Global Partnership for Action on Plastic Waste Also Proposed
Thursday, 06 September 2018
Geneva. 6 September 2018. The 11th Meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Basel Convention, the world's only international treaty on waste control, concluded with widespread and growing support for a proposal by Norway to add plastic waste to the list of wastes subject to the trade controls under the convention. The proposal is seen as a key mechanism to stem the tide of marine debris and plastic litter.
Dear President Juncker, We are writing to express concerns surrounding EU actions on setting hazardous waste limits for short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) under the Basel and Stockholm Conventions. This is an issue which has horizontal implications for issues such as circular economy, health, environment and internal market, each of which is affected by what hazardous waste limits are set for SCCPs. The Basel Convention Open-Ended Working (OEWG11) will discuss this issue for SCCPs and other substances at their meeting next week, 3-6 September 20181. Governments will finalize these limits at the Conferences of Parties for the treaties in April/May 20192. The EU has an important role to play as the nominator of SCCPs for listing in the Stockholm Convention, but its current proposal raises questions about its commitment to the Convention’s objectives.
(Göteborg, Sweden) The EU is advocating for hazardous waste limits under two UN treaties that could allow significant releases of a globally-banned chemical contaminate new products made of recycled plastic, and result in waste dumping in developing countries. Basel OEWG11 will tackle the issue 3 – 7 September in Geneva.
A decision that will impact toxic waste dumping in developing countries, as well as the amount of Persistent Organic Pollutant (POPs) waste allowed in the circular economy, will be made by delegates from the Parties to the Basel Convention (Geneva, Sept. 3-7, 2018).
Threshold limit concentrations that define POPs waste – the most toxic form of waste that exists— determine whether a toxic substance is considered a POP and must be destroyed, or is considered “clean” and can re-enter the recycling stream. If a high level is set of one specific POP, Short Chained Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCPs), known to cause sever health and environmental impacts, it will result in increased hazardous waste dumping in developing countries and more contamination of products made of recycled materials, such as children’s toys.
Several NGOs wrote a letter directed to the Executive Board of the Interamerican Development Bank and the InterAmerican Investment Corporation (BID Invest) to deter the approval of a $200 million dollar loan for a Termo AP Project this Tuesday.
The loan would support the building of a waste incinerator for the next 20 years in Mexico City, incinerating millions of tons of solid waste to produce energy. This project has been opposed by a wide range of NGOs in Mexico City, and the new elected city government has expressed strong opposition to this project. In this time of transition for the new elected government, which will be formally instated on December 5th, 2018, the letter is asking officials to reconsider the support of this project.
