998, of which 1.47 million tons were hazardous (Wei and Huang, 2000). Some non-hazardous industrial wastes had to be recycled by law, such as waste plastics, waste paper and paperboard, and coal-fired power plant fly ash. The rest was incinerated, landfilled, or exported to other countries. Because of the lack of proper treatment facilities and technologies, part of the hazardous waste was shipped abroad for recycling and the rest was disposed of, domestically (Hsing, 2000).

Industrial waste treatment and disposal, especially that of hazardous waste, are criti-cal issues on this island. In order to have better control and management of hazardous waste movement, EPA-Taiwan reviewed the Waste Disposal Act and proposed the 7th revision that was approved by Congress in 2001. To regulate the transportation of hazardous waste across international borders, EPA-Taiwan drafted a proposal that was designed to prohibit the importation and exportation of wastes, refuse, and their inciner-ation ashes (EPA-Taiwan, 2003). This proposal was approved and announced in January 2003.

2. Origins and control of the Basel Convention

The treaty of the Basel Convention took effect in 1992, and it governs the transbound-ary movement of hazardous waste. More than 148 countries and the European Community ratified it (Secretariat of Basel Convention). This is the first international treaty regard-ing waste trade and illegal movement issues that was promoted by the United Nations Environment Program in 1989. It promulgates that hazardous waste must be reduced at its source, treated proximately, and be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. These regulations are intended to reduce the transportation of hazardous waste across international borders and to minimize unfavorable environmental consequences. Many countries and international organizations doubted that the definitions included in Annex I and II could describe ‘waste’ sufficiently. Also, it was difficult to implement proper controlling and monitoring procedures under the Basel Convention requirements. In order to clarify the definition of hazardous waste in Annex I and II of the Convention, the Fourth Conference of Parties (COP-4, 1998) had adopted Annex VIII and IX as the supplements to Annex I and II. The wastes listed in Annex VIII were classified as haz-ardous and strictly banned from being transported from countries that were members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD coun-tries. Annex IX listed the wastes that would not be controlled unless they showed hazard characteristics.

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3. The Basel Ban

In 1994, 66 parties passed, by consensus, Decision II/12 that banned all exports of haz-ardous wastes from OECD to non-OECD countries. In 1995, 82 parties of COP-3 passed Decision III/1 that initiated an amendment to the Convention to establish a new Article 4A (Stone, 1999). According to Article 4A, Annex VII was created so that hazardous waste could only be transferred between members of the OECD, the EC and Liechtenstein, but not allowed in non-Annex VII countries. This amendment, also called the Basel Ban, will enter into force when 62 parties ratify it. Until January 2002, only 27 parties ratified the amendment (Table 1).

Under the Basel Amendment, hazardous wastes could circulate under these conditions:

• Amongst members of OECD; • Amongst parties listed in Annex VII;

• Satisfying Article 11 agreement requirements.

Other than those conditions, the transportation of hazardous waste across international borders is prohibited.

Table 1

List of ratification of the Basel Amendment

Country Date of ratification

Andorra 23.07.1999 Austria 17.10.1999 Bulgaria 15.02.2000 China 01.05.2001 Cyprus 07.07.2000 Czech 28.02.2000 Denmark 10.09.1997 Estonia 02.08.2001 Ecuador 06.03.1998 European Community 30.09.1997 Finland 05.06.1996 Gambia 09.03.2001 Luxembourg 14.08.1997 Malaysia 26.10.2001 Netherlands 22.01.2001 Norway 16.07.1997 Panama 07.10.1998 Paraguay 28.08.1998 Portugal 30.10.2000 Slovakia 11.09.1998 Spain 07.08.1997 Sri Lanka 29.01.1999 Sweden 10.09.1997

Trinidad & Tobago 12.01.2000

Tunisia 26.03.1999

UK and Northern Ireland 13.10.1997

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332 H.-J . Hsing et al. /Resour ces, Conservation and Recycling 40 (2004) 329–341 Table 2

Suspected hazardous waste exportation from 1997 to 2000

Description 1997 1998 1999 2000

Non-OECD OECD Non-OECD OECD Non-OECD OECD Non-OECD OECD Ash or residues containing zinc or zinc compounds 1394 826 1099 380 570 158 1334 0 Ash or residues containing lead or lead compounds 0 0 0 118 3 102 0 0 Ash or residues containing copper or copper

compounds

365 2303 760 2049 629 1813 499 2655

Ash or residues containing other metals or metals compounds

94 317 71 300 75 38 151 68

Other Ash or residues 88 744 376 796 179 580 146 419

PVC wastes and scraps 621 38 1035 26 2614 302 3460 50

Cellulose wastes and scraps 47 0 132 0 202 0 471 0

Leather wastes 2828 610 7341 10278 5858 1616 5727 0

Antimony waste and scraps 572 0 357 0 308 0 632 0

Mixed metals scraps and residues 738 1328 1884 5854 3518 1103 17,096 1414

Lead acid battery 22 4 38 0 0 0 0 0

Total 6769 6170 13,093 19,801 13,956 5712 29,516 4606

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H.-J . Hsing et al. /Resour ces, Conservation and Recycling 40 (2004) 329–341 333 Table 3

Suspected hazardous wastes exportation to Southeast Asia from 1997 to 2000

Description 1997 1998 1999 2000 Total amount Southeast Asia Total amount Southeast Asia Total amount Southeast Asia Total amount Southeast Asia Ash or residues containing zinc or zinc compounds 2220 1101 1479 978 728 463 1334 1293 Ash or residues containing lead or lead compounds 0 0 118 0 105 3 0 0 Ash or residues containing copper or copper

compounds

2668 259 2809 722 2442 533 3154 327

Ash or residues containing other metals or metals compounds

411 35 371 12 113 20 219 151

Other Ash or residues 832 35 1172 50 759 27 565 68

PVC wastes and scraps 659 621 1061 1029 2916 2597 3510 3451

Leather wastes 3438 2448 17,619 7341 7474 5858 5727 5727

Mixed metals scraps and residues 2066 733 7738 1884 4621 3518 18,510 17,076

Lead acid battery 27 22 38 38 0 0 0 0

Total 12,940 5,867 32,894 12,536 19,668 13,526 34,122 29,197

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4. The exportation movement of hazardous waste

Because of the lack of environmentally sounded treatment technologies and disposal fa-cilities in Taiwan, a part of the hazardous waste generated each year, has to be sent to other countries for further treatment. Without sufficient data on the transportation of hazardous waste across international borders, control measures cannot be implemented effectively. In order to provide reliable control information, a survey and investigation lasting 4 con-secutive years was initiated. Eleven hazardous waste categories, under regulation of the Basel Convention, were selected and their export activities tracked. The raw data on these categories was provided by the Directorate General of Customs, the Ministry of Finance, and verified by further site investigations (Table 2). As can be viewed inTable 2, the an-nual export amount of wastes to non-OECD countries increased, from 6769 tons in 1997 to 29,516 tons in 2000, but the exportation to OECD countries decreased. Particularly, the export volume of mixed metal scraps and residues reached 5854 tons in 1998, of which waste polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) condensers and transformers were the major com-ponents. Most of the waste PCB condensers and transformers were sent to France for further treatment and the accumulated export amount was over 5500 tons from 1993 till 2000. The average treatment cost per ton of waste PCB-condensers and transformers was about $6500 US. During1997–2000, trim waste of printed circuit boards and silicon chip wastes were the major export items, of which the average treatment cost was about $150 US per ton. Electroplating sludge (also called copper sludge) generated by printed circuit board indus-try was mostly sent to the United States for recovery and final disposal, and the average treatment cost was over $400 US per ton.

Hazardous waste exportation to Southeast Asia, including Mainland China, increased dramatically from 1997 to 2000, especially in the year 2000 reaching 29,197 tons (Table 3). Leather waste was the major export item and it took up about half of the total amount of exports. According to surveys and site investigations, leather tanneries have almost disap-peared because of high labor cost and strict regulation by local authorities of environmental fallouts. As a result, most tanneries have closed down and moved their equipment and pro-duction material, including raw material or half-completed products, to Mainland China. Manufacturers shipped their production material, but reported it to customs as leather wastes in order to pay a low tariff (tax rates are as low as 0%). That could explain the reason why leather waste took up the major part of the exportation quantity during 1997–2000. Ash or residues containing zinc or zinc compounds took up the second largest portion of total exports; most of them were transported to India for reclamation purposes.

5. The movement of imported hazardous waste

In this study, annual importation quantities of hazardous waste are stipulated inTable 4. Twelve kinds of hazardous waste, under possible control of the Basel Convention, were se-lected and their import movement tracked. Import quantities from OECD countries showed a fairly steady trend, varied from 89,599 tons in 1997 to 106,845 tons in 2000.

Ash or residues containing copper or copper compounds were the major import items from OECD countries, especially from Japan, where it is used for application in the shipbuilding

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H.-J . Hsing et al. /Resour ces, Conservation and Recycling 40 (2004) 329–341 335 Table 4

Suspected hazardous wastes importation from 1997 to 2000

Description 1997 1998 1999 2000

Non-OECD OECD Non-OECD OECD Non-OECD OECD Non-OECD OECD Ash or residues containing zinc or zinc compounds 7306 881 6645 1141 5606 1603 3819 5650 Ash or residues containing lead or lead compounds 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 Ash or residues containing copper or copper

compounds

11,528 6220 13,434 10,841 6352 27,028 4316 33,069 Ash or residues containing other metals or metals

compounds

1756 59,032 1214 72,516 495 42,768 1217 45,225

Other Ash or residues 295 10,812 535 7989 165 8271 296 7222

PVC wastes and scraps 543 12,479 100 17,827 166 15,911 84 15,565

Leather wastes 40 49 46 0 0 0 5 19

Other lead wastes and scraps 0 0 4 0 0 60 0 30

Mixed metals scraps and residues 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 0

Total 26,112 89,599 22,198 110,347 12,893 95,643 9776 106,845

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336 H.-J . Hsing et al. /Resour ces, Conservation and Recycling 40 (2004) 329–341 Table 5

Suspected hazardous wastes importation from Southeast Asia from 1997 to 2000

Description 1997 1998 1999 2000 Total amount Southeast Asia Total amount Southeast Asia Total amount Southeast Asia Total amount Southeast Asia Ash or residues containing zinc or zinc compounds 8187 7306 7786 6600 7209 5585 9469 3744 Ash or residues containing lead or lead compounds 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 Ash or residues containing copper or copper

compounds

17,748 11,528 24,275 13,434 33,380 6352 37,385 4316 Ash or residues containing other metals or metals

compounds

60,788 1311 73,730 946 43,263 495 46,442 739

Other Ash or residues 11,107 275 8524 526 8436 120 7518 231

PVC wastes and scraps 13,022 125 17,927 90 16,077 133 15,648 84

Leather wastes 89 40 46 46 0 0 24 5

Other lead wastes and scraps 0 0 4 4 60 0 30 0

Mixed metals scraps and residues 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 0

Total 115,711 20,585 132,544 21,865 108,536 12,793 116,619 9132 Origin data was provided by Directorate General of Custom.

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industry. These wastes came from copper smelters, and could contain over 5 parts per million (ppm) of Arsenic (As) and some degree of lead (Pb) measured by the Toxicity Characteristic Leachate Procedure (TCLP). According to environmental regulations, waste containing over 5 ppm of As and/or Pb, is classified as hazardous and the industry has to report it to local environmental authorities when it is being disposed of. According to the Custom Law and Tax Regulation, ash or residues containing copper or copper compounds are not categorized as banned commodities (Directorate General of Custom, Ministry of Finance, 2001). Manufacturers or traders could import copper ash or residues, except copper sludge and ash or residues from air pollution control equipment, without getting a permit from environmental authorities in advance. Here was a conflict between environmental and trade interests that needed to be solved.

Ash or residues containing zinc or zinc compounds took up the second largest portion of imports, most coming from Mainland China (Table 5). The majority of these wastes were in the form of zinc slag or dross. Only a very small part was the result of zinc galvanized processing.

6. The general problems for Taiwan to comply with the Basel Ban

When discussing Taiwan’s problems in complying with the Basel Ban, there are two categories: the domestic and international aspects.

Internationally, Taiwan is not a member of the Party of the Basel Convention and cannot join Convention related activities. Thus, it is not possible for EPA-Taiwan to report the transportation of hazardous waste across international borders to the Secretariat, nor does Taiwan have the right to participate in any Convention related activities. Taiwan controls the Taiwan Straight, one of busiest maritime corridors in the world, and hazardous waste that is transported from Southeast Asia to America or Northeast Asia must sail through it. Accord-ing to the Basel Convention, all the transportation of hazardous waste across international borders needs to be monitored and reported. Without Taiwan’s participation, control of this movement may not successful, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Also, Taiwan has not signed any hazardous waste transport bilateral agreements with other countries. This may result in violating Basel Ban control measures.

In terms of the domestic situation, although EPA-Taiwan has modified the Waste Disposal Act, in which industrial waste pollution is strictly controlled and which imposes respon-sibility on polluters, it does not solve the conflict between Hazardous Industrial Waste

Import, Export, Transit and Transshipment Management Measures and The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System. In 1997, EAP-Taiwan announced a control

list (Table 6), containing two categories of hazardous wastes (Environmental Protection Administration, 1997), and cooperated with the Directorate General of Customs to monitor hazardous waste movement. Although EPA-Taiwan revised the measures and extended the control scope to cover the import and export of all industrial wastes in 2003, the agency still needed to consult with other agencies on the issue of the control list.

So far, the control measures are in place, but the Customs and Inspection Unit of Port Authority cannot distinguish between hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Also, the in-spectors need to gain experience in how to identify hazardous waste. The most critical gap

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Table 6

The control list of industrial waste import, export, transit and transshipment Number Description

Class I

001 Mixed metal scrap

002 Waste condensers containing PCBs 003 Waste electric transformers containing PCBs 004 Waste lead-acid accumulators

005 Waste, substances and articles containing, consisting of or contaminated with PCBs and/or polychlorinated terphenyl and/or polybrominated biphenyls, including any other polybrominated analogues of these compounds, at a concentration level of 50 mg/kg or more

006 Waste tarry residues (excluding asphalt cements) arising from refining, distillation and any pyrolitic treatment of organic materials

007 Asbestos (dust and fibers)

008 Ceramic-based fibers of physico-chemical characteristics similar to those of asbestos 009 Any congener of polychlorinated dibenzo-furan

010 Any congener of polychlorinated dibenzo-dioxin 011 Leaded anti-knock compound sludge

012 Peroxides other than hydrogen peroxide

Class II

001 Other lead wastes and scraps 002 Cadmium wastes and scraps 003 Chromium wastes and scraps

in the control of hazardous waste movement across international boundaries, is the fact that the Customs Import Tariff and Classification of Import and Export Commodities of ROC (also called C.C.C. Code) does not list enough waste codes for the industry to report waste movement across international borders. Thus, many waste traders can avoid legal controls and the agencies cannot fully control the flow of waste.

7. The decision-making tool for the control of hazardous waste movement across international borders: 3Es Principles

The government conducted a series of studies focusing on the following aspects: envi-ronmental protection, industrial development, engineering technologies, international busi-ness, and diplomatic policies. Three major strategy evaluation principles were identified and could pre-assess the impact of the control and management of the transportation of hazardous waste across international borders:

• Sustaining EP;

• Ensuring industrial economic development (EC), and • Enhancing and transferring engineering technologies (EN).

In support of the government’s commitment to find a compromise between the interests of EP and industrial development, the 3Es principles strongly emphasize the interaction between these two interest groups. In line with this perspective, nine sub-items are stipulated:

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• EP: Management policies, control measures, and implementation procedures; • EC: Industrial policies, economic efficiency, demand-and-supply;

• EN: Commercialized and practical technologies, pollution control and prevention, the

nature of technology.

The following priorities of consideration for each principle were proposed:

• For EP, the considerations included:

– Article 38 of the Waste Disposal Act;

– The identification standard or criteria of hazardous waste; and – The conditions of import prohibition.

• For industrial economic development (EC), the considerations included:

– Introducing high added value, low resources/energy intensity, and low pollution profile industries;

– Evaluating the economic benefits of the industries who import or export specific waste items;

– Evaluating the position of industries, who imports or exports hazardous waste, in long-term development policies.

• For engineering technologies (EC), the considerations included:

– Hazardous waste treatment and recovery technologies should consider the environ-mental hazards of waste, treatment and recovery feasibility, waste reduction pos-sibility, operational safety standards, environmental assessment of operation sites, monitoring and improvement, the economic considerations of treatment and recovery operations.

– Specific hazardous waste management technology should look into the industrial characteristics of hazardous wastes and their generators, environmental hazards, treatment and recovery feasibility, the availability of treatment and recovery tech-nologies, the economic considerations of rational waste management, the safety considerations of rational waste treatment and recovery operations.

8. Proposed implementation strategies

The implementation strategies were divided into three different time frames: Short-term, midterm and long-term strategies. In each time frame, several action plans were proposed that covered administrative and technology transfer or innovation issues.

For the implementation of an administrative and regulatory system,

• Short-term strategies

– Reviewing the governance difference between hazardous waste exportation measures and international treaties;

– Revising domestic regulations regarding waste exportation;

– Rationally referring to and adopting the control list proposed by international treaties; – Enhancing the hazardous waste inspection capability of Custom inspectors;

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– Negotiating with other countries that currently import or export hazardous waste to and from Taiwan.

• Midterm strategies

– Signing bilateral hazardous waste transports agreements with related countries; – Providing waste management operators with adequate financial incentives to halt the

transportation of hazardous waste across international boundaries.

• Long-term strategies

– Participate in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs); – Ban hazardous waste exports completely.

For technology transfer and innovation issues:

• Short-term strategies

– Transferring cost-effective waste treatment and recovery technologies from indus-trialized countries to Taiwan;

– Encouraging local industries to modify and improve their production processes; and – Launching source reduction initiatives.

• Midterm strategy: To increase the domestic treatment capacity of hazardous waste. • Long-term strategy: To establish hazardous waste cradle-to-grave environmentally sound

management.

9. Conclusion

It is difficult to prohibit or halt waste trading activities in countries that are short of natural resources, and are pursuing lower waste treatment costs and higher business profits. The two most significant reasons that contribute to the transportation of hazardous waste across international borders, are financial considerations and environmental pressures. According to this study, over 50% of hazardous waste was exported to non-OECD countries, especially Southeast Asian countries for recycling, but the waste imported from OECD countries followed a decreasing trend. This indicates that Southeast Asian countries are gradually increasing their importation of hazardous waste and applying hazardous waste into industrial production. Also, some hazardous wastes imported by waste traders were not for recycling purposes, but for final disposal. There might be serious negative consequences for Taiwan, similar to those that the Philippines and Cambodia have suffered. To prevent this, ‘hazardous waste management’ is one of the most urgent topics for the government to tackle in the near future. Meanwhile, hazardous waste treatment, which is the most neglected field of waste management, must be dealt with by the Government at once.

To successfully manage the flow of hazardous waste, EPA-Taiwan not only needs to strengthen Hazardous Industrial Waste Import, Export, Transit and Transshipment

Man-agement Measures and other regulation frameworks, but also needs good coordination

between agencies to implement control strategies. This will contribute to the fields of waste recycling and reuse, waste reduction, cleaner production, and pollution prevention. Within the next 5 years the focus will be on the implementation of the following priorities: The

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establishment of hazardous waste treatment facilities, the sound management of industrial waste, and industrial waste exchange.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Miss Maggie Chou (Environmental Technology Development Center of CTCI Foundation) and Miss Rize Van der Merwe for preparing background documenta-tion for this paper, as well as for numerous insightful discussions.

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