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Legislation annual reports 2005-06 (continued)

Operation of the Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989

This annual report is prepared in accordance with section 61 of the Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989. It covers the operation of the Act from 1 July 2005 until 30 June 2006.

Purpose of the Act

The purpose of the Act is to regulate the export, import, transit and disposal of hazardous waste to ensure that human beings and the environment, both within and outside Australia, are protected from the harmful effects of hazardous waste.

The Act and its 1996 amendments enable Australia to meet all its obligations under the Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (the Basel Convention). The Basel Convention regulates the international movements of hazardous wastes.

Functions of the department

The main functions performed by the Department of the Environment and Heritage in relation to hazardous waste include:

• processing export, import and transit permit applications under the Act
• ensuring compliance with and enforcement of the Act
• preparing, implementing and amending legislation relating to the international movements of hazardous waste to and from or through Australia
• formulating and implementing policies relating to the international movements of hazardous waste to and from or through Australia
• providing administrative assistance to the Hazardous Waste Technical Group, which provides advice to the department on hazardous waste management
• participating in international forums, such as the Basel Convention and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which deal with the international movements of hazardous waste
• providing information to stakeholders on the Act and the permit process.

Basel Convention

The Basel Convention was developed by the United Nations Environment Programme and adopted on 22 March 1989. Australia ratified the convention on 5 February 1992 and it entered into force on 5 May 1992. The convention imposes two kinds of obligations on members:

• specifically, to control the export and import of hazardous and other wastes (other wastes being household wastes or incinerator residues), to provide for notification and consent, as required by the convention, and to track shipments to environmentally sound disposal
• more generally, to minimise the movement and generation of hazardous and other wastes, and ensure that hazardous wastes are disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

The eighth meeting of the conference of the parties to the convention is scheduled for 27 November to 1 December 2006.

Regulations

Regulations made under the Act provide for:

• setting fees for permit applications
• the operation of arrangements under Article 11 of the Basel Convention, which allows transboundary movements of waste between parties and non-parties or under modified control procedures
• general administrative arrangements required by the Act.

Permits

In 2005–06 the department assessed 36 applications for permits to import and export hazardous wastes. Twenty-one permits were granted (10 for exports, 10 for imports and one for transit) and one application was refused. A variation to one permit was granted while 12 applications were not resolved at 30 June 2006 and one application was withdrawn. All permit applications were processed within the statutory timeframes. Details of permit applications received in 2005–06, including those not resolved by the end of the year, are presented in the tables below.

Fee income

This year $50 430 was received in income from fees. Fees are set to recover the costs of administration, in line with Australian Government policy.

Contraventions, enforcement and suspension of permits

Enforcement action this year included seizing shipments of electronic waste, household waste, used lead acid batteries and lead dross. The department audited shipments of electronic waste, household waste, copper slag and zinc sulfate.

Publications

Under section 33 of the Act, particulars of all applications, permits and variations were published in the Commonwealth of Australia Government Notices Gazette.

Table 1: Export permits granted in 2005–06

Applicant	Quantity (tonnes)	Granted	Type of waste, disposal operation and destination
Fuji Xerox Australia Pty Ltd	1 500	05.09.05	Waste electrical and electronic scrap from New South Wales for accumulation of material intended for another disposal operation, followed by recycling/reclamation of metal compounds or recycling/reclamation of other inorganic compounds then use as a fuel (other than in direct incineration) or other means to generate energy at Fuji Xerox Eco-manufacturing Co. Ltd, 175 Sathom City Tower 16/1 Floor, South Sathom Road, Tungmahamek, Sathom, Bangkok 10120, Thailand. Via Singapore
Sims Group Ltd	6 000	15.09.05	Waste cullet from cathode ray tubes from New South Wales for recycling/reclamation of other inorganic materials at LimbergGlas BV, St. Janskamp 7, 6101 AG Echt, the Netherlands. Via Singapore, Jeddah, Suez, La Spezia and Antwerp
BP Refinery (Bulwer Is) Pty Ltd	110	7.11.05	Spent cobalt/molybdenum and nickel/molybdenum catalyst from Queensland for disposal in Germany
Nuplex Special Waste Pty Ltd	160	17.01.06	Polyester resin waste from Victoria for solvent reclamation at Nuplex Environmental, 16-30 Neales Road, East Tamaki, Auckland, New Zealand
Mobil Refineries Australia Pty Ltd	300	10.02.06	Spent metal‑containing catalyst and absorbent from South Australia for recovery of components from catalysts at Eurecat France S.A.S., Quai Jean Jaures, BP 45, 07800 La Voulte Sur Rhone, France. Via Singapore, Port Klang, the Suez Canal, Damietta, La Spezia, and Barcelona
BP Refinery (Kwinana) Pty Ltd	600	23.03.06	Spent cobalt/molybdenum and nickel/molybdenum catalyst from Western Australia for recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds at Metrex BV, Sourethweg 13, 6422 PC Heerlen, Netherlands. Via Malaysia, Singapore, Suez, Rotterdam, and discharge at Antwerp. Then transport to Netherlands
Umicore Australia Ltd	2 000	03.04.06	Waste zinc ashes and residues from Victoria for disposal at Umicore Oxyde Belgium n.v, Industriezone West Zolder-Lummen Zuid, B 3550 Heusden Zolder, Belgium
Brambles Industries Ltd, trading as Cleanaway		29.05.06	Used nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride batteries from New South Wales for recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds at SNAM, Avenue Jean Jaures, 12110 Viviez, France. Via Port Klang, Suez and Le Havre
Basell Australia Pty Ltd	50	27.06.06	Non-halogenated solvents from Victoria for disposal by repackaging and storage at Akzo Nobel Chemicals bv, MAE plant – Botiek site, Welplaatweg 12, NL 3197 KS Rotterdam, the Netherlands prior to submission to another operation. Under a permit issued by the Netherlands authorities, the waste will then be transported to Germany, for disposal by incineration on land and specially engineered landfill. Via Singapore, Malaysia, Jeddah, Suez, Damietta, La Spezia, Tilbury, Felixstowe, Hamburg and Rotterdam
Fuji Xerox Australia Pty Ltd	2 500	28.06.06	Waste electrical and electronic scrap from New South Wales for accumulation of material intended for another disposal operation, followed by recycling/reclamation of metal compounds or recycling/reclamation of other inorganic compounds then use as a fuel (other than in direct incineration) or other means to generate energy at Fuji Xerox Eco-manufacturing Co. Ltd, 175 Sathom City Tower 16/1 Floor, South Sathom Road, Tungmahamek, Sathom, Bankok 10120, Thailand. Via Singapore

Table 2: Import permits granted in 2005–06

Applicant	Quantity (tonnes)	Granted	Type of waste, disposal operation and destination
Sims Group Ltd	100	18.10.05	Waste electrical and electronic assemblies consisting of computer, office, networking and telephone equipment, components and motherboards from Hong Kong to be manually dismantled and separated into the primary components of glass, plastics, metal and circuit boards at Sims E-Recycling, 275-281 Boundary Road, Braeside Victoria 3195
Sims Group Ltd	200	15.11.05	Waste electrical and electronic assemblies consisting of computer, office, networking and telephone equipment, components and motherboards from Malaysia to be manually dismantled and separated into the primary components of glass, plastics, metal and circuit boards at Sims E-Recycling, 275-281 Boundary Road, Braeside Victoria 3195
Sims Group Ltd	100	15.11.05	Waste electrical and electronic assemblies consisting of computer, office, networking and telephone equipment, components and motherboards from Singapore to be manually dismantled and separated into the primary components of glass, plastics, metal and circuit boards at Sims E-Recycling, 275-281 Boundary Road, Braeside Victoria 3195
Universal Metals Pty Ltd	75	24.11.05	Waste fluorescent tubes and lamps containing mercury from New Zealand for recycling and reclamation of metals and metal compounds and other inorganic materials at ARA Pty Ltd, 29 Reo Crescent, Campbellfield, Victoria 3061
Zinifex Metals Pty Ltd	800	21.12.05	Lead dross originating at Zinifex’s zinc smelter in the United States and destined for recovery at Zinifex’s lead smelter in Port Pirie, South Australia. Zinifex Port Pirie Pty Ltd, Ellen St, Port Pirie, South Australia 5540
Oceania Maritime Services Pty Ltd	54.2 and 9 600 litres	22.12.05	Household wastes from the French Dumont D’Urville Station in Antarctica to Tasmania for deep burial at McRobies Gully landfill, Hobart, for recycling of glass, cans and waste oils, and for incineration of high risk items at the Hobart Marine Board incinerator
GHD Pty Ltd	19	06.02.06	Pesticides, transformer casings and PCBs from the Marshall Islands for physico-chemical treatment at BCD Technologies Pty Ltd, 2 Krypton Street, Narangba, Queensland 4504
GHD Pty Ltd	2	01.03.06	Transformer casings and PCBs from Tuvalu for physico-chemical treatment at BCD Technologies Pty Ltd, 2 Krypton Street, Narangba, Queensland 4504
GHD Pty Ltd	13.3	04.05.06	Transformer casings, PCBs and pesticides from Federated States of Micronesia for physico-chemical treatment at BCD Technologies Pty Ltd, 2 Krypton Street, Narangba, Queensland 4504
Sims Group Ltd	300	10.05.06	Used lead-acid batteries from New Caledonia for disposal by Australian Refined Alloys at Little Boundary Road, Brooklyn, Victoria 3012 or 202–212 Euston Road, Alexandria, New South Wales 2015 for metal recycling (operation R4)

Table 3: Transit permits granted in 2005–06

Applicant	Quantity (tonnes)	Granted	Type of waste, disposal operation and destination
Technival	300	10.05.06	Transit up to 10 000 kg of obsolete pesticides, from Technival, Vallée de Tipaerui, BP 4644–98713 Papeete, Tahiti, Polynésie française to Sarp Industries Rhône Alpes Méditerranée, Establissement Solamet-Merex, Montée des Pins – BP No. 57-13340 Rognac, France for incineration (operation D10)

Table 4: Variations to export permits granted in 2005–06

Applicant	Quantity (tonnes)	Granted	Variation
Mobil Refineries Australia Pty Ltd	300	30.06.06	To transit Goa and La Spezia, Italy

Table 5: Export applications received but not resolved by 30 June 2006

Applicant	Quantity (tonnes)	Received	Type of waste, disposal operation and destination
SAFT NIFE Power Systems Australia Pty Ltd	300	03.11.05	Used nickel cadmium batteries from New South Wales for recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds at SAFT NIFE AB, S-57201 Oskarshamn, Sweden. Via Port Klang, Singapore, Suez, Southampton, Rotterdam and Hamburg
Alpha Re Pty Ltd	800	05.12.05	Untested used PCs from New South Wales for testing, refurbishment and re-distribution in Thailand by the Thai subsidiary of Alpha Re. Transit through Singapore and Malaysia en route to Bangkok
Sims Group Ltd	150	27.01.06	Waste nickel cadmium batteries from Sims E-Recycling Pty Ltd, Level 6- 41 Mclaren St, North Sydney, New South Wales 2060 to France via Jakarta, Singapore, Jeddah, La Spezia, Antwerp and Felixstowe
MacDermid Australia	1 600 litres	8.02.06	Copper ammonium chloride solution to New Zealand for copper recovery
Sims Group Ltd	2 000	09.02.06	Waste cullet from cathode ray tubes from New South Wales for recycling/reclamation of other inorganic materials at LimbergGlas BV, St. Janskamp 7, 6101 AG Echt, the Netherlands. Via Singapore, Jeddah, Suez, La Spezia and Antwerp
MRI (Aust) Pty Ltd	120	08.12.05	Waste nickel cadmium batteries from MRI Australia Pty Ltd, 20-24 Dennis St, Campbellfield, Victoria 3061 to France
Powerhouse Batteries	7 200	08.02.06	Used lead acid batteries from Powerhouse Batteries, 55 Ourimbah Road, Tweed Heads, New South Wales 2485 to the Republic of Korea
Exide Australia Pty Ltd	8 400	03.03.06	Used lead acid batteries from Australia for recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds by Joong-il Metals Inc (Recycling Facility), 635-6 Sunggok-Dong, Danwon-Gu, Ansan-City, Kyungki-Do, Republic of Korea
Exide Australia Pty Ltd	8 400	03.03.06	Used lead acid batteries from Australia for recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds by Exide Technologies (Vernon Smelter) 2700S Indiana Street, Los Angeles, California USA
Lex Enviro Services	6 000	02.06.06	Used lead acid batteries from Lex Enviro Services, 6 Sunblest Crescent, Mount Druitt, New South Wales 2770 to the Republic of Korea

Table 6: Import applications received but not resolved by 30 June 2006

Applicant	Quantity (tonnes)	Received	Type of waste, disposal operation and destination
Universal Metals Pty Ltd	200	22.06.05	Waste lamps and fluorescent tubes containing mercury from Taiwan for recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds at Advanced Recycling Australia Pty Ltd, 29 Reo Crescent, Campbellfield, Victoria 3061
GHD Pty Ltd	3.5	15.06.06	Pesticides, transformer casings and PCBs from Nuie for physico-chemical treatment at BCD Technologies Pty Ltd, 2 Krypton Street, Narangba, Queensland 4504

Table 7: Applications refused in 2005–06

Applicant	Quantity (tonnes)	Refused	Type of waste, disposal operation and destination
Mount Isa Mines Ltd	7 000	24.11.05	Lead dross from Queensland for recycling/reclamation of metals and metal compounds at Umicore, A. Greinerstraat 14, B 2660 Hoboken, Belgium

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