From 19 – 20 August, the IPEN Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia region (EECCA) Regional Workshop was completed in Volgograd, Russia. The workshop was conducted by Eco-Accord - the IPEN EECCA hub, and by "Volgograd-Ecopress" Information Centre.
A movement bidding good riddance to bad trash is growing across South East Asia, and it should spark an international reckoning with how we have been dealing with plastic waste, recycling, and responsibility.
China closed its doors in 2018 to nearly a million tons of mixed plastic waste shipments, and with it, the inevitable toxic pollution to land, air, and groundwater that comes with plastic waste. All plastics contain toxic additives, many of which have negative health impacts. In the wake of China’s decision, the developed waste exporting nations set their plastic recycling on course to other South East Asian countries that were soon overwhelmed by the massive trashing.
In May, world governments gave developing countries a tool to resist the deluge of plastic mixed waste shipments through the UN Basel Convention. The US is not a signatory to the treaty, yet attempted to block the decision. The US obstruction failed, and 184 of the world’s governments created new regulations that require waste exporting countries to declare the content of mixed waste shipments and enables receiving countries to refuse plastic waste imports.
(Quezon City) Environmental and health groups lauded the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for issuing a circular prohibiting the manufacture, importation and distribution of baby feeding bottles and sippy cups containing Bisphenol A (BPA), an industrial chemical that is commonly used in polycarbonate plastic.
The Prime Minister’s announcement and COAG support for a ban on waste exports should be cautiously welcomed and is long overdue following the embarrassing revelations of Australian illegal waste dumping in South East Asia. However, it seems certain that the announcement is designed to distract from a major government push to burn Australia’s waste in polluting incinerators: an industry it quietly supports. As noted by some media reports on the announcement, the government “was exploring using waste in energy plants to power Australian homes.”
Panama City, Panama – Lead in paint was included in the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) framework as an emerging policy issue at its 2nd International Conference on Chemicals Management in 2009. Thereafter, the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint was formed. IPEN plays an important role in the Alliance and is an executing partner in a SAICM project on eliminating lead paint.
