BASEL PARTIES DEBATE E-WASTE, BAN ON SHIPPING HAZARDOUS WASTE TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal recently debated the difference between reusable electronic products and obsolete electronic waste with hazardous components that poses a real problem when dumped in developing countries.
The Basel Convention’s eighth Conference of the Parties (COP-8), was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 27 November to 1 December. Up to 50 million tonnes of "e-waste" is thought to be generated worldwide each year, as consumers around the world replace mobile phones, televisions, and computers. Substantial amounts of such waste are shipped to developing countries, where their safe disposal is a growing problem. A number of mobile phone producers were present at the meeting to help find sustainable solutions to the issue. "Whatever is agreed… developing countries should no longer be victims of hazardous waste transfers disguised as end-of-life or even as usable equipment," commented Sachiko Kuwabara Yamamoto, head of the Basel Convention.
COP-8 also focused on the possibility of banning the shipment of hazardous wastes to developing countries. The issue was given added urgency since the meeting came soon after the August toxic waste tragedy in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, where poisonous slops were dumped from a ship, leaving thousands of people ill and at least ten dead (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 8 September 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/06-09-08/story2.htm).
The Basel Convention requires exporters of hazardous waste to obtain a certificate of prior informed consent from the competent authorities in the importing country before shipments can proceed. A so-called Ban Amendment goes further, prohibiting the movement of any hazardous wastes from the EU and other industrialised countries to all other parties. However, it has yet to enter into force. The amendment has been championed by African countries, as well as civil society organisations, due to concerns over weak monitoring, enforcement and/or disposal capabilities. Parties disagreed at the meeting on some of the requirements for the amendment to be fully implemented. Some countries, such as the US and Japan, would like to continue their exports. Likewise, some receiving countries value the jobs created in the waste processing industry.
For a full report of the meeting see IISD’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin at http://www.iisd.ca/basel/cop8/.
ICTSD reporting; "UN Meeting Fixes Toxic Waste Steps, Needs Funds," REUTERS, 4 December 2006; "From PC’s To Ships: UN Meeting Tackles Toxic Waste," REUTERS, 28 November 2006; "World Governments Asked To Pay For Ivory Coast Cleanup," ENS, 24 November 2006.