The practical manuals on promoting the environmentally sound management of wastes provide concise guidance with a strong practical emphasis on key topical areas of the environmentally sound management of hazardous and other wastes.
At its first and successive meetings, as well as intersessionally, the expert working group on environmentally sound management developed a set of five practical manuals on the following topics: terminology; general policies and legislation; permits, licenses or authorizations; certification schemes; and waste prevention.
The set of manuals was submitted to the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, which agreed to include provision for their further development and finalization in the work programme of the group. Subsequently, the expert working group prepared a revised version of the five manuals and submitted them to the tenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group for its consideration. The latter welcomed the work undertaken by the expert working group and set out a process through which parties and others were invited to comment on and test the revised manuals (decision OEWG-10/2). The Open-ended Working Group also requested that the set of five practical manuals be submitted to the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties for its consideration and possible adoption.
The development of a sixth manual on insurance and liability was commenced by the expert working group but not yet finalized. The group postponed finalization of this draft manual until related work under the Implementation and Compliance Committee is completed.
The work programme of the expert working group also provides for the development of two new practical manuals on extended producer responsibility and financing. A draft outline of the two manuals was submitted to the tenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group. Following comments from the Open-ended Working Group, the expert working group developed drafts of the manuals and made them available to Parties and others for comment on 31 October 2016. At its sixth meeting, the expert working group further developed the manuals on extended producer responsibility and financing for submission to the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties for its consideration.