PCB products

About the permit

The term PCB product includes polychlorinated biphenyls. A complete definition of what is covered by the term PCB product can be found in Section 3 of Förordningen (2007:19 om PCB m.m (the PCB Ordinance).

Under Section 11 of the PCB Ordinance, anyone possessing equipment containing or likely to contain more than five cubic decimetres of PCB product must immediately notify the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency of this.

In addition, there is a requirement that such equipment must be immediately decontaminated. This follows from Section 14 of the PCB Ordinance.

Notifiable equipment under Section 11 of the PCB Ordinance may be decontaminated by replacing the PCB product in the equipment. Anyone carrying out the decontamination of PCB products needs a permit from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The permit is similar to an authorisation. The party performing the decontamination must have the permit, not the party that possesses the equipment.

Requirements
The capabilities, experience and equipment of a business are subject to certain requirements before the business can obtain a permit to decontaminate PCB products. In the application, the business must describe its working method and show that it intends to take adequate protective measures. A list of the other conditions necessary to obtain a permit are found in Section 15 of the PCB Ordinance.

Permit issuer and supervision

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency issues the permit and is the supervisory authority.