BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados authorities says it welcomes the nationwide dialog relating to the disposal of batteries and waste from electrical and digital gear (WEEE).
In a prolonged assertion, the Ministry of Setting and Nationwide Beautification (MENB), Blue and Inexperienced Financial system, by means of the Environmental Safety Division (EPD) and the Ministry of Power and Enterprise (MEB), the federal government mentioned it wish to improve the dialogue by offering info on the present legislative framework, institutional tasks and ongoing work relating to battery disposal and WEEE, notably from the renewable vitality sector.
“We additionally want to reaffirm our dedication to making sure the secure and sustainable administration of hazardous waste in Barbados, which has been generated on account of our vitality transition.”
The federal government said that, opposite to the assertion that there is no such thing as a formal governmental place on the matter, Barbados has in place a number of legislative devices and insurance policies that focus on the secure administration of hazardous supplies all through their life cycle.
It said that the precise devices embody the Planning and Improvement Act 2019, the Planning and Improvement (Modification) Act 2020, the Planning and Improvement (Environmental Impression Evaluation) Laws, 2021, the Electrical energy Provide Act, 2024-26, and the Coverage for the Administration of Hazardous Chemical compounds and Poisonous Wastes, 2006.
It said that the primary two items of laws are the first legal guidelines that tackle the event and use of land assets for growth actions.
“Opposite to the assertion that there is no such thing as a formal governmental place on the matter, Barbados has in place a number of legislative devices and insurance policies that focus on the secure administration of hazardous supplies over their life cycle,” it mentioned, noting that among the many laws is the Coverage for the Administration of Hazardous Chemical compounds and Poisonous Wastes, 2006.
The federal government said that utility-level renewable vitality techniques require planning permission for these exceeding one megawatt (MW).
“These techniques require an environmental affect evaluation, which might usually connect circumstances to deal with decommissioning of the system, together with the administration of WEEE and the decommissioned battery system.”
The federal government mentioned the Electrical energy Provide Act, 2024-26 goals to “regulate the technology, storage, transmission, distribution, dispatch, provide and sale of electrical energy and promote native participation, competitors and the adoption of vitality practices and applied sciences within the electrical energy sector which are sustainable to reinforce vitality safety, local weather resiliency and make sure the reliability and affordability of companies within the sector”.
It mentioned extra particularly, the laws speaks to the decommissioning of renewable vitality techniques and the institution of a Decommissioning Fund to cowl the associated fee related to decommissioning and that these provisions state that techniques exceeding 500kW can’t be decommissioned with out making an inexpensive effort to mitigate the affect of the decommissioning on the setting and that licensee should contribute to a fund to cowl decommissioning prices.
The Minister should approve the decommissioning plan, which is to be up to date each three years to mirror any modifications in good business follow.
“These decommissioning plans are anticipated to supply clear info on the administration of potential WEEE by the waste administration hierarchy to stop, reuse, recycle, get well, and eliminate waste supplies.”
The federal government said that the present Coverage for the Administration of Hazardous Chemical compounds and Poisonous Wastes goals to determine techniques for managing hazardous supplies and wastes all through the supplies’ life cycle, encompassing import and export controls, dealing with and transportation, enterprise operations, and ultimate disposal.
“It’s famous that this coverage just isn’t supported as but by complete chemical substances administration laws, however the Authorities is working to deal with this recognised hole,” the assertion mentioned, including “extra broadly, throughout the governance framework of Barbados, the EPD is the lead company answerable for regulating hazardous supplies and waste in Barbados”.
The federal government said that the EPD can be answerable for implementing multilateral environmental agreements, such because the Basel Conference on the Management of Transboundary Actions of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, which is related to the administration of hazardous supplies in Barbados.
“Sure WEEE, together with batteries, could also be categorised as hazardous supplies beneath the provisions of this worldwide instrument. Hazardous supplies that fall beneath the mandatory annex recognized within the Basel Conference are advisable by the EPD for export and environmentally sound disposal by means of the prior knowledgeable consent process described within the Conference.”
The assertion mentioned, recognising the legislative and technical constraints throughout the governance system and the potential menace from the rising quantity {of electrical} and digital techniques that may finally be discarded as waste, the federal government, by means of the Environmental Safety Division, requested help from the Basel Conference Regional Centre for Coaching and Expertise Switch for the Caribbean (BCRC).
It said that consequently, the EPD is working in partnership with the BCRC and the Inter-American Improvement Financial institution (IDB) to establish acceptable insurance policies, legal guidelines, and techniques to handle these wastes by means of a consultancy.
The target of this consultancy is to develop a coverage framework for the environmentally sound administration of WEEE related to renewable vitality, together with Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and photo voltaic panels, in Barbados.
Moreover, the Blue Tech for Waste Problem, managed by the IDB, goals to establish and help progressive corporations addressing hazardous waste administration within the Caribbean.
“Corporations with current initiatives that fall throughout the recognized focal areas are invited to contact the Environmental Safety Division to discover this potential alternative for inexpensive financing,” the federal government added.
