U.S. plastic-waste deal was needed to ratify Basel amendments: officials

By Jolson Lim of iPolitics

(Surfrider Pacific)

Canada had to sign a controversial agreement with the United States before it could ratify new amendments to a global treaty meant to limit exports of plastic waste to developing countries, federal officials say.

Last October, Canada quietly signed a bilateral agreement with the U.S. to export non-hazardous plastic-waste so that trading could continue without stricter controls required under the United Nations’ Basel Convention.

Last December, Canada ratified May 2019 amendments to the Basel Convention requiring prior informed-consent controls for all but the cleanest types of plastic-waste exports traded between treaty parties, including contaminated household plastics. 

The U.S. has never ratified the treaty, which would require congressional approval.

Environmentalists say they’re concerned that the bilateral agreement will allow Canadian waste to be sent south of the border, where there is little regulation, then re-exported to developing countries — thereby going against the spirit of the Basel treaty.