In early 2016, Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) published the latest version of the Inventory of Hazardous Wastes and ChemLinked introduced how to determine if a chemical is defined as a hazardous waste. A new concept that the Inventory brought in was the List of Exempted Management of Hazardous Waste (referred as “Exemption List” hereafter). The wastes listed in the exemption list will be exempted from compliance duties during certain stages of their lifecycle where the risks are relatively acceptable. On Mar 16th 2017, MEP published the draft of List of Excluded Hazardous Wastes (referred as “Exclusion List” hereafter). The exclusion list will function as an important support in the management of hazardous wastes together with the exemption list.
Some of the listed wastes were assessed by various qualified facilities and proven not hazardous. However, according to the current management framework, enterprises dealing with these wastes have to submit their own assessment report that says they are non-hazardous. This causes repeated work and wastes money for these enterprises. On the other hand, some of the listed wastes are still managed as hazardous wastes in some areas due to outdated assessment methods. This is also a waste of the authority’s enforcement power. So the introduction of the exclusion list is supposed to both relieve the industry’s burden and increase the authority’s management efficiency.
At present 6 types of hazardous wastes are included in the exclusion list and more will be added dynamically. Solid wastes that are already regarded as non-hazardous will not be included, such as desulfurized gypsum and blast furnace slags.
