Comprehensive management system on (PCBs) project

Introduction:

The project “Phase I of a comprehensive Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) management system in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” is aligned with the National Implementation Plan (NIP) for the Government of Jordan, as a commitment to Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs); in coordination with Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and Ministry of Environment (MoEnv) is the implementing agency, in cooperation with other public and private sectors in Jordan.

Project objective:

The project aims to provide necessary tools to increase technical capacity in Jordan to meet the requirements of Stockholm Convention with the overall objective of safeguarding the environment and health from PCB impacts at the national and global levels. That can be accomplished by developing a comprehensive system for environmentally sound management (ESM), identifying inventory at electrical power sector and disposing of PCB materials at the national level.

Project document has been developed to address PCBs compounds within the electrical power sector which is the most affected in this area through electrical equipment containing these compounds in various public and private companies. The project includes four components designed to overcome the barriers as follow:

Component One: Regulatory and Administrative Strengthening for PCB Management, The component aims at the formulation of relevant laws and regulatory measures for effective control of PCB handling in the country: hazardous waste classification, equipment registration, labeling and status reporting of PCBs.
Component Two: Improving PCB Inventory and Technical Capacity for Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of PCB Equipment and Materials; importantly, this component will address the barriers associated with the incomplete knowledge on the PCB inventory in the country through stimulating expanded sampling and testing of equipment oil. It will be aligned with removing limitations identified in the PCB analytical capacity sector, and specifically in the field, at the electric equipment owners. The component will further help in establishing a functional PCB equipment database.
Component Three: Demonstration Projects for Testing ESM system and Disposal of PCB Containing Equipment; this element has been designed to test the feasibility and reliability of all the previously described project components performing together in a holistic PCB management system for meeting practical suitability of the project’s approach.
Component Four: learning, Adaptive Feedback, Outreach and Evaluation.