Hazardous Waste — Core Obligations
The management of hazardous waste is the most strictly regulated area of the Waste Management Code, because here the risk concerns both the environment and human health. Under the Code, the generation, collection and transportation of hazardous waste, as well as its processing and storage, must be carried out in such a way as to ensure the protection of the environment and human health. This general requirement is the yardstick of every subsequent rule: each operation with hazardous waste — from generation to storage — is measured against this standard.
If your enterprise generates hazardous waste, or if you are engaged in its collection, transportation or processing, this page describes the obligations and prohibitions that the Code places directly before you.
Prohibitions — What May Not Be Done with Hazardous Waste
The Code establishes categorical prohibitions. It is prohibited: to litter the environment with hazardous waste outside a waste collection container; to discharge hazardous waste into the sewage system or into underground or surface waters, including the sea; to burn hazardous waste outside an incinerator holding an environmental decision; and to process hazardous waste outside a waste processing facility holding an environmental decision.
These four prohibitions are simple and precise: hazardous waste cannot be dumped outside containers, cannot be poured into sewage or water, cannot be burned without special authorization, and cannot be processed at an unpermitted facility. There is also a rule for the population: municipal hazardous waste must be placed in special containers allocated by the municipality for this purpose, where such containers exist. For a company, the operational consequence is that every route hazardous waste takes must end at an authorized container, facility or incinerator.
Special Obligations of the Waste Generator
A waste generator that generates more than 2 tonnes of hazardous waste per year is obliged by the Code to: create and introduce a system for the separation and collection of hazardous waste; designate an environmental manager responsible for taking appropriate measures for the safe management of hazardous waste; and ensure the informing of personnel working with hazardous waste and the conduct of appropriate training.
These obligations also apply to a generator of less than 2 tonnes of hazardous waste per year where it carries out an activity determined by an order of the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. A further important rule: until the exact composition of waste is established, that waste is considered hazardous — waste of doubtful nature must always be managed under the stricter regime until its character is determined. This presumption protects health and the environment, and it means that classification is not a formality but the first compliance decision of the whole chain.
Where Processing Is Impossible — Export and Temporary Storage
If no technical or technological capacity for processing hazardous waste exists on the territory of Georgia, the waste must be exported for processing. Before the export is carried out, the hazardous waste must be safely stored at a temporary storage facility in the manner established by the Code.
Extension of the temporary storage period is possible at two levels: by decision of the National Environment Agency, the period may be extended once by not more than 1 year; and by a resolution of the Government of Georgia, an extension of more than 1 year may be determined where it is confirmed that this will cause no harm to the environment or human health. Temporary storage is thus genuinely temporary — its excessive use requires additional decisions, and each extension must be grounded.
The Prohibition on Mixing
The prohibition on mixing stands separately: it is prohibited to mix hazardous waste with other types of hazardous waste or with other waste, substances or materials. Mixing includes the dilution of hazardous substances — escaping the hazardous status by dilution is therefore excluded by law.
The logic of this rule is straightforward: safely managing mixed waste is considerably more expensive and more difficult, and the law closes this path from the outset. Separate collection is therefore not only an ecological but also an economic interest of the enterprise.
Collection, Transportation and Special Requirements
The collection and transportation of hazardous waste is carried out by a natural or legal person registered in accordance with the Code, and transportation takes place in accordance with the relevant subordinate acts. The special requirements for the collection and processing of hazardous waste are determined by a resolution of the Government of Georgia, which defines, among other requirements: mechanisms for the traceability of waste from generation to final placement; requirements for packaging and labelling; requirements for temporary storage facilities; requirements for waste of persistent organic pollutants; and requirements for such hazardous waste as waste oil, asbestos waste and others.
Traceability mechanisms are particularly significant: the history of hazardous waste — where it comes from, who handled it, where it is now — must be documented throughout the chain. This protects both the environment and the operator acting in good faith, who can prove the correctness of its own conduct.
Practical Steps for the Enterprise
In practical terms, an enterprise has three steps. First, measure the annual volume: if you exceed 2 tonnes or carry out an activity determined by the minister's order, the separation system, the environmental manager and personnel training are requirements, not options. Second, exclude every possibility of violating the four prohibitions, from containers to sewage. Third, plan the subsequent route of the waste in advance: the processing facility, the registered transporter and, where necessary, the temporary storage facility.
Observing these steps makes the hazardous waste regime manageable: you know what you have, how it is recorded and where it goes — and that is precisely the standard the law demands of every tonne of hazardous waste.