Waste dumping loophole closed

GENEVA -- A major victory was won on March 25 with the consensus adoption of a total ban on the export of toxic waste from OECD countries to non-OECD countries.

In what Greenpeace hailed as “a striking victory for global environmental justice”, the Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes adopted the ban for all hazardous waste exports, including for recycling, beginning December 31, 1997.

“At last, the loophole of being able to export waste under the guise of recycling will be eliminated, thus beginning a new era to promote waste prevention and clean production”, said Kevin Stairs of Greenpeace.

“This decision will finally force rich countries to take full responsibility for their waste production problem instead of dumping it on their neighbours. This was the original intent of this convention, and we finally achieved it today.”

A key decision by the European Union Council of Ministers in Brussels the day before brought all EU countries in line to support the ban, including the intransigent waste exporters, Germany and Britain. The only governments left opposing the ban at the last hour were Australia, Canada and Japan. The United States, which is not a party to the convention, also worked actively to undermine the proposal.

Of the 400 million tonnes of waste produced each year, 98% comes from OECD countries, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

Stairs cautioned that toxic waste exports are not due to end until December 31, 1997.

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