Failure to abide by the rules of the Department of Environment with regard to hazardous waste is considered a crime and legal action will be taken against the offending industries, an environment official said.
“All industries, which produce hazardous waste, are required by law to inform the DOE, while failure to disclose the information will lead to legal action,” said Mohammad Hossein Bazgir, the head of DOE’s office in Tehran, adding that penalties will also be levied on those who mix hazardous waste with other types.
Hazardous waste poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. They include flammable, toxic, corrosive and radioactive materials.
All types of waste, including regular, industrial, agricultural and medical, can contain hazardous material that need to be separated and disposed of in special ways.
Bazgir stressed that not reporting the production of these wastes is “not a simple violation or a minor breach of the law”, but a crime with severe consequences, Mehr News Agency reported.
These dangerous materials have to be handled with care by DOE-certified companies that have the means to hygienically dispose the waste material in designated sites.
“There are even certain types of hazardous waste that need to be sent abroad because we do not have the appropriate disposal site in our country,” Bazgir said.
