Due to the COVID-19 measures, the IMPEL Waste and TFS Conference 2020, originally planned to take place in Malta, has been held online instead on 27 and 28 May 2020 during a well attended two-day webinar. The theme of the webinar was “Waste and TFS in a digital world” and most speakers focused on the recent developments and adjustments in procedures related to COVID-19 in their work.
The first day addressed the strengthening of the international cooperation and alignment on transfrontier shipments (TFS) of waste. Keynote speakers of IMPEL partners such as the Secretariat of the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Convention and the DG Environment of the European Commission delivered relevant updates of the current activities within their organisations.
The second day participants got an inside of the ongoing review of the Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR) carried out by the European Commission and waste shipment during COVID-19. Attendants received feedback on enforcement issues and developments. Discussion items were, among others, whether to continue using electronic methods and using new inspection methods such as drones and apps. In addition, the new Circular Economy Action Plan by the European Commission was addressed, supported by an overview of IMPEL activities and projects related to waste management and circular economy, the chain inspection approach to end of waste and new circular business models.
