According to Article 6, once Persistent Organic Pollutants become wastes, Parties to the Stockholm Convention are required to:
a) Develop and implement appropriate strategies for identifying stockpiles, products and articles in use that contain or are contaminated with POPs;
b) Manage stockpiles and wastes in an environmentally sound manner;
c) Dispose of waste so that the POPs content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed;
d) Not permit the recycling, recovery, reclamation, direct reuse or alternative use of the POPs;
e) Endeavour to develop strategies for identifying contaminated sites and perform eventual remediation in an environmentally sound manner.
The Stockholm Convention and the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes on and their Disposal have a joint mandate on POPs wastes and have agreed to cooperate closely on establishing levels of destruction and irreversible transformation necessary to ensure that POPs characteristics are not exhibited. Additionally, the Conferences of the Parties of the two Conventions determine cooperatively what methods should constitute environmentally sound disposal.
The Basel Convention has developed technical guidelines on the Environmentally Sound Management of POPs wastes. Parties to the Stockholm Convention are invited to take these guidelines into account when implementing their obligations under Article 6 of the Convention.
By decision SC-5/9, the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention invited the appropriate bodies of the Basel Convention, with regards to the chemicals newly listed in Annexes A, B or C, to:
- update the technical guidelines
- prepare or update specific guidelines
- establish levels of destruction
- determine methods for environmental sound disposal
- work to establish concentration levels of the chemicals listed to define the low persistent organic pollutant content.
The invitations were welcomed by the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention. A small intersessional working group will be assisting in reviewing and updating the technical guidelines, as appropriate.
The same invitations were decided in SC-10/10, with regards to the chemicals newly listed in Annex A to the Stockholm Convention by decision SC-10/13.
During COP-15 , Parties have also been encouraged to accelerate their efforts to ensure the sound management of POP stockpiles and wastes, including their further identification, and to prepare plans of actions prioritizing the disposal of wastes.