Global Waste Challenge 2004

8/14/2019 Global Waste Challenge 2004

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Conferencespecial

OurPlanetThe magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme

GLOBAL WASTECHALLENGE

Ioan JelevBuilding partnerships,

mobilizing resources

Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto

Much to discuss, much to do

Elliot MorleyDelivery time

Everton Vieira VargasAdolescence and money

problems

Richard GutierrezComplete the job

Suzanne Arup VeltzCreating synergy

Philippe RochNew challenges

BASEL CONVENTION COP7


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From the desk of

KLAUS TOEPFERUnited Nations

Under-Secretary-Generaland Executive Director,

UNEP

used to manufacture goods, from en-ergy and water to the volumes andkinds of plastics, metals and chemicals.Many makers of electronics equipment,for example, can now proudly claim thatbetween 50 and 100 per cent of theirproducts have lead-free solder.

Many products, or their com-ponents, can be reused. The BodyShop, for example, offers refillablecosmetics containers. To facilitate re-cycling, manufacturers need to ensurethat their goods can be simply andsafely taken apart. Eco-design is key,as are effective and readily accessiblecollection and recycling facilities.

The theme of the Seventh Meeting

of the Conference of the Parties to theBasel Convention is Partnership formeeting the global waste challenge.Governments have a critical role toplay through enacting and policingregulations, introducing taxes orlevies, and promoting policies, ins-truments and public awareness thatfavour the three Rs. But partnershipswith industry, business and con-sumers are also vital. So are thosewith other areas of the United Nations

like the International MaritimeOrganization, the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations andsecretariats of other environmentalagreements particularly those suchas the Rotterdam Convention on thePrior Informed Consent Procedure forCertain Hazardous Chemicals andPesticides in International Tradeand the Stockholm Convention onPersistent Organic Pollutants.

So I am delighted to mention justone of the Basel Conventions manyexcellent partnerships, with theShields Environmental Group. Shieldshas established a mobile phonerecycling plant in Bucharest, Romania,employing 100 people. It is part of atake-back initiative called Fonebaknow operating in both the developedand the developing worlds.

Finally, maybe I could make aspecial, possibly old-fashioned, pleafor one more R. Many modernconsumer goods end up in the bin

because poor design, cost or lack ofspare parts makes them impossible tofix when broken. Maybe we should talknot just about reduce, reuse andrecycle but also about repair!

When the world drew up theBasel Convention on theControl of Transboundary

Movements of Hazardous Wastes andtheir Disposal the aim was to outlawtoxic traders transporting the deadlychemicals of the developed world todumping grounds in the developingone. Fifteen years later, the Convention

is wrestling with many new andmounting waste streams triggered by,for example, the boom in electronicconsumer goods such as the personalcomputer and the mobile phone. Otherdebates have spotlighted the disposalof old military vessels and decom-missioned fishing boats.

Is a vessel en route from Europe orNorth America to a breakers yard halfway across the world a ship heading fordismantling? Or is it hazardous waste,

since it is likely to be filled withasbestos, toxic metal sludges andother health-threatening substances?Similarly, shipping huge numbers ofcomputers outdated by the latestmodel in a developed country to adeveloping one may offer poorer peoplethere a chance to step onto theinformation technology ladder. Or may-be this is just a clever way of passing onthe economic, social and environ-mental costs of disposal from the con-sumers and companies of the rich.

The issues are complex, but thesolutions may not be. If we focus ongenerating less waste in the first place,in any form, we are at least on the righttrack. Through new initiatives, fallingunder the Convention, the world is nowstarting to realize this goal. Guidingthem are the outcomes of the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development.Its Plan of Implementation calls foraction to change unsustainable pat-terns of consumption and production.

Focusing on the three Rs reduce,reuse and recycle is one way forward.We can reduce the impact of ourconsumer economies by cutting thequantities of resources and materials

2 Editorial

Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director,

UNEP

3 Building partnerships,


Ioan Jelev, Secretary of State for the

Environment, Romania

4 Much to discuss, much to do

Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto,

Executive Secretary, Basel Convention

6 Delivery time

Elliot Morley, Environment Minister,

UK

7 Adolescence and money problems

Everton Vieira Vargas, Director,

Department of the Environment and

Special Issues, Brazilian Ministry of

Foreign Relations

10 Complete the job

Richard Gutierrez, Toxics PolicyAnalyst, Basel Action Network

10 Creating synergy

Suzanne Arup Veltz, Managing

Director, International Solid Waste

Association

12 New challenges

Philippe Roch, State Secretary and

Director, Swiss Agency for the

Environment, Forests and

Landscape

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)PO Box 30552, Nairobi, KenyaTel (254 20) 621 234; fax 623 927;telex 22068 UNEP KEe-mail: [email protected]

ISSN 1013-7394

Director of Publication: Eric FaltEditor: Geoffrey LeanCoordinator: Naomi PoultonSpecial Contributor: Nick NuttallProduction: BansonPrinted in the United Kingdom

Front cover: Jerry Mason/Science Photo Library

The contents of this magazine do not necessarily

reflect the views or policies of UNEP, the Secretariat of

the Basel Convention or the editors, nor are they an

official record. The designations employed and the

presentation do not imply the expression of any

opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP or the

Secretariat of the Basel Convention concerning thelegal status of any country, territory or city or its

authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers

or boundaries.


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Our Planet

IOAN JELEV reports on the lastConference of the Parties and looksforward to the new one

The Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the

Basel Convention from 9 to 14 December 2002 in Geneva

was memorable, with many key decisions taken and a

finish in the early hours of the morning! As President of COP6, it

gives me great pleasure to add my welcome to you in this special

supplement ofOur Planetmagazine on the occasion of the Seventh

Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention.

COP6 considered and adopted decisions on many issues

concerned with implementing the Convention, its amendment and

its annexes, and institutional, financial and procedural arrange-

ments. Many contributed to refining the Convention through

adopting technical guidelines on the environmentally sound

management of biomedical and health care wastes, plastic wastes,

waste lead-acid batteries, and the dismantling of ships.COP6 also set the budget for 2003-2005, agreed on a

compliance mechanism for the Convention, adopted a Strategic

Plan, and finalized the Framework Agreement on the legal

establishment of the Basel Convention Regional Centres. It thus

paved the way for a smooth implementation of the Convention, and

for facilitating support mechanisms for it. These will be advanced

further at COP7.

Growing challenge

The theme of COP7, Partnership for meeting the global waste

challenge, was chosen to tackle the growing challenge of the

environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes against

the backdrop of their continuously increasing generation in many

countries. It calls for an integrated approach on hazardous and

municipal wastes, in which partnerships with and between

international organizations, governments, industry and civil society

are crucial for success.

COP7 will place great emphasis on defining the role of the

Basel Convention in building partnerships to meet the global waste

challenge. An important aspect of these is the mobilizing of

adequate resources as a support base for Parties for the sound

implementation of the Convention.I wish COP7 the greatest of successes

Ioan Jelev is Secretary of State for the Environment, Romania, and

was President of COP6 of the Basel Convention.

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS



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Much to discuss

M U C H T O D O SACHIKO KUWABARA-YAMAMOTO describes the work ofthe Basel Convention and the challenges ahead

together with their rapid obsoles-cence is generating huge amountsof waste containing hazardous mat-erials when such equipment reachesthe end of its useful life, and its

export on a massive scale to develop-ing countries not equipped to receiveit. More and more hazardous wastesare being found intermingled withmunicipal and household ones. It willtake decades to reverse this upwardtrend from which human health andthe environment can only suffer.

Pursuing sustainable developmentwill require decoupling waste gen-eration from economic growth. Aninternational regime regulating the

transboundary movement of hazard-ous and other wastes is essential butnot enough to tackle this issue.

Key issues

Against this backdrop, the Note fromthe President of the Expanded Bureauof COP6 in consultation with the Ex-panded Bureau identified key issues,some of which are mentioned below.

A central goal of the BaselConvention is the environmentallysound management of hazardouswastes; this aims to protect humanhealth and the environment, particu-larly by minimizing hazardous wasteproduction whenever possible. En-vironmentally sound managementmeans addressing the issue throughan 'integrated life-cycle approach', in-volving waste prevention and strongcontrols from the generation of ahazardous waste to its storage, trans-port, treatment, recycling, recoveryand final disposal.

A framework for life-cycle manage-ment of hazardous and other wasteshas been set by the 1999 BaselMinisterial Declaration on Environ-mentally Sound Management adoptedat the tenth anniversary of theConvention, as the focus of action inthe second decade of operation. Theensuing Strategic Plan for theImplementation of the Basel Con-

vention, adopted at COP6, identifiedpriority activities for preventing,minimizing, recycling, recovering anddisposing of hazardous and otherwastes, and for promoting and using

Since the Basel Convention cameinto force in 1992, an effectiveinternational regime has been

established to regulate transboundarymovements of hazardous and other

wastes. It is operating successfullyworldwide with the support of 163Parties. We are proud of our achieve-ments and of the significant progressmade recently with launching a ten-year Strategic Plan for the Implemen-tation of the Basel Convention and acompliance mechanism, the legalestablishment of our network of BaselConvention Regional Centres, and thecontinued development of our uniquePartnership Programme.

The time has now come for us togo further. Our Parties report gener-ating over 100 million tonnes ofhazardous waste a year. The actualglobal total is probably significantlyabove this figure and the generationis growing steadily. Global populationgrowth, industrialization and risingconsumption are driving increasinglevels of waste. The mass consumptionof electronics and other equipment

Our Planet

WELCOME TO THE MEETING

Welcome to the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP)to the Basel Convention. The COP takes place every other year and is thegoverning body of the Basel Convention, composed of all governmentsand organizations that have ratified or acceded to the Basel Convention(currently 163 Parties). Decisions are taken at every COP, for the nextbiennium and beyond, on strategic and financial planning, implemen-tation and procedural matters, technical support, regional outreach andcapacity building, and cross-sectoral partnerships, among other issues.

On behalf of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and its staff, I wishyou a pleasant and most fruitful time with us in Geneva and look forwardto concrete and proactive outcomes.


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EricoWa

llfisch/UNEP/Topham

cleaner technologies. From a practicalpoint of view, this means that it isnecessary and appropriate to managehazardous wastes that have beengenerated domestically in a similarway to imported ones.

The key challenges are to managewastes in a way that protects humanhealth and the environment, throughmeasures applying to the entire wastecycle from reducing the productionof wastes, to promoting recovery, re-cycling and reuse, and to ensuring thattheir disposal is carried out usingenvironmentally sound methods and

technologies.Recognizing that the sound imple-

mentation of the Basel Conventionrequires us to move away from lookingat the transboundary movements of

hazardous wastes in isolation frombroader waste issues takes us topartnerships. The theme of theConference is 'Partnership for meetingthe global waste challenge'.

As we set out in our Strategic Plan,solving the hazardous waste problemrequires 'cooperation and partnershipat all levels, within and betweencountries, public authorities, inter-national organizations, the industrysector, non-governmental organi-zations and academic institutions'.North-South and South-South part-nerships, and cross-sectoral public-private partnerships all have theirimmense value. Partnerships do and

will make a major contribution tostrengthening the implementation ofthe Convention coupled with thepromotion of the life-cycle approachand the environmentally sound man-agement of hazardous wastes.

Different partnerships

COP7 will help define the role of theBasel Convention in building partner-ships for its effective implementation.

They are varied and wide ranging. Forexample, when they are related to thelife-cycle approach to chemical andhazardous waste management, theycan entail the sustained collaborationof the Basel Convention with theStockholm Convention and the GlobalEnvironment Facility to tackle persis-tent organic pollutant wastes. Anotherexample is pursuing synergies withthe Rotterdam and Stockholm Con-ventions and engaging with theStrategic Approach to InternationalChemicals Management (SAICM) pro-cess, launched by the UNEP Govern-ing Council. Various initiatives havealready been undertaken to ensurethat the three Conventions supporteach other at the global, regional andnational levels.

Partnerships can be envisaged inthe area of integrated waste man-agement, to take another example, viathe network of Basel ConventionRegional Centres as programmes

with local governments to promote theenvironmentally sound managementof hazardous wastes as part ofmunicipal waste. This would alleviatehealth risks from hazardous wastes

(from hospitals, laboratories ormedium-sized enterprises, for ex-ample) that have been mixed withmunicipal wastes.

Further promoting the regionalapproach, partnerships are sought fordeveloping regional capacity for theenvironmentally sound recycling, re-covery or disposal of hazardouswastes: this is exemplified by theongoing Basel Convention initiative forthe environmentally sound recovery ofused lead-acid batteries in theCaribbean and Central America. Thisapproach enables economies of scale,makes transparent the export andimport of the specific wastes stream,

and facilitates enforcement.Yet another example is represented

by partnerships with the privatesector such as our mobile phoneand e-waste initiatives wherebymanufacturers gather best practicesin product life-cycle management forthe benefit of the international com-munity at large, especially developingcountries.

Essential base

Partnerships with a wide range ofpotential donors are essential toensure an adequate technical andfinancial resource base to supportParties in implementing the BaselConvention. The Convention is anunder-resourced instrument in thischallenge. Partnership initiatives re-flecting real synergies will providemore effective and efficient mobiliz-ation of resources. Hence, a compre-hensive resource mobilization strategy Mobilizing Resources for a CleanerFuture better to articulate thepotential of the Basel Convention, hasbeen formulated and will be discussedat the COP.

There is much to discuss and muchto do. We hope for lively discussions atthe high-level segment of this yearsConference, establishing an inter-active forum with proactive interven-tions from Parties, other stake-holders, prominent experts and

special guests

Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto isExecutive Secretary of the BaselConvention.

Our Planet

The key challenges are tomanage wastes in a waythat protects humanhealth and theenvironment, throughmeasures applying to theentire waste cycle


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Ihave had a lifelong interest inenvironmental issues. The issue ofhazardous waste may be perceived

as the poor relation compared withhigher profile, more exotic topicssuch as biodiversity loss and climatechange but I believe its environ-mentally sound management is crucialfor the well-being of our planet. The

Basel Convention represents one ofthe most important global agreementsachieved in recent times.

Nevertheless, public perception ofthe management of hazardous wastetends to be rather limited, except afteraccidents or disasters. In this respectthe Convention has, to some extent,been a victim of its own relativesuccess in preventing incidents ofuncontrolled dumping of hazardouswastes through its control system ofprior informed consent.

When I look at its successes andthen ahead to what its future prioritiesmight look like I am convinced thereis a strong case for raising the profile

of the Convention and its work.The Conventions second decade

was heralded both by the adoptionof the Protocol on Liability andCompensation and by the Ministerial

Declaration on Environmentally SoundManagement, which sets out theframework for the environmentallysound management of hazardouswaste, including preventing and mini-mizing it and further reducing itstransboundary movements.

The Strategic Plan agreed at theSixth Meeting of the Conference of the

Parties (COP6) sets out how theactivities and objectives envisaged bythe Declaration will be translated intoaction, and is a good first step indelivering its aims.

Exploring synergies

However, while the Plans success isfirmly linked with secure and adequatefunding, Parties must also considerhow it can be strategic in its delivery,as well as in its objectives. As we arebeginning to see, the Basel ConventionRegional Centres are important de-livery mechanisms for the StrategicPlan. They provide an excellent opp-

ortunity to share both resources andexpertise effectively, and will beparticularly helpful in exploring syn-ergies with other multilateral environ-mental agreements. Nevertheless,

DELIVERY TIMEELLIOT MORLEY hails the successes of the BaselConvention and calls for a higher profile and a focus onstrategic delivery

Parties must explore means of ensur-ing that delivery through the Centres isboth effective and efficient.

Over the years the United Kingdomhas made significant contributions tothe work of the Convention, forexample the part-funding of the usedoils project in the Caribbean. We areattracted to funding projects de-veloped and delivered through theCentres, given the regional benefits

and efficiencies that they offer.Technological advances and theadvent of the digital revolution havebenefited the global community inmany ways, but we are beginning towitness the problems of managing anddisposing of the obsolete technologybeing replaced. Increasing quantitiesof technology wastes such as wasteelectronic and electrical equipment are already providing new challengesfor the Convention. Yet I have no doubtthat the resources to tackle theseproblems lie within its network ofexperts.

One of the Conventions greatest,and most invaluable, resources is itsexperience and expertise, from gov-ernments, industry and environmentalorganizations. The United Kingdom ishopeful that Technical Guidelines onthe Environmentally Sound Manage-ment of Persistent Organic Pollutants a great example of Basel expertisebeing recognized and utilized in the

international community will beadopted at this COP7. The Conventionalso has a vital role to play in guidingthe work of newer multilateralenvironmental agreements such as

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the Stockholm Convention and theRotterdam Convention as they entertheir initial phases; a role, for example,in providing expertise and opportun-ities on delivery at the regional level,and in providing the benefits of Baselsconsiderable experience in operating asystem of prior informed consent.

Exploration of synergies betweenthese chemicals/waste conventionswill allow all three to use resources,knowledge and expertise more effec-tively. Linkages with other inter-national initiatives particularly thoseon sustainable consumption and pro-duction are also vital if we are tomobilize and use resources for the

Basel Convention more effectively. TheUnited Kingdom recognizes andstrongly supports progress in this area.

The Convention has a number ofopportunities to demonstrate itsleadership credentials over the nextfew years not least through itsrecently established ComplianceCommittee which, if suitably re-sourced, offers a mechanism formeasuring and assisting compre-hensive and constructive delivery of

the Conventions objectives. It is aunique mechanism among multi-lateral environmental agreements andmany will be monitoring its progress.

Key objectives

Compliance and enforcement willremain key objectives over the comingyears. The Multilateral EnvironmentalAgreement Guidelines on Complianceand Enforcement are a useful tool butParties need to consider whether theyare being used as effectively as theycould be, and what experience Partieshave in using them. Again, expertiseand experience within the Conventionshould be drawn upon to maximize theuse of available resources.

As we move towards the secondhalf of the decade of environmentallysound management, we will no doubtface a number of new challenges,both in terms of waste streams and inour ways of working. In the next few

years we must turn our attention todelivery

Elliot Morley is Environment Minister,United Kingdom.

The Basel Convention has now

reached adolescence 12 years

since entering into force in May

1992. Its Seventh Meeting of the

Conference of the Parties (COP7) will no

doubt be influenced by the growing

debate concerning its achievements and

what many see as the impending necessity

to broaden its scope, transforming it into a

global waste convention. Although the

time is clearly favourable for a wide-ranging discussion on whether the

Convention is actually performing as

envisaged and on whether it needs to be

updated one underlying issue should

clearly precede this. All Parties, regardless

of region and development stage, will

need to focus on resource mobilization at

COP7.

The primary goals of the Convention

are reducing the transboundary move-

ments of hazardous wastes and other

wastes; preventing and minimizing the

quantity and toxicity of wastes generated;

the environmentally sound management

of such wastes, preferably near their

source; and actively promoting the trans-

fer and use of cleaner technologies.

Although these long-standing aims have

been clearly reaffirmed by the Basel

Declaration on the Environmentally

Sound Management of Wastes adopted at

COP5 in 1999, it is arguable whether the

Convention has been successful in

attaining them. From the developing

countries point of view, promoting thetransfer of technologies which are cleaner,

or that promote recycling, has certainly

been the weakest point.

The Convention originated from

international mobilization on a problem

that threatened to grow exponentially at

the end of the 20th century the

indiscriminate and unregulated export of

hazardous wastes from developed econ-

omies to countries absolutely unequipped

to deal with them. Primarily, therefore, it

has a double purpose: to reduce the

generation of wastes and to help develop-

ing countries deal with hazardous wastes

produced in their development process.It has had a very positive impact on

unregulated hazardous waste exports

beginning with the institution of a prior

informed consent procedure even

though the problem is far from being

resolved, especially in parts of Africa and

in Asia.

Branching out

The Convention has branched out over the

years, adopting far-ranging technical

guidelines, negotiating the so-called Ban

Amendment (to ban exports of hazardous

wastes from countries in the Organisation

for Economic Co-operation and Develop-

ment to other countries, but still to enter

into force) and its mechanism for

promoting and enforcing compliance (the

Protocol on Liability and Compensation

adopted in 1999, also still to enter into

force). Thus, the discussion of global

waste management as opposed to

hazardous waste management reaches

centre stage when many of the core issuesunder its scope remain partly unresolved.

The debate on global waste manage-

ment is both necessary and urgent, since

the definition of non-hazardous waste is

Our Planet

Adolescence and

M O N E YP R O B L E M SEVERTON VIEIRA VARGAS argues that mobilizingresources for implementing the Basel Conventionshould take precedence over urgent debates on itseffectiveness and on broadening its scope


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Bansonrapidly changing. Nevertheless, the Parties must carefully evaluate

whether this new challenge can be met by the Convention in its

present stage and form, or whether it will demand new efforts in

policy making and above all in funding. Another overriding

concern is whether this debate will eventually supersede other

issues before the Convention, and some of the core basic goals.

Growing concern

The Convention is open to interpretation on whether it can, or

should, regulate movements of non-hazardous wastes (other

wastes, as mentioned in Article 1 of the Convention text). Two

points support this new direction. The Convention, although

primarily oriented to hazardous wastes, does not necessarily

preclude the regulation of other wastes. Meanwhile there is

growing concern worldwide that the concept of non-hazardous

waste is rapidly changing because of lifestyle changes,

with considerable effects on the perils now associated withhousehold waste.

The definition of household waste is indeed changing rapidly,

with the increasing input of hazardous substances from mobile

phones, batteries, computers, paints and solvents, lamps and other

items that frequently are not separated for recycling or environ-

mentally sound management especially in developing countries

and economies in transition.

Resource mobilization becomes a major priority in the

particular context of a new and complex goal to be pursued, not

just for the Convention the limitations of the Trust Fund are

widely known but for all multilateral agreements on chemical

safety. On one hand, it is certainly not desirable to limit enlargingthe Conventions scope, and its potential for growth, for lack of

proper funding. On the other, it seems illogical to burden the

Parties particularly developing countries with higher financial

obligations at a time when rationalizing governance has become a

paramount issue in environmental negotiations.

If the Convention and other multilateral environmental

agreements, for that matter are to maintain their relevance and

venture into new areas they must secure innovative ways to

mobilize resources that will not put an additional burden on

developing countries tight budgets.

Chemical safety is no doubt a growing concern among

stakeholders. The multilateral system has recently acted accord-

ingly, successfully promoting the negotiation and implementation

of internationally binding legal instruments designed to address it.

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and

the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent

Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in

International Trade have recently entered into force. The

Rotterdam Convention held its first Conference of the Parties in

September 2004, while the Stockholm Convention will kick off in

May 2005. Combining these with the work already performed by

the Basel Convention and taking into consideration the ongoing

debate centred around a Strategic Approach to International

Chemicals Management (holding its second Prepcom in October)

chemical safety issues are undeniably on the internationalenvironmental agenda, and their discussion is evolving rapidly.

Unfortunately, these multilateral environmental agreements

will involve an increasingly complex and intense negotiations

agenda. They will be competing amongst themselves, at least at

some level, for attention (government involvement, personnel

dedication and capacity-building initiatives) and, invariably, for

funding. This specially concerns developing countries, and least

developed countries in particular. Their need to participate fully

Our Planet

GillesSaussier/UNEP

/Topham


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S.Shepard/UNEP/Topham

and actively is hindered by their relative scarcity of means, both

human and financial.

The Conventions Partnership Programme is a good example of

an innovative approach to resource mobilization. It has two strong

points bringing the private sector into direct involvement with

the Parties in discussing guidelines and creative solutions for

growing hazardous waste management; and providing for direct

channelling of much-needed financial resources specifically

aimed at addressing concrete environmentally sound management

problems.

Direct participation

The private sector most importantly, industries must be

engaged in the debate and in funding specific initiatives directed

to concrete goals in waste management and reduction. This is

particularly important in product areas where the difference

between hazardous and household waste is rapidly disappearing.

The recent initiative on mobile phones is most welcome. The pilot

programmes area selection could not be more relevant, and the

work done so far has shown how much can be achieved with the

direct participation of governments and industry focused on one

specific area of waste prevention and management. Although

there are points to be smoothed out most importantly the

involvement of funding by the Parties, especially for secretarialtasks, in a programme which should finance itself the outlook is

definitely positive.

The debate centred around the Conventions scope mainly its

possible evolution into a global waste convention must be taken

seriously in view of the rapidly changing concept of household

waste. But the Convention cannot evolve towards this new goal if

it cannot achieve its old ones. The growing consensus is that Basel

like other chemical safety multilateral environmental agree-

ments must adopt new financing solutions just to meet

its present objectives of addressing hazardous waste. The

Partnership Programme is an inventive and positive way to address

resource mobilization, while stimulating the private sectors

greater involvement both financial and technical with the

Conventions work. With lack of adequate funding and

increasing competition from the other chemical conventions the

Basel Convention will have to rely increasingly on alternative

funding mechanisms if it is to keep up with the challenges ahead,

including the pressing discussion on global waste

Everton Vieira Vargas is Director of the Department of the

Environment and Special Issues of the Brazilian Ministry of

Foreign Relations.

The concept of non-hazardous waste israpidly changing because of lifestylechanges, with considerable effects on

the perils now associated withhousehold waste

Our Planet

The author thanks Raphael Azeredo for his valuable

contribution in the preparation of this text. The views

expressed in this article reflect solely the authors opinion.

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waste trade through notification, in-stead of criminalizing it. Its sentimentwas shared by other developingnations, a few European countries, andby non-governmental environmentorganizations.

But these diverse groups did notgive up. Led by developing countries,they collaborated and established

regional bans: by 1992, when the BaselConvention entered into force, morethan 88 countries banned the import ofhazardous wastes.

The partnerships efforts createdthe momentum for progressive Euro-pean countries to join in and push forwhat most thought Basel needed at theoutset a global trade barrier againstexploiting weaker economies with toxicwaste. Thus, in 1994, the Partiesdecided by consensus to adopt the

proposal by the G-77 and China(Decision II/12) to ban the export of allhazardous wastes (including for re-cycling) from countries belonging to

waste trade. Any assessment ofBasels accomplishments must begauged on how the Parties haveprevailed over these forces.

The 1980s were a decade of liberalmarkets and increased globalization a breeding ground for waste traders todump poisons in developing countries.Jolly Rosso, Khian Sea and Koko

Beach epitomized the toxic wastetrade anarchy of the decade. The BaselConvention was born of this chaos in1989.

Toxic trade

At first the Convention teetered andalmost collapsed, as it failed ad-equately to prevail over the toxic tradeand to prohibit exports from rich topoorer countries. The African group

which initiated the Convention wasdisappointed with the resulting textand refused to sign. It saw Basel as afailed instrument that legitimized

bodies have joined forces and sharethe same approach to development.

Two years ago the cooperationlaunched the training resource pack(TRP), providing a unique set oftraining materials on all aspects ofhazardous waste management indeveloping economies. The TRP is theresult of the work of the ISWA Working

Group on Hazardous Wastes, UNEPand the Basel Convention. It receivedthe ISWA Publication Award and wasspecially recognized by the UK RoyalSociety for the Promotion of Health. It

is being translated into Spanish andChinese with the help of local ISWAnational members.

Freely available

The TRP is designed to help train thetrainers, providing them with slides ona CD-ROM, which can also be down-

loaded free of charge from both theISWA and UNEP websites. Indeed, allthe material is provided free in orderto be available as widely as possiblein developing countries. ISWA has

With members in more than 70countries, the InternationalSolid Waste Association

(ISWA) disseminates information topromote sustainable waste manage-ment worldwide. ISWA and UNEP havebeen cooperating on waste manage-ment matters for some years, mainlythrough ISWA Working Groups and

UNEPs Division for Technology, Indus-try and Economics. This partnershiphas developed in the last couple ofyears and now includes the Secretariatof the Basel Convention. The three

C O M P L E T E

the job

RICHARD GUTIERREZ argues that the BaselConvention has not yet vanquished insanityand ruthlessness in the toxic waste tradeand calls for true partnerships to forgesustainable solutions

Creating S Y N E R G Y

SUZANNE ARUP VELTZ describes a fruitful partnership where three major players ininternational waste management have joined forces for development

I think the economic logic behinddumping a load of toxic waste in thelowest wage country is impeccableand we should face up to that Ivealways thought that under-populatedcountries in Africa are vastly under-polluted. Lawrence Summers, 1991

Perfectly logical but totally insane

a concrete example of the... socialruthlessness and arrogant ignoranceof many conventional economistsconcerning the world we live in.Such was the Brazilian environmentsecretarys retort to Mr Summersinfamous statement, made when hewas the World Banks chief economist.Mr Summers words may not havestarted the global trade in hazardouswaste, but they did express the forcesbehind it.

From its inception, the BaselConvention has had to contend with theinsane logic of conventional economicsand the social ruthlessness of the


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at the 2002 World Summit onSustainable Development in Johannes-burg. A joint workshop with UNEP andthe ISWA Scientific and TechnicalCommittee has identified further stepsfor joint action. This decided, amongmany proposals, that ISWA shouldinitiate reporting guidelines for thewaste sector within the UN-approvedGlobal Reporting Initiative.

New cooperation

ISWA will also join forces with the 23UNEP National Centres for CleanProduction around the world, whichshould help to spread its knowledge

base more efficiently in developingcountries. To kick-start this new co-operation, ISWA will take part in ahigh-level seminar on sustainable con-sumption and production on 15-16

the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tonon-OECD ones; the following year,they instated the ban as an amend-ment to the Convention (Decision III/1).

This was a titanic achievement.Industrialized countries, such as theUnited States, Japan and Canada,fought hard to prevent the global ban,but the multi-stakeholder partnershippersevered, establishing the globalexemplar of environmental justice.

Testament to success

By the end of the 1990s, the toxic wastebarges and drums had grown fewer a

testament to the success of the exportprohibitions, increased regulation andawareness brought about by theConvention and its decisions. Yet now as the Seventh Meeting of theConference of the Parties (COP7) dealswith Partnership for meeting theglobal waste challenge, and as theConvention embarks on limited part-nerships with industry the wastetrade has been increasing again,exporting, for example, disused ships

and post-consumer wastes, likeelectronics, to developing countries. Astaggering amount of toxics is beingtransferred. These wastes, like their

predecessors, victimize some of thepoorest, most desperate peoples; theyreceive the disproportionate burden ofthe poisonous effluent of the affluent.

Two important uncompleted tasksmust be finished. First, the BaselDecisions are in great jeopardy ofbecoming paper tigers, since thenumber of ratifications needed forthem to enter into force has not yetbeen attained. The Parties must clearup the uncertainty that hangs over thisby expressing an unequivocal decisionupholding the traditionally understoodinterpretation on the required numberof ratifications. The Convention onInternational Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Florarecently took a similar step.

Second, the amount of hazardouswastes being generated around theworld must be capped and thensteadily reduced. The Convention mustaddress the outrageous fact that 15years after its adoption this amounthas continued to increase. If thiscontinues, Basel will be left fruitlesslypursuing end-of-pipe solutions.

The task ahead is not easy. Once

again, a broad and committed partner-ship involving all civil society is needed.As the Convention works with industryon electronic wastes, it must not

abandon its old partners the develop-ing countries and non-governmentalorganizations but draw them in andgive them active roles in arriving at asolution. Reforging such past partner-ships is essential if truly sustainablesolutions are to be found. The leader-ship and intimate involvement ofdeveloping countries in the BaselDecisions were vital to its pastsuccess. The same is needed if newpartnerships are to prevail over the

waste trades same crazy logic andsocial ruthlessness.

Protecting the vulnerable

The Basel Convention brought to-gether all nations and civil society toprotect the most vulnerable the poorand the environment. Now, more thanever, we all the stakeholders of theworld need to face up to this fact andfulfil the promise of the Basel

Convention for generations to come

Richard Gutierrez is the Toxics PolicyAnalyst of the Basel Action Network.

November in Mexico, where it willpresent examples of sustainableresource use.

In the cooperation between thesethree major players in internationalaspects of waste management, theBasel Convention provides the legalframework, UNEP provides a moreformalized network and ISWA provideslinks between industry, public auth-orities and research institutions. Thiscreates a special synergy from whichall benefit. This cooperation will soonincrease because ISWA at its AnnualCongress in Rome will sign acooperation agreement with the WorldBank, adding a fourth important

player

Suzanne Arup Veltz is the ManagingDirector of the International SolidWaste Association (ISWA).

changed its policy so as to makepublications free to download for allmembers.

ISWA, UNEP and the BaselConvention have used the TRP intraining courses in Turkey, Australiaand China, and are holding a regionalworkshop on 8-10 November 2004 inSplit, Croatia. They will also carry outtraining courses in Argentina, coveringvarious waste issues, as part of ISWAspartnership with the Argentine Minis-try of Environment and SustainableDevelopment on a national wastestrategy for the country. The courseswill include a hazardous waste trainingcourse based on the TRP.

ISWA and UNEP have also publisheda short booklet on waste managementplanning for local government indeveloping countries, which was firstlaunched at a local government session

These wastes victimizesome of the poorest, mostdesperate peoples

WolfgangMaria

Weber/StillPictures


12/12

New challengesPHILIPPE ROCH outlines issues facing the Basel Convention and calls forcommitment to develop it further

New challenges face the Basel Convention and its Parties. The Convention was developed in the 1980s to put an end to

uncontrolled transboundary movements of hazardous wastes, mainly from industrialized countries to developing ones. The

Third Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) additionally decided to ban exports of hazardous wastes from countries

belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD ones. The situation has now

clearly improved, even though the Decision on the ban has not yet been ratified by enough Parties for it to become a legally binding

part of the Convention. Nevertheless, further commitment of the Parties is still needed.

In this context, I believe that the Basel Convention must look for appropriate solutions to two major concerns. The first is

transboundary movements of huge amounts of waste electrical and electronic equipment, with the considerable risk that they will

not be recycled in an environmentally sound way. The second is the uncontrolled dismantling of ships.

The use of natural resources, the consumption of products and goods and the concomitant production of waste are still

increasing worldwide. Huge amounts of municipal waste are a burden on large, rapidly expanding metropolitan areas. The resulting

adverse effects on human health and on the environment show that inappropriate waste management is a very serious problem.

It has become evident that establishing a system to control transboundary movements of hazardous and household wastes is notenough. The Convention must work hard to prevent and minimize the production of hazardous and other wastes and to dispose of

them in an environmentally sound way. At COP5 environment ministers reacted and produced a Ministerial Declaration on the

Environmentally Sound Management of Wastes. However, we are still far from reaching this goal.

Nevertheless, there are solutions to the waste problem. Cleaner production processes and environmentally sound waste

management technologies are available. They significantly reduce resource consumption and negative environmental impacts.

Cleaner production processes in the production chain must become incentives and advantages in the market.

Uncontrolled landfill sites must be closed down and remedied; state-of-the-art recycling plants, landfill sites and waste

incinerators must be built; and thought must be given to using incineration capacity in upgraded state-of-the-art cement kilns.

Waste disposal projects must be developed and supported to help countries or regions, as in the Africa Stockpile Project for

used pesticides.

State-of-the-art waste management is not excessively expensive. In my experience, it is cheaper than paying the future costs

associated with not taking action. Obstacles to action such as economic constraints, political and social factors, and lack of

awareness, information and know-how must be overcome.

The Parties could give thought to exploring possible development of the Basel Convention towards a comprehensive regulatory

global waste convention, using its existing but broadly formulated content on waste management as a starting point. Work that has

already begun with real projects, and with technical and legal tasks, should be continued, but should be streamlined and brought

back to the original context supporting all Parties in implementing the Basel Convention. These two possibilities are not mutually

exclusive; pragmatic approaches could be the key to success.

COP7s theme is Partnership for meeting the global waste challenge. It is my conviction that real partnerships under the Basel

Convention are a key instrument for environmentally sound management of wastes. The participation of all stakeholders is an

important factor in ensuring the success of the further development of the Convention and its ongoing work. The mobile phone

partnership initiative which I started together with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention is the first work done by the Secretariat

on a new partnership with the computing industry, and other partnership programmes are important as initial exemplary actions.

It is important to exploit synergies with other chemicals conventions such as the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and to

include this in the partnerships thinking. I call upon all stakeholders to increase their cooperation at all levels.

The Basel Convention cannot do everything on its own, but must be an active player. I therefore encourage Parties, signatories

and non-governmental organizations to support these partnerships, to make full use of synergies and cooperation, and to make

available to the Secretariat the human and financial resources needed to tackle these challenges effectively and to create a modern,

integrated approach to waste management for the future

Philippe Roch is State Secretary and Director of the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape and was President

of COP5 of the Basel Convention.

F.Ardito/UNEP/StillPictures

Global Waste Challenge 2004

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