Watch the video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHrJXuLrtrE 

The Final Event saw the participation of 40+ representatives from law enforcement agencies and public institutions, and included the special participation of the Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri and the anti-mafia Deputy National Prosecutor Giuseppe Gatti, as well as Gen. Marzo and Gen. Giardina of the Italian Carabinieri.

The event recalled the results and achievements of OPFA-WASTE and featured an analysis of future actions and steps. The project allowed Partners and relevant authorities to utilize the budget of the Operational Facility to financially support transnational investigations related to illicit waste trafficking, through technical and strategical meetings, training courses, workshops, research projects, and much more.

The great success of OPFA-WASTE makes way for future developments on the field of contrasting waste trafficking.

We would like to thank all Partners that contributed to the success of OPFA-WASTE with their invaluable contributions, and that made all these excellent results possible.

Watch now the picture gallery of the event:

Stay tuned to learn more about our next developments.

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The 3-day event was held in Mestre, Venice, was organised by Fondazione SAFE, Carabinieri and Fondazione Ca’ Foscari.

The participating lecturers presented several topics, among which the Italian legal system on environmental crimes, the impact of pollution and environmental disasters, as well as new technologies that can help investigations in the waste trafficking field.

The event also attracted the attention of the local press, with a news report outlining the importance of the fight against environmental crimes.

Keep following us on our official channels: OPFA-WASTE will soon organise its final event in the month of October.

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Under the coordination of the OPFA WASTE consortium partners, the workshop was also an opportunity to present the Research on Transfrontier Shipments of Waste conducted by a team of Researchers and Data Analysts, together with the transnational illicit waste trafficking cases supported by the Facility, highlighting criminal modus operandi and investigative methodologies applied by investigators from Italy, Croatia, Spain and Slovenia, all of which conveyed into the Final Methodology.

The fourth and final event under Work Package 2 concludes the series of workshops aimed at updating the investigative methodology against Illicit Waste Trafficking.

The Final Investigative Methodology document is a milestone of the OPFA WASTE project, combining theoretical knowledge with its practical applications throughout the Operational Facility life, in a circular mechanism resulting in a guidance for daily police operations.

For more updates on this and other activities keep following us on OPFA WASTE Twitter and on SAFE Foundation official channels: LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Within the last months a pilot research on crossborder shipments of waste, involving Italy, Romania, Latvia, Spain and The Netherlands was carried out. The main aim was to collect and compare institutional and open-source data on waste shipments for cross-reference purposes, identify best practices and gaps in data reporting and storage and gain insights into cases of repatriation of illegally shipped waste. Within the main outcomes, the need for enhancing data collection and reporting at national, EU and international level was highlighted as one of the most compelling.

To the aim of turning such a significative recommendation into a result, the Project Board has engaged into a follow up activity aimed at designing an EU-level standard dataset structure on Transfrontier Shipments of Waste, combined with a set of guidelines on the management of such information and a list of best practices from EU MSs.

For more updates on this and other activities keep following us on OPFA WASTE Twitter and on SAFE Foundation official channels: LinkedIn and Twitter.

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The workshop saw the participation of stakeholders from the illicit waste trafficking field, both from the private and the public sphere, and boasted the presence of high-level speakers from OLAF, Interpol, Frontex, as well as practitioners from the judiciary sector. Moreover, thanks to the synergy with another SAFE-managed training project part of the EU Euromed Justice programme, judges and prosecutors from Europe, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia were able to bring insights from the Mediterranean perspective.
More than 70 participants attended, and had the unique chance to exchange views, foster cooperation and promote networking.

After two days of significant discussions and roundtables, the third day staged practical simulations of drones at the former NATO base Calvarina (Roncà, Verona).

The very last part of the workshop was dedicated to the last review of the OPFA WASTE investigative methodology on Illicit Waste Trafficking, aiming not only at standardizing operative procedures to tackle the issue, but also at building on the work already done under the EMPACT framework, the RUNNER project and the project Operational Facility’s supported activities. The final presentation of the investigative methodology is foreseen in June 2022.

Thank you to all participants for their contribution, to SAFE Foundation for its organization and planning, and to the EU and OLAF, who made this workshop possible through their funding.

Keep following us on OPFA WASTE Twitter, RUNNER official Twitter, and on SAFE Foundation official channels: LinkedIn and Twitter.

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This three-day event is organized by SAFE Foundation in the context of the Projects RUNNER and OPFA-WASTE and the support of DronEUnit. The event includes the participation of more than 60 people from the EU and extra-EU, as well as participants from Interpol, OLAF, FRONTEX and judiciary and law enforcement representatives.
It is a unique chance for representatives from the public and private sector to participate in significant discussions and exchange of information on best practices, new technologies and methodologies for the fight against environmental crimes.

The workshop includes the participation of high-level speakers coming from several EU countries, as well as a practical drone simulation at the ex-NATO base Calvarina, a Training and Testing Facility managed by SAFE.

The workshop Agenda includes important contributions that cover the financial and technical aspects of Illicit Waste Trafficking, as well as roundtables on cooperation and innovation.

   RUNNER agenda available here

Keep following us to learn more on the Joint Workshop @opfawaste and @ProjectRUNNER!

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The meeting was a valuable opportunity not only to discuss project progress, achievements, financial status, obstacles and mitigations actions, but also to open a fruitful debate on police partners’ strategies and institutional framework in place against Illicit Waste Trafficking. A full session was dedicated to the road map in view of the finalization of the Investigative Methodology on Illicit Waste Trafficking, to be presented within the upcoming semester.

The afternoon session featured interventions from the Latvian State Environmental Services, the Latvian Prosecutor’s Office and the National Data Analyst who contributed to the data collection process functional to the OPFA WASTE research on transboundary shipments of waste. Their active participation to the meeting was extremely useful to frame the Latvian institutional context against Illicit Waste Trafficking and share best practices from each respective country represented.

Follow us on Twitter @opfawaste for further updates!

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The meeting, attended by law enforcement, customs, EU agencies, UN agencies and third sector representatives, has been a valuable chance to discuss main trends, issues and new technological and political tools against environmental crime in Europe. It has indeed represented an opportunity to highlight synergies between OPFA WASTE and AMBITUS in preventively mapping technical needs and gathering information on the institutional context related to Illicit Waste Trafficking.

Several topics of growing importance have been debated, among which Illicit Waste Trafficking through the evidences on new criminal modus operandi gained thanks to the Operational Facility’s supported operations. Interesting insights into the changing EU landscape, particularly the Green Deal and the revision of the 2008 Directive on environmental crime were also presented.

Many thanks to the AMBITUS project colleagues for the opportunity! Follow us on Twitter @opfawaste for further updates!

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The online Conference provided an opportunity to present the final results of the STRiKE project – Stronger Training and Increased Knowledge for Better Enforcement against Waste and Mercury, strengthen networking initiatives and exploring follow-up activities to sustain the project outcomes.

The results of OPFA WASTE were presented by the Project Manager, Sara Ferrandi, and the Environmental Crimes Expert, Major Gianluca Muscatello. Notably, a synergy between the OPFA WASTE and STRiKE was highlighted in the process of developing a questionnaire template for preventively mapping technical needs and gathering information to update investigative methodologies on Illicit Waste Trafficking. In this circumstance the complementary approach of the two initiatives made it possible for the OPFA WASTE project to benefit from a scientific research and analysis perspective on the topic and, viceversa, to the STRiKE project to take advantage from a more practical and operative perspective.

More information available on the newsletter published on the STRiKE website.

Follow us on Twitter @opfawaste for further updates!

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On November 16 and 17, representatives from more than 35 countries have shown their support for the consolidation of the first network for the investigation of environmental crime at the international level. 22 EU countries, 6 European (non-EU) countries, 6 African countries, 5 Latin American countries participated to the meeting, as well as Europol, Interpol, Frontex and the European Commission. More info available here.

The Project Director of OPFA WASTE, Ltn. Col. Massimiliano Corsano from the Arma dei Carabinieri, represented the project and presented the modality to access funding available under the Operational Facility financial scheme, as an opportunity to contribute to the goals of the Network by supporting EU Member States Law Enforcement Agencies in their fight against Illicit Waste trafficking.

The Operational Facility is open for applications until July 2022 and the OPFA WASTE team is ready to take over your requests for support to on-going investigations. Do not miss the opportunity to take advantage!

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