Minutes of

							                                         Minutes of
                                the ISWA General Assembly
                                                on
                                 Sunday 9 November 2003
                                       Melbourne, Australia
Present
Jean-Paul Leglise, President, France         Kazuo Ishii, Japan
N.C. Vasuki, Vice-president, USA             Masuro Tanaka, Japan
Birger Johansson, Treasurer, Denmark         Allan Goddard, New Zealand
Christoph Scharff, Past- President,          Odd Harald Olsen, Norway
Austria
Niels Jørn Hahn Chair of MOC, Denmark Håkan M. Dahl, Norway
Carlo Noto la Diega, Chair of PUC, Italy     Valentin Feodorov, Romania
Jeff Cooper, Chair of STC, UK                Loh Wai Kiew, Singapore
Atilio Savino, Argentina                     Julian Uriarte Jaureguizar, Spain
Ian Coles, Australia                         Håkan Rylander, Sweden
Val Southam, Australia                       Kjell-Arne Landgren, Sweden
Max Spedding, Australia                      Hans Bronk, The Netherlands
Peter Bortenschlager, Austria                Günay Kocasoy, Turkey
Christian Stiglitz, Austria                  C. Murphy, UK
Greg Vogt, Canada                            William Townend, UK
Henning Maul , Denmark                       Greg Vogt, USA
Alli Kaski, Finland                          General Secretariat Staff:
Berend Krüger, Germany                       Suzanne Arup Veltzé, Managing Director
Zsuzsanna Pfeiffer, Hungary                  Annette Mejia, Technical Manager
Björn H. Halldórsson, Iceland                Kristina Johansson, Secretary
Piero Sirini, Italy                          Peter Hurup, Public Relations Manager
David Newman, Italy                          Børge Boes Hansen Information &
                                             Administration Manager
                                                                                          Formatted: Danish (Denmark)




                                                                                      1
Agenda                                                                                                   Formatted: Font: Bold, Danish (Denmark)

1.0    Call to order
2.0    Roll call and Quorum
       2.1      Report from the General Secretariat on payments of dues from National Members as
                per 15 September 2003
       2.2      Report from the General Secretariat on presence and number of votes carried by the
                National Representatives as per 15 September 2003
3.0    Review of the agenda and procedures for decision making
4.0    Welcome of new National Members as approved by written procedure by the General
       Assembly
       -     Romania
       -     Singapore
5.0    Approval of the minutes of the General Assembly in Turkey 7 July 2002
6.0    Report of the President
       6.1      Report of the Chair of MOC
       6.2      Report of the Chair of PUC
       6.3      Report of the Chair of STC
       6.4      Report of the Chairs of the Working Groups
7.0    Report of the Managing Director
8.0    Report of the Treasurer
       8.1      Approval of the Financial Statement for 2002
       8.2      Approval of the 2004 budget
       8.3      National Membership dues for 2004
9.0    Report of the Australian National Member of ISWA on the ISWA World Congress 2003.
10.0   Report from the Review Group on the future structure of ISWA
11.0   Approval of proposals
       11.1     Adoption of the framework for a new structure of ISWA
       11.2     Proposal on having an Extraordinary General Assembly in writing on 15 January
                2004 based on the rules set out in agenda item 11.3
       11.3     Proposal on Extraordinary General Assembly Carried out in writing
       11.4     Proposal on change of Internal Regulations to implement an annual election of
                independent auditor firm and election of independent auditor for 2004




                                                                                                     2
       11.5    Hosting the General Assembly 2007
       11.6    Proposal from SWANA
12.0 Publication Award
13.0 ISWA New Members Award
14.0 Report on coming Annual Congresses
       14.1 Buenos Aires 2005
       14.2 Copenhagen 2006
15.0 Miscellaneous
16.0 General Assembly in Rome 17 October 2004
17.0 Close of meeting

        1.0 Call to order
The President welcomed the National Representatives to the General Assembly. He thanked Waste
Management Association of Australia for hosting the General Assembly and Annual Congress and
said that he hoped that the participants would find the discussions that were going to take place
interesting and useful.

       2.0 Roll call and Quorum
               2.1 Report from the General Secretariat on payments of dues from National
                   Members
The Managing Director reported that all National Membership fees had been paid with the
exception of Israel and South Korea.

               2.2 Report from the General Secretariat on presence and number of votes
                   carried by the National Representatives
The Managing Director stated that out of a total of 69 votes 65 votes were present. She also stated
that the General Assembly had the quorum necessary (at least one half of the total number of
National Representatives should be present – Operational Guidelines 5.A.7)

The changes of the list of Representatives sent out on 31 October 2003 are as follows:
 Gerhard Vogel, Austria, was replaced by Christian Stiglitz who also carried the vote
 Atilio Savino, Argentina carried the votes of Brazil by proxy
 Canada had 3 votes, 1 carried by Greg Vogt and 2 carried by N.C Vasuki
 Juha Kaila, Finland, was replaced by Alli Kaski who also carried the votes
 Jean Paul Leglise carried 3 votes
 New Zeeland was represented by Allan Goddard who also carried the votes
 Tao Hua, People’s Republic of China was not present
 Carlos Martins, Portugal was not present
 Valentin Feodorov, represented Romania and carried the vote
 Loh Wai Kiew, represented Singapore and carried the vote
 Jean Paul Leglise, France carried the votes of Switzerland by proxy
 Daan van der Linde, the Netherlands, was not present and his votes was carried by Hans Bronk




                                                                                                      3
   John Skinner was not present and his vote was carried by Greg Vogt

    3. Review of the agenda and procedures for decision making
The President informed the General Assembly that there was a new item on the agenda – 11.6
Proposal from SWANA- and asked the General Assembly to approve the agenda with this addition.
The agenda was approved. Furthermore he informed the General Assembly that according to
ISWA’s bylaws, the procedures for decision making forsee a simple majority except when dealing
with changes of the Statutes of ISWA. In that case a 2/3 majority is necessary to change the
Statutes. Due to the complexity of the proposals on the agenda the voting would be carried out as
paper ballots.

    4. Welcome of new National Members as approved by written procedure by the National
    Members
The President stated that he was most happy welcoming two new National Members of ISWA –
Romania and Singapore – which meant that ISWA now as 31 National Members.

Valentin Feodorov said that on behalf of Romanian Association of Solid Waste Management he
was very happy to participate in the General Assembly and that he was looking forward to
contribute to the work in ISWA.

Loh Wai Kiew said that Waste Management and Recycling Association of Singapore appreciated
becoming National member of ISWA. Although the Association is very new it is an active
organisation with a number of working groups and international connections. She was looking
forward co-operating with ISWA.

    5. Approval of the minutes of the General Assembly in Turkey 7 July 2002
The minutes were approved unanimously by the General Assembly.

     6. Report of the President
The President stated in his report that the working plan initiated last year is progressing according to
plan. The plan consisted of:
Continue ISWA’s development towards the international waste association of reference and ensure
a global representation
 Further strengthen ISWA’s role as a scientific and technically competent waste management
    association
 Improve the quality and marketing of ISWA and its products
 Improve the financial basis for ISWA through increased income from commercial activities


Contacts to National Members
Together with Niels Jørn Hahn he had visited the National Member of Thailand and Niels Jørn
Hahn had carried out visits to the National Members of South Korea and People’s Republic of
China. The President pointed out the importance of being in contact with the National Members and
that the visits had been a success.

Pre General Assembly
In connection with the General Assembly in Istanbul last year some Members asked for the
opportunity having more debate at the General Assembly. This lead to the establishment of the Pre-



                                                                                                      4
General Assembly where the National Member Representatives had a good and informal debate on
the future of ISWA.

     Review Group
With regard to the Review Group which was established as an initiative of the Nordic Countries he
said that the Group had put forward a proposal to ESPC and that the proposal would reshape ISWA
and makw the Association ready for the future. He thanked the Members of the Review Group for
their efforts and for the good spirit in the Group.

In short the proposal on the new structure consists of:
     Establishing Regional Development Networks
     Establishing a Board of ISWA replacing ESPC
     Broadening the representation of the Board having representatives of the Gold and Silver
        Members as well as Representatives from the Regional Development Networks at the
        Board.
     Transferring the tasks of MOC, PUC and FIC to the Board

Consultations with the EU Commission
The bilateral meetings with the EU-Commission allow ISWA to promote ideas to the Commission
and the main topics of the discussions in the last year had focussed on:
    Presenting the 10 Years Perspective Paper
   Comments on:
           Thematic Strategy on Waste
           Composting and Composted Products
           Draft Bio waste Directive with regard to source separation.
           Handling of APC residues
           R1 and D10 Criteria’s.

Furthermore ISWA had participated in the following Stakeholder’s meetings:

      Thematic Strategy on Sustainable use of Resources,
      Workshop on the definition of recovery and disposal
      Communication on the Thematic Strategy on recycling and Prevention

He stressed the importance that the input from ISWA to the Commission is of high technical and
professional quality.

The New ISWA web-site
The President informed the General Assembly on the new web site of ISWA and invited the
National Representatives to make use of it as it contains much useful information.

Waste management & Research
Waste Management & Research has got a new Editor-in-Chief and together with the very active
Chair of the Publication Committee the team will bring the Journal back as number one of its kind.
He thanked the Managing Director for securing the economy of the Journal by appointing the new
publisher.




                                                                                                     5
Contacts to other International Organisations
He stated that ISWA has established a number of contacts to other international organisations and
the co-operation included the following actions:
     ISWA and UNEP are carrying out training courses for instance in connection with
        WasteTech in Moscow and a concept for the training courses have been made. There is
        however a need for formulating a work plan for the co-operation in this field.
     The World Bank where the Vice-President is establishing the contacts
     ISWA has gained Rooster Consultative Status with ECOSOC
     ISWA is establishing contacts to
           o International Maritime University,
           o Interpol,
           o OECD
           o POP Stockholm Convention


He stressed that such contacts are important to ISWA and are creating a better image of the
Association.

ISWA Development Programme
With regard to the ISWA Development Programme the President asked Christoph Scharff to report
on IDP.

Christoph Scharff said that the Development Programme is a helping hand from the rich countries
of ISWA to the poor countries. It consists of training and education, infrastructure building, and
funding to people from developing countries allowing them to participate in ISWA events.

Proposals for funding are carefully reviewed by STC and the Treasurer, Jeff Cooper and Christoph
Scharff take the final decision on the financing of the projects.

So far the Programme has received € 50.000 in donations and he warmly thanked the contributors
and at the same time encouraged the National Members present at the General Assembly to
contribute to the Programme.

As an example of the Development Programme Christoph Scharff mentioned that the Workshop in
Melbourne on hazardous waste was supported by the programme.

The President concluded his report by thanking all ISWA Members for their contribution during the
year and addressed a special appreciation to Members of ISWA Committees and Working Groups,
Members of ESPC and the Managing Director and her staff.

       6.1 Report of the Chair of MOC
Niels Jørn Hahn said that he was elected Chair of the Committee at the General Assembly in 2001
and since then the Committee had worked on getting new Member to ISWA. He thanked the
Members of the Committee for their work.

He informed the General Assembly that he had participated in the visits to the National Members of
Thailand, South Korea and People’s Republic of China. He found it important that good contacts
were made to the National Members and some listen to the expectations of these members. In fact



                                                                                                     6
the proposal on the new structure fulfils some of the requests from these National Members with
regard to regional representation, training courses etc. The new structure will in this way help
promoting ISWA.

In 2004 similar visits to the National Members of South America will be carried out.

   6.2 Report of the Chair of PUC
Carlo Noto la Diega said that it was an honour to Chair PUC and he thanked the Members of the
Committee for their contributions to the work of the Committee.

The Committees have had meetings in Istanbul, Copenhagen, London and Rome and has among
other issues dealt with the new layout of Waste Management & Research and he hoped that the
increased marketing efforts will be successful.

Furthermore he informed the General Assembly that the ISWA web site had been re-designed and
that he found the new design very good.

The Working Groups on Thermal Treatment, Hazardous Waste, and Biological Treatment of Waste
had published reports. In addition to this the 10 years Perspective Paper had been published by the
General Secretariat with the assistance of all Working Groups

Finally, Carlo Noto la Diega stated that the Committee had been discussing future way of
publishing the reports of the Working Groups such as down-loads, print-on-demand, and CD-ROM.

    6.3 Report of the Chair of STC
Jeff Cooper said that the 10 Years Perspective Report – which was presented in Istanbul - now was
launched on a CD-ROM together with the Training Resource Pack, the Industry Sector Report, Safe
Hazardous Waste Management Systems and the 2003 Annual Report and that this disk replaced
hard copies. This new General Secretariat initiative had been welcomed by STC. The 10 Years
Perspective Report focus on Waste Management in a sustainable context. The Report it self have
been reviewed by the Working Group Members and that it should be regarded as a living document
and will be up-dated.

He said that last year there had been one meeting with the Commission on the 10 Years Perspective
and the Soil Strategy.

Furthermore he said that the drafting of the Waste Treaty is about to begin in co-operation with the
Working Group on Legal Issues.

STC had participated in the following issues:
   De-coupling seminar held by the European Environmental Agency in December 2002.
   Preparation of the joint Working Group Meeting
   National Waste Profiles which is going to be launched at the Annual Congress in Rome

Furthermore he stated that the Committee had been working with:
    The ISWA Development Programme.
    The General Secretariat on setting up a new ISWA homepage.
    The General Secretariat on collecting ISWA Country Profiles to be published in 2004.



                                                                                                       7
   6.4 Reports of the Chairs of the Working Groups
       Biological Treatment of Waste
As Chairman of the Working Group on Biological Treatment of Waste the President stated that the
Working Group had focussed on:
 EU legislative initiative on biological treatment
 EU legislative initiative on Soil Strategy
 Participation in the EU Soil Forum
 Up-dating of “Status and Trends in Biological Treatment”
 New project on Best Practices for biological treatment

        Collection & Transportation Technology
Georg Dostal said the Collection Working Group was the most important because without
collection there would be no waste management. In 2002 the Working Group had focussed on:
 Following the development of CEN Standards on containers and collection vehicles closely
 Starting a project on “Household Collection Systems in Major Cities in Different Countries”
 Public private partnership/tendering process
 New technologies on storage, collection, transfer and transport of waste.
 Benefit of separate recycling schemes
 Collection methods (collection, vehicles) mechanization of collection

        Communication & Social Issues
Christian Stiglitz said that the Working Group had focussed on:
 NIMBY project
 Campaigns and communication strategies and public acceptance
 As standard issue on the agenda of the Working Group the Members discuss the campaigns and
    communication strategies carried out in their countries
 Publication on European Experiences with Communication in the Field of Packaging Collection
 Environmental reporting on existing plants
 Company-internal communication
 A joint workshop with the landfill WG in Buenos Aires, Argentina for March 2003
He said that he was looking forward to work together with other Working Groups and encouraged
the National Members to appoint members to the Group.

      Developing County Issues
Nothing to report

        Economic Analyses for Sustainable Development
Harald Hutterer said that the Working Group had experienced a steady development in Members
since its start. The Working Group had focussed on:
 Principal Guidelines for Sustainable Development of Waste Management
 The ISWA Handbook: a practical guide-book on the basics of waste management aimed at
    developing countries
 Status of sustainable development in the ISWA member countries

He found the Handbook most important and hoped that the work on it would have the support of
ISWA.



                                                                                                  8
      Hazardous Waste
Mike Stokoe stated the Working Group had been engaged in the following:
 ISWA 10 year perspective paper
 Exchanged information on national taxation of hazardous waste
 Finalised the update of Safe Hazardous waste Management Systems- A State-of the-Art for
   Decision Makers, 1991.
 Published the Training Resource Pack as a joint work with UNEP and held the first training
   course based on the pack in conjunction to the ISWA annual congress 2002 in Istanbul, Turkey.
 The Group has collected information on handling of flue gas cleaning residues in the member
   countries

        Healthcare Waste
Bill Townend pointed out that
 The Working Group held a two day seminar in Istanbul in connection with the Annual Congress
 Many healthcare plants suffer from the NIMBY Syndrome
 New technologies within the healthcare sector is emerging fast but that there are practically no
    investigations on the impacts
 The working Group will search for information and data of health care waste generation rates
    and a survey on treatment methods for healthcare waste
 Finally the Working Group in involved in creating an International Research Network for
    healthcare waste management

        Legal Issues
Glen McLeod said that the main project of the Group is the drafting of a comprehensive
international waste treaty. ISWA gave its support to the concept at the Annual Congress in Oviedo
in 1999. With the support of UNEP and Murdoch University, Australia, an issues paper has been
prepared. There will be a presentation at the conference and a workshop

He said that the comments to the Treaty from STC and others had been appreciated.

         Recycling & Waste Minimisation
Jörgen Schultz pointed out that the Working Group had carried out State-of the-Art investigations
and strategy tours to A metropolitan city: Madrid, Spain, A middle range region: Florence, Italy and
a less inhabited region Wasa, Finland, which he found most important.
Furthermore the Group have had Thematic seminars on Electrical and electronic waste Packaging,
Plastic and discussions on ISWA 10 year perspectives paper and on The EU Thematic Strategy on
Recycling and Prevention

Finally the Working Group had carried out a Training Course in Thailand. He also encouraged the
Representatives to appoint more Members to the Working Groups.

      Sanitary Landfill
Greg Vogt thanked the Vice Chair of the Working Group for his efforts and pointed out that the
Working Group had been discussing:
 Future Training Courses
 Co-operation with UNEP hereunder joint publication and training




                                                                                                    9
   LFG-to-Energy Data Base, an initiative to quantify methane treatment underway and planned
    for the future in participating countries
   Requests for WG support from various countries
   Joint participation with World Bank at Landfill Gas-to-Energy Workshop in Mexico 2003
   Beacon Conference on “Sanitary Landfills for Latin America” in cooperation with US EPA and
    World Bank

        Sewage and Waterworks Sludge
It has been decided to dissolve the Working Group on Sewage and Waterworks Sludge. The scope
for the working group will be transferred to the relevant working groups – i.e. Working Group on
Biological Treatment and Working Group on Thermal Treatment.


       Thermal Treatment
Håkan Rylander said that the Working Group had been focussing on the following:
 Swedish report on Dioxins
 A new Waste-to-Energy State-of-the-Art report, with statistics
 Prepared and published a report on the State-of-the-Art on handling of flue gas cleaning
   residues
 Implementation of the new EU Directives on Incineration of Waste
 The EU project on Best Available Technology References within waste incineration, BREF
 The EU Court Cases on Recovery (R1)and Disposal (D10)Criteria
 The definition of waste incineration as a method for energy recovery
 ISWA Beacon Conference in Malmö, 2003 on Thermal Treatment of Waste
 Work-shop on „Thermal Treatment of Sewage Sludge“

The President thanked the Representatives for their support to the Working Groups and asked them
to appoint more Members to the Groups.

        7.0 Report of the Managing Director
In her report the Managing Director gave an overview of the activities of the General Secretariat.
She stated that the ISWA Development programme has to be implemented further and she
mentioned the possibility for each ISWA Member to support the programme by adding 10 % on top
of the 2004 ISWA fee. It is highly important that funds of the programme are used as efficiently as
possible and that is the reason ISWA is operating closely with UNEP on this matter. So far € 36.000
has been received or invoiced. All projects to be funded are discussed and decided on by ESPC the
Past President, the Chair of STC, the Treasurer and the Managing Director.

        ISWA meeting plan
In connection with the Annual Congress in Istanbul 2002 some of the National Members had
expressed the need to be in better contact with the President and or the General Secretariat. This has
resulted in 3 initiatives, first of all the President the Chair of MOC and the Secretariat has visited
the National Members of Thailand, South Korea and People’s Republic of China in 2003 and visits
to the National Members of Latin America is planned to take place in the spring of 2004.
Secondly, meetings between National Members and the staff of the Secretariat is scheduled to take
place during the Annual Congress in Melbourne.




                                                                                                   10
Finally the concept of having a Pre-General Assembly was carried out on 8 November 2003 in
Melbourne

        Qualification as Professional Waste Manager Programme
ISWA has applied the EU Commission for financial support for the International Waste Manager
project1

       Waste Treaty
ISWA is seeking to develop an international treaty on waste with the objective on enforcement of
preventive waste management approached. The work on the Treaty is carried out by the Working
Group on Legal Issues in co-operation with Murdoch University and UNEP.

       Review Group
The General Secretariat has been involved in drafting the proposal on the new structure of ISWA
and participated in the meetings of the Review Group.

      Cooperation with other international organisations
ISWA is currently seeking co-operation with:
 World Maritime University
 Interpol
 WHO
 Asian Development Bank
 World Bank
 Pan American Bank
 IMO
 ECOSOC
 OECD
 PoP Stockholm Convention
 Secretariat on Prevention of Organic Pollutants Basle Convention

Furthermore she informed the General Assembly that the Secretariat is in contact with FEAD,
CEWEP and EEB.

        ISWA Publications
In order to ensure ISWA’s role as a scientific competent waste management association ISWA has
issued:
 10 Years Perspective in Waste Management
 Draft booklet on Waste Management Planning (together with UNEP)
 Draft publication on Waste Management Profiles (involvement of National Members)
 Industry Sector Report
 New publication from Working Group on Hazardous Waste
 New publication from Working Group on Thermal Treatment
 Position Papers for EU/ISWA bilateral meetings



1
    The application was turned down by the Commission by letter received 7 November 2003



                                                                                                   11
       Improve the quality and marketing of ISWA and its products
In order to improve the marketing of ISWA the Secretariat are sending out ISWA News, monthly
newsletter to all ISWA Members, redesigned the web site and made EU-Service, available for all
ISWA Members in a restricted version.

        Improve the financial basis for ISWA through increased income from commercial activities
The Managing Director has taken the following initiatives in order to improve the financial
situation:
 Beacon Conferences in Vienna, Malmö, Paris, Buenos Aires, Sydney and Barcelona have or
    will be carried out
 Sponsorship on ISWA web-site, ISWA Annual Report and ISWA 2003 CD-ROM has been
    received
 Increased book sales

        Future work
The Managing Director concluded her report by pointing out that the future work of the Secretariat
will consists of:
 Updating and implementation of the 10 Years Perspective Report
 Promotion of ISWA Code of Ethics
 Expanding cooperation with international organisations
 Reports on technical aspects of waste management
 Implementation of the result of the joint working group meeting in Melbourne and seminar on
    Waste Treaty
 Improved technical service to ISWA Working Groups through establishing list of experts and
    proper funding
 Implementation of new structure giving possible new tasks to the General Secretariat

        8.0 Report of the Treasurer
The Treasurer said that in order to protect and ensure the financial stability of ISWA he had set up a
goal of having an equity capital of 1 million DDK. ISWA reached this goal in 2002 which he was
very happy about.
He asked the General Assembly to consider setting the next goal regarding the equity capital to be
50 % of the yearly turnover.

       8.1 Approval of the Financial Statement for 2002
The Treasurer stated that the income of 2002 was more or less in accordance with the budget
whereas the expenses were considerable lower than in the budget (The financial Statement showed
expenses of DKK 4.522.000 compared to DKK 4.753.000 in the budget). He pointed out that this
was due to very good management in the Managing Director.

The amount of DKK 200.000 was transferred to the reserve fund to cover any expenses regarding
Munksgaard and this lead to a result of 2002 of DKK 238.000 compared to the estimated result
presented at the General Assembly in Istanbul of DKK 177.000.

He stated that according to the new investment plan up to 25 % could be invested in medium risk
bonds and the remaining investment in low risk bonds. Within the frame work of this the Managing
Director can manage the investments.




                                                                                                   12
The President asked the General Assembly for the approval of the 2002 Financial Statement.

The General Assembly approved the Financial Statement unanimously.

        8.2 Approval of the 2004 budget
The estimate for 2003 shows an income of DKK 5.018.000 compared to DKK 5.102.000 in the
budget and with regard to expenses the estimate predicts DKK 4.953.000 compared to the budget
figure of DKK 4.907.000 which should lead to a result of around DKK 100.000 which is satisfying.
The estimate was based on expectations as to income from member feesand the good result of this
year’s Annual conference

With regard to the 2004 budget this was primarily based on the result of 2002 and membership fees
is increased with 3-4% for all categories except Students and Developing Country Members.

Christian Stiglitz proposed that all figures in Financial Statements and budgets should be shown in
EURO and US Dollars as well as in Danish Kroners.

The Treasurer agreed to this proposal.

The President asked the General Assembly for the approval of the 2004 budget.

The General Assembly approved the 2004 budget unanimously.

       8.3 National Membership dues for 2004
As a consequence of the approval of the 2004 budget, the National Membership dues were
approved unanimously.

       9. Report of the Australian National Member of ISWA on the ISWA World Congress
       2003
Ian Coles warmly welcomed the National Representatives to the ISWA World Congress
“Sustainability in a new World” and hoped that the Representatives would enjoy the time in
Melbourne. He pointed out that more than 600 delegates from 48 countries had registered for the
conference and that the conference had a wide range programme.

        10. Report from the Review Group on the future structure of ISWA
The President stated that the Review Group had been doing a good job on formulating the proposal
on the new structure of ISWA and he thanked the Members of the Group for their contributions.

He asked the Managing Director for an update of the number of votes present and she replied that
the representative from Portugal was not present and therefore there were 62 votes present.

He asked N.C. Vasuki to present the proposal and the discussions on the Pre-General Assembly that
took place the day before.

N.C. Vasuki said that the process of formulating the new structure had started at the General
Assembly in Stavanger based on a proposal of the Scandinavian countries and had lead to the
changes of the Statutes at the General Assembly in Istanbul. With the proposal ISWA is looking
into the future.



                                                                                                   13
He said the Spain and UK had sent in written reports. He summarised the proposal in its present
form:

        Streamlining the governance of ISWA
This means that the decision making process will be clarified, the administrative functions will be
reduced, the tasks of MOC, PUC and FIC will be transferred to the new Board and that ESPC will
be replaced by a Board.

       Broadening the Member representation
The President, Vice President, Treasurer, STC Chair, will directly be nominated and elected by
National Members in the General Assembly. One Board Member nominated and elected by the
Regional Development Networks, ratified by the General Assembly. Four (4) Member
Representatives, two (2) each for Organisational Members and two (2) Individual Members elected
among the respective membership categories ratified by the General Assembly. Two (2) National
Members directly nominated and Elected by National Members at the General Assembly

Furthermore, The Vice-President is elected for a 3 year period and then becomes President for an
additional 3 year period. The Board Members are elected for a 3 year period – the election periods
will however start with 2 and 4 year periods in order to ensure the continuity of the Board. Board
Members can only be re-elected once in order to provide opportunities for others to serve.

With regard to the election of Organisation and Individual Members the Review Group had
suggested:
 6 month prior to the General Assembly the Secretariat sends out a call for candidates among the
   membership categories
 3 month prior to the General Assembly the Secretariat sends out the lists of candidates to the
   ISWA Members to the Membership categories
 Each member has one vote
 The election takes place within 30 days
 60 days prior to the General Assembly the representatives of the Membership categories
   nominates and elects among themselves the representatives for the Board
 45 days prior to the General Assembly the Board Representatives will be presented to the
   National Members
 The election of the Board representatives will be ratified be the General Assembly

N.C. Vasuki said that the election of the Regional Development Representative follows the same
principle as for Organisation and Individual Members

       Globalising ISWA’s outreach
N.C. Vasuki pointed out the importance of reflecting the ISWA Membership outside Europe and
USA and that the Regional Development Networks is the answer to this. The Review Group had
proposed Latin America, Asia and the Pacific Area, Eastern Europe and Russia, the Middle East
and Africa as Regional Development Networks.

With regard to the organisation of the Networks he stated that:
 The Networks are organised by the National Members of the Region
 One National Member will host the secretariat of the region



                                                                                                  14
   The activities of the regions are co-ordinated with the General Secretariat
   In regions without National Members the General Secretariat will identify potential leaders to
    assist in developing regional activities and act as points of reference

Finally the proposed tasks of the Networks are:
 Promotion of sustainable waste management in the Region
 Promotion of ISWA
 Member recruitment (National Members, Organisation Members, and Individual Members)
 Beacon Conferences (“Travelling” Beacon Conferences – the same conference carried out in
   each of the regions)
 Other conferences
 Training Courses
 Provide ISWA with information on the development of waste management in the region
 Communicate with the General Secretariat on events and in general on waste management
   issues of the region on a regular basis
 Create a regional newsletter


      Redirecting resources to service oriented activities
N.C. Vasuki said that the proposal allows for the transfer of resources from supporting the
Committees to technical support and Working Group activities. This includes:
 Training courses
 Beacon Conferences
 Publications
 Annual Conferences
 Website & electronic communications
 Database information on waste issues
 Improving links with International Organisations
 Developing ISWA membership in all Regions

        Minimum requirements for National Members
The idea behind the establishment of minimum requirements for National Members is to strengthen
the relations between National Members and ISWA and making ISWA more visible in the National
Member countries. The Requirements consists of:
 Pay membership fees
 Submit an annual report to ISWA on country activities
 Organise at least one ISWA event in your country each year, such as workshops, Working
    Group meeting, National Assembly, press conference etc
 Translate and publish at least one GS publication/article each two years
 Actively promote and create new membership for ISWA
 Participate in the Regional Development Networks where appropriate
 Send at least one Member to at least one Working Group each year
 Participate in the General Assembly
 Participate in Beacon Conferences when within the Region
 Recommend technical papers for ISWA Publications Award
 Submit one article annually for publication in WMW




                                                                                                     15
   Participate in ISWA questionnaires on waste issues

       Future questions to affront
N.C. Vasuki concluded his presentation of the proposal on the new structure by saying that there are
some outstanding matters to be discussed further such as:
 Strengthening of Working Groups (may include closing or creating new Groups, combining
   groups, creating regional groups)
 Financing special projects to enable ISWA to take leadership in technical matters within
   international waste management
 ISWA Development Programme
 Marketing ISWA
 Changing member influence and voting rights

He said that the Pre General Assembly the day before have had a very good discussion of the
proposal and showed the main comments from the meeting on a number of power-point slides:

Mike Stokoe
Proposal is coherent; within ISWA Silver and Gold members are not currently enfranchised; I agree
with the proposals because they take ISWA forward.
Håkan Rylander
In principle is very good, global representation is needed and proposal will bring ISWA forward.
Opening Board to Individual Members can make ISWA vulnerable to small pressure groups
influence. Should have a nomination committee to ensure Board is balanced.
Support RDN, although there are practical problems, but we should now test the idea.
Comment: terms of office, two years is enough, three years too long, gives more ISWA members
the opportunity to be active. We need a strong Secretariat which allows Board members to change
more frequently.
Odd Harald Olsen
The structure looks good even though there will always be possibilities to adjust in the future. We
cannot for see everything, overall in agreement.
Bjorn Halldorsson
We were part of the original group proposing change and we fully support the overall proposal.
Bill Townend
Our paper expressed views of the UK Committee; we fully support the overall proposal, but the
Working Groups need expanding and to be given a higher profile.
Chris Murphy
Our paper expresses our thoughts; may contradict some of the work done by Jeff Cooper. Overall
we support the proposal but we feel some ideas are rushed; timing needs review, some things work
and need leaving alone. Such as: potential abuse of the democratic process by Organisation
members needs carefully considering; Committees are working and give a lot of free time to ISWA,
key area is to leave resources free for Working Groups which are ISWA´s principle activity.
Derek Greedy
If the GS takes on more tasks we risk giving less support to the Working Groups.
Peter Bortenschlager
See their document which is distributed, I see no sense for changing structure which has operated in
the last 20 years, and why the rush?
Christoph Scharff




                                                                                                 16
Board representation: RDA´s are going in the right direction but 1) just one representative on the
Board is insufficient, East Europe and Asia for example will have difficulty in voting just one
representative. We propose that all RDN´s are invited without voting rights to participate at the
Board level.2) Silver and Gold give one third of ISWA income. We will lose many of these if
Individual Members have the same rights.
3) We support the two year service period not three
4) How can Silver and Gold be Board members but not vote in the General Assembly?
Standing Committees work-load has been carried by National Members free of charge and fear
overloading the GS with this, where is the capacity for supporting working groups? Time line: too
short a period to apply the reform in January 2004. The General Assembly should be a discussion
event not simply a vote in favour or against
Loh Wai Kiew
New member representing Asia, no comment but we are willing to help work on refining the
proposal.
Valentin Feodorov
No proposal to make but welcomes the National Member being more active within ISWA
Greg Vogt
Proposal is helpful in strengthening Working Groups and RDN’s are important to help develop
activities around the world. Different regions handle problems differently. We can take more time.
But we feel a need to realise potential that is not yet fulfilled; it will not harm us to proceed now.
Currently STC Chair serves four years, three years is too little.
Hans Bronk
Support generally the proposal, makes ISWA more flexible; we think a strong Secretariat is needed
with more staff so two years is enough for Presidential term. We are aware of the strong role of
West Europe and this should be preserved
Zsuzsanna Pfeiffer
RDN is necessary but I don’t see where ISWA Secretariat will reduce its workload, the Board will
work much more and how it will be possible practically to manage all the extra work after closing
committees.
Julian Uriarte
No comments
Henning Maul
I follow Norway, this is the right way forward and if needed, we can make changes in the future
Ian Coles
Support most proposals and am flexible on terms of office. Decision is needed sooner rather than
later, clearly ISWA is not working well is many parts of the world, membership is falling. Working
Groups on Regional basis is the key to the success and resources should be gradually transferred to
these activities.
Berend Kruger
Resources need to be shifted from administration to working group activities and the danger is that
the workload of the Board may prevent this. I do not see need for Individual Members to be
represented on Board, they should be represented through National Members. Will the democratic
process work through regional networks?
Jean Paul Leglise
We have worked hard for some time and need to know tomorrow how to proceed.
Carlo Noto
We agree on the RDN; agree with some of you and am worried about allowing individual members
to the Board. Regarding elimination of Committees, I agree with this even though I am Chair of



                                                                                                    17
PUC. It is important to identify the role of Board Members and that of the GS so that the committee
workloads can be distributed fully.

N.C. Vasuki had made the following conclusions based on these comments:
NC Vasuki-conclusions
2 year term seems to be consensus except for STC which remains 4 years
Concerns regarding Individual Members seem widespread and valid; we wanted your reaction to
this and this can be adjusted. Concern at the speed of change. It is actually slow, taking two years to
get here. We are not trying to rush. Slowness of reaction within ISWA is a problem for me. The old
structure will hurt ISWA and not improve it. When do we do anything if we wait to the next GA? It
is up to you however to decide this. Committee structure. Niels Hahn is MOC Chair and was in
Review Group. Objective is streamlining decision making- process, with Board reacting quickly.
Concern about RDN and construction, their role; the Review Group is not quite clear either but
recognises need to get started. The problems can be corrected at a later date.
Suggestion: time structure, if it is too fast, what is the alternative?

The Pre-General Assembly had on this background agreed on the following amendments:

1) Amendment proposed by Ian Coles:
Proposal for Board structure:
4 Members, President, Vice President, Treasurer and STC Chair are elected by National Members
at General Assembly.
3 Board Members are nominated and elected by the Regional Development Networks and are
ratified by the General Assembly.
2 Member Representatives for organisational members are elected by them and ratified by the
General Assembly.
2 National Members are nominated and elected by the General Assembly.

Out of total 11 Board Members 6 are directly elected by General Assembly

2) Amendment proposed by Håkan Rylander:
Item 11.1
The Vice President is elected for a two year term and then becomes President for an additional two
year period.
The Board Members are elected for a 2 year period with exception of the STC Chair who is elected
for a 4 year period, and they can be re-elected twice, with exception of the President.


3) Amendment proposed by Julian Uriarte
The Internal Regulations should also be approved by a qualified two-thirds majority in the GA.

4) Amendment proposed by Julian Uriarte
The 11 Board Members must come from 11 different countries.


N.C. Vasuki stated that the Pre-General Assembly had agreed on that the final wording of the
proposals on the changes of the Statutes and Internal Regulations can be refined from January 15th
onwards to June 1st .



                                                                                                    18
Furthermore he said that the procedure to follow regarding decision for the proposal and
amendments would be to discuss the proposal and amendments, then to vote on the amendments
and if accepted they become part of the proposals. Thereafter the General Assembly will vote on the
proposal. The voting will be carried out in writing.

Amendment 1
Chris Murphy said that 3 Regional Network Representatives at the Board is too much to be
introduced at one time and suggested that one representative is elected in 2004, one in 2005 and one
in 2006 and David Newman supported this point of view.

Ian Coles pointed out that the proposal has to set out new goals and if the introduction of the
Networks is slowed down it would have a negative effect in the new ISWA countries.

Julian Uriarte asked why the Board should consist of 11 Members and N.C. Vasuki said that the
Review Group had discussed this matter and arrived at this composition.

Christoph Scharff asked why the Network Representatives and Organisation Members should have
seats at the Board as this would threaten the position of the National Members.

Berend Krüger stated that the Regional Development Networks needs time to form their
organisational structure and suggested that until then up to 3 Regional Representatives are elected to
the Board and if there is no Regional Representatives the General Assembly elects the remaining
members of the Board.

Odd Harald Olsen said that the proposal by Berend Krüger incorporated into the amendment 1
would solve the problems and Ian Coles agreed to this.

Håkan Rylander suggested that that the Regional Development Networks should be in place before
2005-2006.

Christian Stiglitz asked who could be elected replacing the Regional Representatives and Suzanne
Arup Veltzé said that the National Members nominates the candidates following the existing rules.

Berend Krüger said that it is difficult to make election rules for something that are not existing (the
Network Representatives) and Greg Vogt said that the Network Representatives have to be elected.

Christoph Scharff supported Greg Vogt’s point of view and said that until the Regional
Development Networks is established the gab at the Board can be filled with National Member
candidates.

Christian Stiglitz asked if only one Regional Development Network is established is that Network
able to appoint 3 Board Members?

N.C Vasuki said that the controlling number of Board Members is 11. If only 1 Network is existing,
then they only can appoint 1 Board Member.

He asked the General Assembly to vote on the following amendment:



                                                                                                     19
Amendment 1
The Board should not exceed 11 Members

4 Members, President, Vice President, Treasurer and STC Chair are elected by National Members
at the General Assembly.

3 Board Members are nominated and elected by the Regional Development Networks and ratified
by the General Assembly

2 Member Representatives for Organisational Members are elected by them and ratified by the
General Assembly.

2 Members elected by National Members at the General Assembly.

In the period until RDNs are established, the General Assembly can elect additional members up to
the Board maximum of 11.


62 votes were cast 60 in favour of the amendment and 2 against and thereby the amendment was
approved.


Amendment 2
Håkan Rylander said that according to his proposal the Chair of STC has a 4 year period and can
only be re-elected once, the Vice President is elected for a 2 year period and then becomes President
for a two year period and the remaining board Members is elected for a 2 year period and can be re-
elected twice.

N.C. Vasuki asked the General Assembly to vote on the following amendment:

The Vice President is elected for a two year term and then becomes President for an additional two
year period.
The Board Members are elected for a 2 year period and can be re-elected twice with the exception
of the STC Chair who is elected for a 4 year period and can be re-elected once, and with the
exception of the President who cannot be re-elected as President.

62 votes were cast, 62 in favour of the amendment and 0 against and thereby the amendment was
approved.

Amendment 3
Julian Uriarte said that the Internal Regulations are just as important as the Statutes and therefore
changes of the Internal Regulations should be approved with 2/3 majority.

Håkan Rylander said that the Internal Regulations are much more detailed rules and if the proposal
is adopted the Internal Regulations could block for important decisions. He suggested the major
rules of the Internal Regulations could be transferred to the Statutes.




                                                                                                        20
N.C. Vasuki asked the General Assembly to vote on the following amendment:

Amendment 3
The Internal Regulations should also be approved by a qualified two-thirds majority in the GA.

62 votes were cast, 16 in favour of the amendment, 45 against and 1 blank and thereby the
amendment was rejected.

Amendment 4
Julian said that the objective of the amendment is to avoid some National Members dominates the
Board and to have a broader representation at the Board.

Odd Harald Olsen found the amendment had very good intentions but that it was setting up limits
and Ian Coles said that it was not practical.

Christoph Scharff supported Julian Uriarte and said that it was practical taking into consideration
that ISWA has 31 National Members.

N.C. Vasuki asked the General Assembly to vote on the following amendment


Amendment 4
The 11 Board Members must come from 11 different countries.

62 votes were cast, 22 in favour of the amendment, 39 against and 1 blank and thereby the
amendment was rejected.

11. Approval of proposals
11.1 Adoption of the framework for a new structure of ISWA
N.C Vasuki asked the General Assembly to cast their votes for the proposal on the framework for a
new structure of ISWA.

62 votes were cast, 60 in favour of the proposal and 2 against and thereby the proposal was adopted.

11.2 Proposal on having an Extraordinary General Assembly in writing on 15 January 2004
based on the rules set out in Agenda item 11.3
N.C. Vasuki stated that the wording of the proposals on the changes of the Statutes and Internal
Regulations can be refined from January 15th onwards to June 1st.

N.C Vasuki asked the General Assembly to cast their votes for the proposal on having an
Extraordinary General Assembly in writing on 15 January 2004.

62 votes were cast, 62 in favour of the proposal and none against and thereby the proposal was
adopted.

11.3 Proposal on Extraordinary General Assembly carried out in writing.
N.C Vasuki asked the General Assembly to cast their votes for the proposal on Extraordinary
General Assemblies and the following changes of the Statutes allowing for this.



                                                                                                      21
62 votes were cast, 62 in favour of the proposal and none against and thereby the proposal was
adopted.

11.4 Proposal on change of Internal Regulations to implement an annual election of
independent auditor firm and election of independent auditor for 2004
N.C Vasuki asked the General Assembly to cast their votes for the proposal on changing the
Internal Regulations and on selection of auditor firm and auditor.

62 votes were cast, 62 in favour of the proposal and none against and thereby the proposal was
adopted.

The auditor selected for this year is Deloite and Touche

11.5 Hosting the General Assembly 2007
Hans Bronk, NVRD said that NVRD had applied for hosting the ISWA General Assembly and
Annual Congress in 2007 celebrating the 100 year anniversary of NVRD.

The General Assembly welcomed the application by acclamation.

11.6 Proposal from SWANA
SWANA had proposed the establishment of a special committee of National Members to
investigate the appropriateness and fairness of the current dues structure and to report back to the
General Assembly before dues levels are established for 2005.

Greg Vogt said that SWANA wants feed back on the problem and not necessary solutions to the
problem in one year.

Berend Krüger was against the change of the fee structure and Günay Kocasoy said the developing
countries and not so rich countries like Turkey are paying too much.

The proposal was agreed unanimously by the general Assembly

Hans Bronk, Chris Murphy and Berend Krüger volunteered to take part of the investigation.

12. Publication Award
Carlo Noto la Diega announced that the 2003 Publication Award goes to the Training Resource
Pack for Hazardous Waste Management in Developing Countries.

On behalf of the Working Group on Hazardous Waste, Mike Stokoe said that it was a great honour
to receive the Award and that the Training Pack will enable ISWA to help the developing countries
in this field.

He thanked David Wilson, Fritz Balkau and Maggie Thurgood for preparing the Training Pack and
Leo Pasch for – as former Chair of the Working Group – supporting the work.

He also warmly thanked the sponsors of the Training Pack, Julian Uriarte and ATEGRUS for
translating it into Spanish and announced that a Chinese translation is on the way.



                                                                                                       22
13. ISWA New Member Award
The 2003 New Member Award was given to DAKOFA as the National Member who has provided
most new Members to ISWA. DAKOFA’s President Ivar Green Poulsen thanked for the Award.

14. Report on coming Annual Congresses
14.1 Buenos Aires 2005
On behalf of ARS Soledad Garavelli said that the 2005 Annual Congress will be held in Buenos
Aires 6-10 November with the General Assembly on 6 November and that is the first time that
ISWA is having its Congress in Latin America.

She was looking forward to welcome the Members of ISWA in Buenos Aires.

14.2 Copenhagen 2006
Niels Jørn Hahn informed the National Representatives the General Assembly in 2006 in
Copenhagen will take place on 1 October and the Congress will be on 2-4 October. He hoped to see
all National Representatives in Copenhagen.

He further informed of the progress in preparing this event hosted by DAKOFA.

15. Miscellaneous
Nothing to report

16. General Assembly in Rome 17 October 2004
David Newman Reported that the following timetable for the Annual Congress in Rome:
16 October         Pre-General Assembly
17 October         General Assembly
18-20 October      Congress
21 October         Technical tours
21-22 October      Workshops

He said that the Congress will consist of plenary sessions in the mornings and specialized sessions
in the afternoons.

Finally he announced that for each 10 delegates from one country ISWA Italia offers one free
delegate to that National Member.

On behalf of ISWA Italia he was looking forward to welcoming the National Members to Rome in
October of 2004.

17. Close of meeting
The President thanked the National Representatives for their contributions to the debate and closed
the General Assembly.

Minutes drafted by                                                 Minutes approved by
Suzanne Arup Veltzé/Børge Boes Hansen                              Jean Paul Leglise
10 December 2003                                                   20 January 2004




                                                                                                  23