Hazardous Waste Management
Waste is an issue that affects us all. When poorly managed, it can have a grave impact on the environment and health, causing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and significant losses of useful materials. Mismanagement of hazardous waste and chemicals can have serious safety and security implications as well.
Having recognized challenges and threats in this area, the OSCE laid out its response in a Strategy Document for the Economic and Environmental Dimension, adopted at the OSCE Ministerial Council, in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in 2003.
The OSCE helps its participating States address risks related to hazardous waste and runs projects on a variety of waste challenges and toxic legacies, ranging from outdated pesticides and ozone-depleting substances to arsenic waste and stockpiles of toxic liquid rocket fuel components as well as some other hazardous chemicals. Under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is a member of the Coordination Group for Uranium Legacy Sites.
In Central Asia, where the legacy of Soviet-era uranium mining still poses threats to livelihoods, human health and the environment, the OSCE in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme as part of the Environment and Security (ENVSEC) Initiative supports stakeholder engagement in the remediation of uranium legacy sites. The Aarhus Centres in Osh, Kyrgyzstan and Khujand, Tajikistan are actively involved in this process.
In the South Caucasus, where old industrial sites with hazardous waste are often close to rivers and populated areas, the OSCE assists countries in mapping out hazardous waste hot-spots and assessing security risks on the spot to develop practical measures for addressing immediate threats.
In Eastern Europe, to address risks of and prevent illegal transboundary trafficking of hazardous waste, the OSCE supports the capacity-building of competent national authorities, in particular, customs and border-guard officers. It also responds to the emerging threats of counterfeit and illegal pesticides by supporting the development of relevant methodologies.
The OSCE helps implement the 12th Sustainable Development Goal as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management.