Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

2.   Interpretation

In this Act —

“Authority” means the Saint Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority established under section 3;

“authorized officer” means any person appointed under section 41;

“biomedical waste” includes any solid waste containing human or animal fluids, flesh, bones or other body parts except hair;

“commercial waste” means waste generated by an entity which conducts a business activity during which waste is generated;

“composting” means making the humus-like end-product of the decomposition of organic waste;

“corporation” means persons who conduct industrial, commercial and institutional operations in the course of which waste is generated;

“derelict vehicle” means —

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   (a)     any abandoned or discarded motor vehicle and any part of such motor vehicle; or

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   (b)     any motor vehicle stored or kept in a public place which is in such a dilapidated condition that it cannot be safely used for the purpose of transportation, and any part of such motor vehicle;

“dumping” means discharging wastes into the environment at a site or location other than one approved and permitted under this Act;

“hazardous waste” means any material that belongs to any category specified in Annex I of Schedule 1, unless it does not possess any of the characteristics specified in Annex II of Schedule 1;

“incineration” means the destruction of solid waste by high temperature burning in a furnace designed for such purpose whereby solid waste is essentially reduced to ash, carbon dioxide and water vapour;

“incinerator” means a facility for processing waste through incineration and which is designed and constructed so as to protect human health and the environment from adverse impacts associated with the specific types of waste that are incinerated at the facility, including any pollution control equipment associated with the facility;

“institutional waste” means waste generated from Ministries of Government, schools, health centres, post offices, fire stations and offices of statutory bodies;

“landfill” means a facility for the disposal of solid waste in or on the land and designed and constructed so as to protect human health and the environment from adverse impacts associated with the waste over time, including any pollution control equipment associated with the facility;

“litter” means any solid or liquid material or product or combination of solid or liquid materials or products including any bottles, cans, logs, saw-dust, silt, derelict vehicles, white goods, cartons, packages, packing materials , paper, glass, food, dead animals or carrion, garbage, debris, sand, gravel stone, dirt or any other waste material or any parts of such matter;

“Minister” unless otherwise stated, means the Minister responsible for Health;

“person” includes a body corporate;

“Planning Authority” means the Minister responsible for Physical Development or a person designated by him or her; (Amended by Act 10 of 2007)

“post-closure and remediation” means the process and its duration whereby a site, which has been, but is no longer, used for solid waste management purposes, is rendered fit for other uses;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulation made under this Act;

“processing facility” means a facility where waste is processed for the purpose of —

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   (a)     reducing the volume of the waste;

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   (b)     reducing the degree of hazard associated with the waste; or

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   (c)     creating or recovering any secondary resource;

“public authority” means any entity specified in Schedule 7;

“public place” means any road, street, footpath, access way, alley, lane, court, thoroughfare, beach, park, garden, river, sea, natural water courses, drain, wharf, pier, jetty, forest, burial ground and any other place in the open air to which the public has access with or without payment;

“quarantine waste” includes any waste imported into or landed in the country by any ship or aeroplane that comprises, or which contains, any food, vegetable, meat or dairy product, or any part of such matter;

“radioactive waste” includes any waste that is radioactive;

“recycling” means the process by which a secondary resource is created from waste;

“reuse” means the use of waste in any manner that does not present a threat to human health, safety or the environment, but does not include the use of waste in any manufacturing process whereby a secondary resource is created;

“Scheduled agencies” means the agencies specified in Schedule 2;

“scrap metal” includes old or scrap copper, brass, wire rope or cable, batteries, metal debris, or junked, dismantled, or wrecked or derelict motor vehicles, or parts, including any —

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   (a)     iron, steel, or other old or scrap ferrous or nonferrous material;

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   (b)     substance which contains any such material;

“secondary resource” means the material or matter which results from any process by which waste is rendered into any form that is suitable for use providing that the rendered material or matter, or use of such material or matter does not present a threat to human health, safety or the environment;

“ship” means any —

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   (a)     seagoing vessel of any type whatsoever; and

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   (b)     floating craft, with the exception of an installation or device engaged in the exploration and exploitation of the resources of the seabed and the ocean floor and the subsoil;

“ship-generated waste” means any waste generated on a ship or other sea-going craft;

“solid waste” includes garbage, refuse, organic waste, scrap metal, silt, back filling material, construction and demolition material and other solid materials discarded from —

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   (a)     residential, industrial, commercial or government establishments or operations; and

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   (b)     public or community activities,

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   but does not include solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or other substances in water sources, dissolved or suspended solids in industrial wastewater effluents, dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or other common water pollutants;

“waste” unless otherwise stated, includes any material solid or liquid discarded by the owner of the material, whether or not the material is in the same form as it was when it came to be in the possession of the owner, and includes any derelict vehicle;

“waste management facility” means any licensed facility for managing waste by storing or processing, including a processing facility for the creation or recovery of a secondary resource, but does not include a location or facility where waste is stored for less than 5 days;

“waste management policy stakeholders” means any persons and organisations in Saint Lucia which are considered by the Planning Authority either as likely to be significantly affected by waste management policy or to be possessed of special expertise or qualifications which make them competent to advise on the development of waste management policy but does not include the authority and Ministries, departments or other units of the government;

“white goods” means disused and abandoned refrigerators, washing machines and other domestic appliances.