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Context in the participating countries

The context of the hazardous waste management in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine at the launch of the project was similar to a great extent:

  • The participating countries are parties to the Montreal Protocol and Stockholm Convention. While their national legislation is more or less in compliance with these international treaties, the regional and local level lack necessary regulation for environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes.
  • In reference to implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the countries focus most of their efforts on meeting the agreed phase-out schedule for ODS production and consumption. The activities on managing ODS banks and regulating recovery and further destruction of ODS from end-of-life equipment are limited to assessment of amounts contained in those banks.
  • As regards POPs, the national implementation plans (NIPs) are developed and approved after the inventory of PCBs and POP-containing pesticides revealed that solid steps were required in the countries to comply with the provisions of the convention.
  • By the launch of the project, refrigerators and other equipment containing ODS were still landfilled, and most POP-containing wastes were stored inappropriately or burned using unsuitable incinerators emitting toxic substances dangerous for people health, despite all the activities under the Montreal Protocol and Stockholm Convention.

More on the context in each participating country:

Context in Ukraine

Context in Kazakhstan

Context in Belarus

Context in Armenia

Common problems should be solved using common approaches and methods, which is proposed for the GEF-UNIDO project. Since the problems are typical for developing countries and countries with economies in transition, success of the project may be proposed to other countries of the region and beyond.