BASEL CONVENTION ON THE CONTROL OF HAZARDOUS WASTES

May 12, 2019

Around 180 governments agreed on a new UN accord to regulate the export of plastic waste, some 8 million tonnes of which ends up in the oceans each year.

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The 1,400 representatives, in a meeting organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reached the agreement in Geneva.
The Geneva meeting amended the 1989 Basel Convention on the control of hazardous wastes to include plastic waste in a legally-binding, globally-reaching framework for managing plastic waste.
The new amendment would empower developing countries to refuse plastic waste dumping.
- For far too long developed countries like the US and Canada have been exporting their mixed toxic plastic wastes to developing Asian countries claiming it would be recycled in the receiving country.
- Instead, much of this contaminated mixed waste cannot be recycled and is instead dumped or burned, or finds its way into the ocean.
The Geneva meeting also undertook to eliminate two toxic chemical groups— Dicofol and Perfluorooctanoic Acid, plus related compounds. The latter has been used in a wide variety of industrial and domestic applications including non-stick cookware and food processing equipment, as well as carpets, paper and paints.