a PRTR system
Once goals have been agreed, the next step is to define terms relevant to any PRTR system, e.g. “emission”, “pollutant”, etc. At the end of Chapter 5, a glossary of such terms, as proposed by the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) of the UN, can be found. This glossary includes not only IPCS suggestions but also those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, World Health Organisation and the Concise Oxford Dictionary. The term “transfer”2 is not included in this glossary because in the context of a PRTR, what constitutes a “transfer” can markedly affect the list of chemicals to be included in the PRTR system.
Affected and interested parties should decide how “transfers” will be treated in terms of the goals and implementation of a PRTR system. If a transfer, for example, were taken to mean only the removal of solid, sludgy or liquid wastes from the place of generation to a recovery operation, treatment or storage or disposal facility (off-site), then the PRTR list would properly include a list of such wastes. That is true so long as tracking waste movements has been identified as a goal of a PRTR. But if the meaning of “transfer” were broadened to include potentially harmful chemicals in products such as toluene in paints, nail polish and adhesives or mercury in batteries and fever thermometers, then reporters would need to indicate total quantities of these transfers. In that situation, the PRTR list would have to be drawn up to
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word transfer as: “to convey or take from one place, person, etc. to another; to transmit, transport; to give or hand over from one to another”.