disposal of hazardous waste, as part of her recent statements about the pivotal role of the Ministry of Environment in the safe and secure management of hazardous waste.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad issued directives to the Central Administration for Inspection and Environmental Compliance to pass all establishments producing ammonium nitrate in all governorates of the Republic through campaigns carried out in cooperation and coordination with the concerned authorities represented in the General Administration of the Environment and Surface Police and the General Authority for Industrial Development, to determine the extent to which these facilities adhere to standards Law No. 4 of 1994 and its implementing regulations and their amendments, in terms of transportation and storage methods. The Minister also directed the regional branches of the Environmental Affairs Agency to inspect those facilities and prepare reports to be presented to the competent authority to take the necessary measures in this regard.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, reviewed a report on the ministry's efforts and procedures in safe handling of hazardous materials and waste in the stages of their manufacture, transport, storage and safe disposal in a manner that does not harm health and the environment.
The Minister of Environment indicated that the Ministry, since its inception, has developed a clear definition of hazardous materials and wastes, identified lists thereof, and has ratified regional and international agreements related to hazardous materials and wastes, including the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, in addition to issuing guidelines for safe handling of these materials and waste, and launching inspection campaigns. Ongoing on-site manufacturing, storage and safe disposal to ensure proper health and safety procedures are followed.
Fouad explained that the Ministry is aware of the importance of tightening control over the circulation of these materials and wastes and their safe management, which prompted the allocation of Chapter Five of the new waste law - which will be issued soon after approval by the House of Representatives - for hazardous materials and waste, and the allocation of a technical committee to undertake the development, issuance and review of consolidated lists. For hazardous materials and wastes and the controls and requirements for their handling, their safe management and limiting their generation, the Waste Regulation and Management Authority of the Ministry of Environment coordinates with the competent administrative authorities to monitor them.
Fouad referred to the success stories of the Ministry of Environment in the field of safe management of hazardous materials and wastes through the project of sustainable management of persistent organic pollutants and in cooperation with the concerned authorities. The project succed to safe desposal of 241 tons landine and 471 tons of pesticides abandoned in the Ministry of Agriculture's warehouses in the classroom since 2003, which were shipped and safely disposed of them in specialized facilities outside the country, and work is currently underway to get rid of about 300 more tons of abandoned pesticides, in addition to treating 1000 tons of oils contaminated with PCBs After taking samples from about 13,000 transformers nationwide in cooperation with the Ministry of Electricity, and analyzes revealed contamination of about 860 transformers.
The minister added that, through the project, any pesticides present in the Egyptian ports and special economic zones will be counted and classified, ways to deal with them, and their storage methods are confirmed, and a plan developed for the disposal of high-risk quantities. As well as the port of Alexandria, and immediate inspections of any containers notified to the ministry by the port authorities are made, including examining the stagnant containers and classifying their contents in the port of Alexandria (21 containers) as well as the port of Dekheila (9 containers), and sending committees to examine new stagnant containers in Alexandria port. It measures 100 containers.
She explained that as soon as the Cairo airport authorities informed the Ministry of Environment that there was a quantity of pesticides in them that represented an environmental problem for the airport, the active substances of these pesticides were counted, classified and analyzed, and they were refilled, shipped and safely disposed of 2,600 kg of high-risk pesticides.
The Minister also referred to the efforts of the Ministry of Environment, through the medical and electronic waste management project funded by the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Program, to provide full technical and financial support for the safe disposal of about 41,250 cathode ray tube screens with an approximate weight of about 800 tons located in Egyptian ports ( Alexandria, Dekheila, Damietta Ports, East and West Port Said, Ain Sokhna, Suez, Safaga and Aswan) have been neglected and sluggish for years, which are considered dangerous electronic waste because they contain carcinogenic and dangerous elements to human health and the environment such as lead, phosphorous, barium and flame retardants, which represent about 75 % Of its components, and working teams from the Ministry were paid to inspect and study the situation in order to launch a global tender for safe disposal, as a contract was made with the Greek company that carried out the safe disposal of landfills and internal transport procedures are underway to start exporting.
The Minister of Environment touched on the measures taken by the Ministry for the safe management of ammonium nitrate as one of the important substances used in the manufacture of agricultural fertilizers due to its high nitrogen content and is considered a dangerous (flammable) material that requires taking the necessary precautions in its handling and storage, confirming that the Ministry of Environment has issued a package Among the requirements that these companies must adhere to, including the obligation to store liquefied ammonia under normal atmospheric pressure and in accordance with the requirements of the study and special international specifications, the installation of monitoring and alarm devices necessary to detect leakages, maintenance and periodic monitoring of the gaseous ammonia damping system with water sprinklers and the emergency hobby with a tank surrounding Ammonia with a solid concrete wall to contain any leaks, in addition to the safe and environmentally safe transportation, storage and handling of all raw materials and chemicals used in accordance with the requirements of Law No. 4 of 1994 and its amendments, and the commitment to implement the management planThe plant includes a plan for environmental monitoring, providing the necessary equipment for monitoring and qualifying its workers, installing a continuous monitoring station for gas emissions and suspended particles issued by the project and connecting it to the national monitoring network of the Environmental Affairs Agency, preparing a plan to confront risks and emergencies, qualifying workers on it, and coordinating with the concerned authorities regarding its application while providing Fire fighting devices.
It is worth noting that hazardous materials are those substances that threaten human health or adversely affect the environment, such as infectious, toxic, explosive or flammable materials or those with ionizing radiation, and hazardous wastes are those that result from various activities and processes or their ashes that retain the properties of hazardous materials such as waste. From therapeutic activities or manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, medicines, organic solvents or inks, dyes and paints