Did you know that FEAD leads the Joint Meeting’s Informal Working Group on the Transport of Hazardous Waste?
In 2005, FEAD was appointed as a recognized stakeholder by the RID/ADR/ADN Joint Meeting. The RID/ADR/ADN Joint Meeting is a biannual meeting organised by the Secretariats of Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Transport Division. The Joint Meeting’s task is to ensure that the Regulation concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous goods by Rail (RID), the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) and the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterway (ADN) are harmonised to simplify the transport of dangerous goods.
From that date, FEAD has actively participated in the development of specific “waste rules” in the ADR. In 2018, the RID Committee of Experts and the Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods approved the establishment of an Informal Working Group on the Transport of Hazardous Waste led by FEAD. The first Informal Working Group took place on the 2 April 2019 in Brussels.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of issues that have been proposed by FEAD:
- New rules on chemical compatibility for plastics packaging containing liquid waste
- New rules for the transport of waste in inner packagings packed together in an outer packaging
- New rules for the carriage in bulk of specific categories of wastes containing asbestos
- Carriage of polymerizing substances as waste
- Possibility to indicate estimated quantities of waste transported in the transport document
- Creation of a new UN number UN 3509 for discarded, empty, uncleaned packagings
The Joint Meeting’s autumn session is currently happening in Geneva and our Senior Policy and Legal Officer, Aizea Astor Hochen, has been present, representing FEAD. Discussions on the new proposals outlined above are taking place. The Joint Meeting will be held until the 27 September.
FEAD believes that it is important to revise and complement the existing rules for the transport of goods to take into account the specifities of the the waste management sector. It is important to clarify each issue in order to anticipate a multiplicity of national rules as this multiplication can cause an unequal playing field in Europe.
Read more about FEAD’s work for the RID/ADR/ADN Joint Meeting.