Environmentally sound management (ESM) toolkit

The ESM toolkit is a collection of practical tools to assist Parties and other stakeholders in ensuring environmentally sound management of hazardous and other wastes.

At its eleventh meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted the ESM Framework as a guide for Parties and stakeholders to address the challenges of implementing environmentally sound management of hazardous and other wastes. At the same meeting, the Conference of the Parties also established an expert working group on environmentally sound management to promote the implementation of the Framework by developing practical tools to support it. Subsequently, the expert working group developed a series of tools, which it decided to group together in an online toolkit (ESM toolkit) in order to facilitate their accessibility and promotion.

All tools included in the ESM toolkit have a strong practical emphasis and are intended to provide concise guidance on specific aspects of environmentally sound management. The ESM toolkit comprises the following tools:

    1. Guidance on how to address the environmentally sound management of wastes in the informal sector
    2. Guidance to assist Parties in developing efficient strategies for achieving recycling and recovery of hazardous and other wastes
    3. Practical manuals on EPR and financing
    4. Checklist for self-assessment of national ESM capacity
    5. Compilation of ESM criteria and core performance elements
    6. Compilation of training materials
    7. Comments received from Parties and others
    8. ESM Framework
    9. Fact sheets on specific waste streams
    10. Guidance on prevention and minimization
    11. Informal sector
    12. Pilot projects
    13. Practical Manuals on promoting the ESM of wastes
    14. Private sector incentives