Overview of Hazardous Waste Import Authorization

Hazardous waste, as the name suggests, can be dangerous for all living beings. If not handled properly, it can lead to many complications. There are many small scale, medium scale, and big scale industries that cannot handle hazardous waste properly. They simply dump those hazardous substances in water bodies and landfills. Industrial waste is full of toxins, also they are non-biodegradable in nature and full of hazardous chemical substances. There's already a heap of waste present on the earth’s crust, there’s no point adding more to it.

Hence, a well-planned Hazardous waste management program is required. This includes collection of waste, recycling them, treating them properly, disposing them as per rules, and finally transporting the waste to the proper destination. During the whole process an individual is handling hazardous substances. That’s why proper authorization is required for these tasks. If any individual or organization wants to import hazardous waste, they need to apply for authorization from the concerned departments.

What is a Hazardous Waste?

Since we are discussing Hazardous Waste, we must know what the term means. Hazardous waste term is used for the broader spectrum which includes a lot of things. It can be available in the form of solid, liquid, or gas. Generally, these wastes are generated by manufacturing industries, chemical industries and by other activities of these factories. Hazardous waste can be classified into three types; physical, chemical, and biological. According to Hazardous waste rule 2008, the characteristics of Hazardous waste can be flammable, infectious, reactive, toxic, ignitable, corrosive, explosive, and radioactive.

Wastes that are termed as Hazardous Waste:

• Wastes mentioned in Schedule I, column 3
• Wastes mentioned in Part A and Part B of the schedule that handles the import and export of waste conforming to Rule 12, 13, and 14.
• Waste mentioned in Schedule II. If the concentration of the waste is beyond the prescribed format of the Schedule, they are termed as Hazardous waste.

Rules that handle Hazardous Waste Management:

Hazardous Waste Management Rule states the policies of secure generation, handling, treatment, processing, import, packaging, transportation, storage, reprocessing, conversion, collection, offering for sale, disposal, and destruction of Hazardous waste. The rules also come with duties of concerning authorities like CPCB, MoEF, SPCB/PCC, State/UT govts, DGFT, Customs, Ports Authority, etc. State pollution control board, Pollution committees are given with bigger and more important responsibilities which cover almost all alleys of Hazardous Waste generation, disposal, and handling.

The ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate change is the concerned authority that governs over the cross border movement of hazardous substances and other waste recognized and mentioned in the Hazardous Waste Management Rules. This government body is entitled to handle every minute task regarding Hazardous waste management. The applicants need to follow some mandates to import Hazardous Waste. Some of those are;

• Reuse of the waste
• Utilization or Recovery of the waste
• Minimization and Prevention of the effects of Hazardous waste
• Safe disposal of the waste in the desired place
• Recycling the waste in the govt mentioned plants

List of Hazardous Waste:

Not all waste comes under the broader spectrum of Hazardous Waste. The one’s mentioned in this segment falls in the Hazardous Waste category. They are;

• Metal waste and anything that is associated with metal. Metal waste which includes alloys like; Cadmium, Antimony, Tellurium, and Lead.
• Waste generated by Metal Carbonyl that falls in this category.
• Compounds that are recognized as waste are; Cadmium compounds, Antimony compounds, Lead compounds, Tellurium compounds, etc.
• Galvanic Sludge is recognized as hazardous waste
• Zinc residues coming out of factories.
• Waste liquid coming out of metal pickles are also considered hazardous waste.
• Dusts and sludges like hematite, jarosite and residues coming out of zinc processing factories, etc.
• Whole lead acid batteries. The crushed version is also considered as Hazardous waste.
• List B batteries and other unsorted batteries.
• Electronic and Electrical assembles or scraps.
• Inorganic constituent waste. Also metals and other organic materials fall in this list.
• Some hazardous metal and their waste like Tungsten, Molybdenum, Niobium, Titanium, Rhenium, Tantalum, etc.
• Uncontaminated metal scrap including rods, beams, sheets, plates, etc.
• Scrap metals that include traces of Antimony, Cadmium, Tellurium, Lead, etc. Also, mixed non ferrous metals that include these agents.
• Non dispersible wastes coming out of mines and other mining operations.
• Sludge including Calcium Fluoride
• Solid metal bearing residues that include presence of inorganic cyanides.
• Non dispersible glass waste.
• Non dispersible metal and metallic alloys, scraps of precious metals like Aluminum, Iron and Steel, Zinc, Nickel, Molybdenum, Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten, Zirconium, Bismuth, Cobalt, Germanium, Titanium, Manganese, Gallium, Rhenium, Niobium, Hafnium, Copper, Magnesium, Chromium, etc.
• Used Electronics and Electrical circuits imported for the purpose of research, test, and different types of project works. Also, these types of assemblies should be exported back to the country within three years.
• Used Electronics and Electrical circuits imported for the purpose of repair works. Also, these types of assemblies should be exported back to the country within one year.
• Used Electronics and Electrical circuits imported by airlines for aircraft maintenance purposes. Also, these types of assemblies should remain on board or should be placed at one of the warehouses of the airlines governed by the Customs department.
• Copy machine and Printing machine in the used form.
• Paper board and paper works waste.

How to import Hazardous Waste:

The Ministry of Environment and Forest govern over the whole process on behalf of the Indian Government in this matter. If a company wants to import Hazardous waste from another country to India, just for disposal purposes, then it is not possible. To be able to bring the waste in, one needs to recycle, recover, reuse, and co process the waste. The required permission and license can be grabbed from the respective authority. Only the trader or user can apply for the license.

Documents required to obtain the Hazardous Waste Import Authorization:

To get the import license, the company needs to get

• A consent letter from the State Pollution Control Board. The whole thing will be governed under Prevention and Control of Pollution Act 1981 and Under the Water Act 1974.
• Certificate of Incorporation in case of a LLP or Company.
• Article of Association
• Memorandum of Association
• Aadhaar copy of the authorized person is required.
• PAN copy of the authorized person is required.
• Board resolution for appointing an authorized person in the case of a private limited company.
• Layout Plans
• GST certificate of the organization taking up the task.
• Rent/ Proof of Ownership of the plot you have your business at.
• Trade License or Factory License.

Procedure to get Hazardous Waste Import Authorization:

If a company needs to bag the import certificate for Hazardous Waste, it should satisfy the below mentioned points.

• The recycler should have a license from the State Pollution Control Board that allows him to treat the waste. Also, the person should apply for the import license in advance.
• The State Pollution Control Board will then forward the application to the respective authority within 30 days from the date of receiving of the application letter.
• If a company wants to get the import license, it needs to take an NOC from the respective authority. But for that, the importer needs to possess a consent letter from the country from where the product is exported.
• Both a trader and recycler are eligible for such certificates. The license will be given by the SPCB/MoEF to the trader. Once the trader receives the license, he will start importing the Hazardous Waste to the country and start trading those to the recycler for recycling purposes.
• Proper disposal and management of generated waste
• If the waste is mentioned in the Part A of Schedule III the importer needs to have a consent letter from the exporter of the product.
• The importer needs to be in line with the rules mentioned in Part A and B of Schedule III.
• The importer or trader should submit mandated documents along with Form 5.
• The sustainable facilities
• An authorization in the form of a consent certificate from the State Pollution Control Board is required.

Things that a trader cannot import:

There are certain things that a trader or an importer cannot import from another country. Such products are;

• Solid plastic waste
• Critical medical care equipment
• Waste from household
• Scrap of Electronics and Electrical circuits
• Waste made from Vegetables, and oils and fats of animals.
• Chemical waste, etc.

How can Whizseed help you?

If you are an importer or trader associated with Hazardous Waste Management, you can come to us. We will help you with the best possible solutions from our end. Services that you might find from our end are mentioned as followed;

• Solution provided with latest Technology: We will serve all your professional needs in line with the services we offer. Also, we will take help from all the latest technologies and systems to provide you with the best possible solution to the problems you have.
• Environmental Solution with Professional approach: We have a team of highly driven individuals who will guide you through the rough and tough alleys of environmental license and compliance. Our team will explain everything in detail and will stick to you till you grab the license.
• The famous 99% SLA delivery: The team at Whizseed is known for 99% SLA delivery. Along with the speedy delivery, our team of experts will provide you with an accurate solution that perfectly fits your requirements. Our target is to solve the requirements of our clients in the best possible way.