Strengthening cradle-to-grave environmental impact assessment of hazardous waste

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends that governments should take the lead in establishing and strengthening national procedures for environmental impact assessment to take into account the "cradle to grave" approach to the management of hazardous waste and to identify options for minimizing the generation of hazardous waste through safer handling, storage, disposal and destruction. Agenda 21 also recommends that governments, in collaboration with industry and appropriate international organizations, should develop procedures for monitoring the application of the "cradle to grave" approach, including environmental audits.