Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) issued a Custom Notice CN18-02 advising of recent changes of permit requirements for exports to China.
As of October 21, 2016, according to the Export and Import of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations (EIHWHRMR), waste and recyclable material being exported for disposal or recycling are considered hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable material if:
- they are defined as, or considered to be, “hazardous” under the legislation of the importing country or that of a transit country;
- their importation is prohibited under the legislation of the importing country; or
- they are one of the “hazardous wastes” or “other wastes” in the Basel Convention, and the importing country is a party to the Basel Convention.
As a result, metals, plastics, paper, and other household-generated wastes may now, under certain circumstances, be defined as hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable material under the EIHWHRMR, when exported overseas for recycling or disposal purposes. If the contents of a shipment trigger the definition, a permit, issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), would be required before the shipment leaves Canada.
China has recently taken steps to restrict imports of waste and undesired scrap materials.
On January 1, 2018, China amended the Catalogue of Solid Wastes Forbidden to Import into China to include some mixed or unsorted scrap paper, cardboard, some specified scrap plastics, and unsorted loads of scrap plastic, and other materials including scrap metal, vanadium slag and used or scrap textiles
Additional information on managing and reducing waste is available at the Environment and Climate Change Canada Web site.
ECCC contact information:
Waste Reduction and Management Division
Environmental Protection Branch
Environment and Climate Change Canada
351 St-Joseph Blvd, 9th floor
Gatineau (Quebec) K1A 0H3
Email: ec.drgd-wrmd.ec@canada.ca