The Basel Convention Regional Centre in Egypt (BCRC-Egypt) was implementing a project to develop national hazardous waste (HW) inventories for the member Arab countries.
Earlier activities that BCRC-Egypt carried out to develop such inventories were based on the Methodological Guide for the Undertaking of National Hazardous Waste Inventories prepared by Basel Convention Secretariat.
These activities proved the need for adapting the guide to suit the governing systems and administration conditions of the Arab region.
BCRC contracted Environics to develop a suitable tool for preparing national HW inventories in the Arab countries. This was to be done through reviewing and updating the Methodological Guide, and facilitating a workshop on using it for representatives from the member countries.
Environics reviewed BCRC’s documents and reports on earlier activities carried out to develop HW inventories in Arab countries. A thorough revision of the Methodological Guide was conducted to simplify its content.
An adaptation of the guide was presented to representatives of the member Arab countries in a 3-days workshop. The participants’ feedback and their exchange of knowledge and experience were used to refine the adaptation document.
A complementary adaptation and tailoring of the Methodological Guide was developed to be used in conjunction with it.
The adaptation document streamlined and clarified the guide’s methodology, without compromising its objectives, and took into account the specific conditions and constraints of HW management in the Arab countries.
This assignment required extensive research and excellent coordination, which were achievable due to the outstanding team work of Environics.