Questions concerning the treatment of waste rank amongst the most pressing of ecological issues. This is especially important where it concerns large industrial enterprises undertaking activity a plenty, which results in waste of different degrees of danger being formed. Along with technical questions of gathering, storage, recycling and the burial of waste, it is necessary to observe legislative requirements. So, in February of this year, the Ecological Code, signed by President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (‘RK') on 9 January 2007 came into force. In this connection, three laws — «On environmental assessments», «On the Preservation of the Environment» and «On the protection of atmospheric air» became defunct. We shall consider the basic changes brought into the system of legislation with regard to the treatment of waste.

According to the EC RK, depending on the degree of danger, waste is divided into the following three kinds:

1. Dangerous waste — waste which contains harmful substances and possesses dangerous properties (toxicity, explosion hazard, radioactivity, fire danger, highly reactive) and can represent a direct or potential danger to the environment and the health of the person independently or at the introduction into contact to other substances (sub clause 21 of clause 1 of article1 EC RK );
2. Inert waste — waste which is not exposed to essential physical, chemical or biological transformations and does not render an adverse influence on the environment and the health of a person (sub clause 6 of clause 1 of article1 EC RK);
3. Harmless waste — waste which is not dangerous and/or inert waste (sub clause 22 of clause 1 of article1 EC RK).

In contrast to earlier working orders for the certification of waste, the proprietor of waste is obliged to make a passport for dangerous waste products only. Before certification, all kinds of different waste were subject to this.

The passport for dangerous waste is made and affirms physical and legal persons/entities during these economic activities, dangerous waste is formed; on the basis of the form of the passport for dangerous waste, preservation of the environment is confirmed by the Ministry. According to clause 5 of article 289, the passport for dangerous waste is subject to registration with the Authorised Body within three months of generation of the waste. In process of receipt of the additional information raising completeness and reliability of the data, included in obligatory sections, the passport for dangerous waste must be updated and a re-registered.

According to clause 2 of article 294 of the EC RK, transportation of dangerous waste is now presumed under the following conditions:

1. In the presence of corresponding packaging and marks of dangerous waste for the purposes of transportation;
2. In the presence of vehicles specially equipped for such transportation and supplied with special signs;
3. In the presence of the passport for dangerous waste and documentation for the transportation of dangerous waste with an indication of the amount of dangerous waste products being transported, their purpose and destination;
4. Observance of safety requirements during the transportation of dangerous waste products, and also during cargo handling.

The owner of dangerous waste should provide marks for the packages containing dangerous waste with an indication of the dangerous properties. When transferring such waste to other persons for a definite term, the owner is obliged to inform them in writing of the dangerous properties and about related safety measures. Also, by granting a copy of the registered passports of dangerous waste to the physical person or the enterprise, in transporting the given party or part thereof, and also to each consignee of the given party's waste is obligatory. The persons carrying out the treatment of waste, and manufacturers of dangerous waste are obliged to conduct a regular account (kind, quantity and properties) of the formed, collected, transported, utilized or placed waste during their activity. The documentation under the account of waste should be stored with the proprietor of waste for 5 years. Owners of waste should represent to the Authorised Body, an annual report concerning the activity in the field of the treatment of waste when entering into the State cadastre of waste.

The burial place of waste is made at a specifically allocated site. At the given site, only such waste which is allowed can be buried.

All obligations regarding the maintenance of ecological requirements on site are assigned to the proprietor of the site. He must receive the waste depending on its conformity to one of three classes of site:

1. 1st class — range for accommodation of dangerous waste;
2. 2nd class — range for accommodation of harmless waste;
3. 3rd class — range for accommodation of inert waste.

The site owner carries out actions to monitor the influence on the environment, and also concerning the closure and re-cultivation of the site.

EC RK has precisely enough differentiated questions concerning manufacturing and consumption waste. According to clause 1 of article 283 EC RK, physical and legal entities who have created manufacturing and consumption waste, are the owners and bear the responsibility for the safe handling of the waste from the moment of its generation. The right to waste can be received by another person on a contractual basis, exchange, donation or other transaction concerning the alienation of waste. Furthermore, waste owners can transfer their physical and legal persons interested.

The waste which are not having the proprietor or which proprietor is unknown, are ownerless. If any physical or legal person has not turned such waste into ownerless waste on the basis of the decree pass in the republican or municipal property.

In general, the Ecological Code contains plenty of changes and innovations, simplifies some procedures, obligatory for execution by the nature users, and toughens ecological requirements. So, according to clause 2 of article 293 EC RK, the activities of physical and legal persons during which dangerous waste are formed, can be limited or forbidden if they cannot ensure the safety of the environment and the health of the person handling dangerous waste.