No ban on toxic waste exports

Straits Times 28 Jun 08

Delegates at UN talks urge nations to manage their own electronics trash
BALI - DELEGATES at a United Nations (UN) conference decided against banning toxic waste exports, instead encouraging countries to take their own action to address the steady stream of dangerous chemicals and old electronic items that litter the landfills of poor nations.

Support for a ban during the week-long meeting on the Basel Convention was driven by African countries, which argued that it was the best way to protect their citizens, and by the European Union, which already prohibits toxic exports.

But the proposal ran into stiff opposition from the United States, Japan, Canada and India over concerns that it would stifle recycling industries in the developed world that are booming amid the rising prices of metals.

The delegates instead emerged from talks yesterday with a number of other measures, including industry-supported guidelines for disposing of cellphones and an agreement to start similar discussions on old computer equipment.

'It's very sad, very sad,' said Mr Jim Puckett, coordinator of the Seattle-based Basel Action Network, adding that his group's main goal at the convention was to get nations to manage their own waste at home instead of sending it overseas.

Companies, mostly in rich nations, pay to ship their electronics waste to other countries for disposal but is unclear just how many tonnes of such waste are involved.

But just about everyone at the Bali convention agreed that the trade in toxic chemicals is big, that eventual disposal of the waste is often inadequate, and that the business is growing.

The proposed ban was the boldest attempt at the conference to strengthen the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. The 1989 pact allows its 170 members to ban imports and requires exporters to gain consent before sending toxic materials abroad.

Critics argue that insufficient funds, widespread corruption and the absence of the US as a participant have undermined the convention, leaving millions of poor people exposed to heavy metals and other toxins. Many say an outright ban on exporting toxic waste is the only solution.

However, industry representatives said that the new voluntary measures adopted at the conference could lead to the creation of certified recycling facilities, which would be especially significant in developing countries, where old electronic items pollute landfills or are burned in open pits.

The hope, too, is that many of the countries would use the new guidelines to create their own recycling laws that would address the estimated 20 million to 50 million tonnes of used electronic goods sent abroad.

Mr Rick Goss of the Information Technology Industry Council, which includes most major computer and printer manufacturers, said the computer guidelines would offer a universal framework that would give the industry confidence that its products were being recycled responsibly.

The issue of toxic exports took centre stage in 2006 when hundreds of tonnes of waste were dumped around the Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan, killing at least 10 people and leaving tens of thousands of people sick.

For much of the week in Bali, the debate revolved around the export ban. But as a deadlock intensified, Indonesia put forth a compromise, which it said would allow parties to revisit the issue in the future.

Among other things, the statement encourages nations to pass laws, as the EU did, that would ban toxic exports or, short of that, boost enforcement to monitor and detect illegal waste.

'In the light of the difficulties ratifying the ban, the parties have agreed to look at a way of resolving this impasse,' Mr Achim Steiner, executive director for the UN Environment Programme, said of the statement.

'That is a very positive signal,' he added.

ASSOCIATED PRESS