PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The EU aims to minimise the risks associated with managing waste through rules for waste management and targets for the recovery of waste materials. European regulation contains a number of measures to prevent the illegal shipment of waste, including obliging Member States to carry out waste shipment inspections and to cooperate with each other. IMPEL’s ‘enforcement actions’ projects have been the cornerstone of its waste shipment enforcement activities for several years, providing on-the-ground training and ensuring a minimum level of inspections in participating countries.
OBJECTIVES
To better detect, disrupt and prevent illegal waste trafficking, LIFE SWEAP targeted an increase in the number of members taking part in IMPEL’s ‘enforcement actions’. It also aimed to build the capacity of the various actors in the enforcement chain by intensifying collaboration, inspections and enforcement actions, developing innovative tools and technology, and establishing an EU wide dataset for the development of intelligence products (innovative enforcement, tracking and e-reporting tools).
Another project objective was to support the Circular Economy Package by ensuring the efficient use of resources and minimising the effect of legislative and economic loopholes, thanks to the effective enforcement of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR). This would be done with the involvement of Europol, customs and national police forces in order to strengthen existing enforcement networks and to improve the flow of intelligence on illegal shipments and the actors involved. The aim was to allow a better understanding of trends and patterns to develop strategies to prevent and disrupt the illegal waste trade.
RESULTS
The Life SWEAP project has largely reached its objectives, namely:
- all actions involving meetings (i.e., customs training, inspector exchanges, best practice meetings) have been successfully completed;
- an inspection and reporting application was developed and made available to enforcement officers. The geographical mapping tool is updated through the reporting app, helps visualising inspection data, filters data and performs queries.
- the target for coordinated inspections has been significantly exceeded, with 90 000 transport and company inspections carried out (45 000 were foreseen) and about 8 000 violations registered. The data recorded from inspections enabled beneficiaries to analyse trends and identify problematic waste streams.
The project also made significant strides in enhancing the enforcement of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation, through capacity building among enforcement officers and developing innovative tools to support enforcement efforts. The project's achievements in training, tool development, and international collaboration have contributed to a more effective and efficient regulatory and law enforcement community.
The project implemented a comprehensive information and communication strategy, which included training materials, webinars, and an online toolkit to enhance the capacity of enforcement officers. Additionally, the project focused on raising awareness among stakeholders through meetings, surveys and the dissemination of fact sheets and guidance documents.
The project team contributed as well to policy development by providing the evidence base for illegal shipments through its vast dataset, attendance at Commission events on the revision of the WSR and its feedback on the implementation of the WSR via the first policy paper. Several of the proposals set out in that paper were adopted in the final legal text of the WSR.
A series of actions will be continued in the After-LIFE phase (inspector exchanges, inspection and guidance app, best practice meetings, geographical mapping tool, intelligence products).
