IRPTC was established by the United Nations Environment Programme in 1976, in response to a recommendation by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm (1972). For the first time,the world had an institution to collect and process information on hazardous chemicals and disseminate it to all Member States. The central unit of the register, known as the Programme Activity Centre (PAC), was set up in Geneva that same year. Though capacity building, the UNEP programme on Toxic Chemicals and Waste Management is intended to manage chemicals throughout their life cycle, including disposal, thereby reducing the risks to human health and the environment posed by chemicals and hazardous waste.