Your ‘recycled’ laptop may be incinerated in an illegal Asian scrapyard→
/They call it “e-waste recycling.” But what happens inside Asia’s underground scrapyards looks more like crude alchemy.
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Read MoreHow America Is Sabotaging The Global War On Plastic Waste→
/Most nations have banded together to tackle the crisis, but the U.S. keeps undermining their efforts. When President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan Save Our Seas Act into law last October, he painted a grim picture of just how dire marine plastic pollution had become.
Read MoreTrash talk in the Philippines reveals waste trails in Southeast Asia→
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Rich countries dumping plastic waste and garbage on poorer parts of the region has raised a stink in Manila.
Plastic for landfill, Todo, Philippines (Photo: Adam Cohn/Flickr)
Read MoreMillions of pieces of plastic waste found on remote island chain→
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Beaches on Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean covered with litter. Shocking evidence of the pollution that pervades the world’s oceans has come to light with the discovery that more than 400m pieces of debris litter the coastline of the remote Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The layers of rubbish on the Indian Ocean archipelago weighed an estimated 238 tonnes, and included almost 1m shoes and 373,000 toothbrushes.
Read MoreBasel changes may have ‘bigger impact’ than China ban→
/The move last week by 187 governments to alter a global waste treaty will mean further uncertainty for U.S. scrap plastic exports.
Major plastics-related changes to the Basel Convention, first proposed by the government of Norway last year, were approved by all countries that have ratified and are party to the treaty. The changes take effect Jan. 1, 2021.
Photo credit: Sheila Fitzgerald/Shutterstock
Read MoreInternational e-Waste Export Guideline Deemed Unready→
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The 14th Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention concluding last week, without approving in full the Technical Guidelines on the Transboundary Movement of e-Waste. The Guideline, which included an exemption from controls for e-wastes claimed for repair, failed to find the support for its final adoption after several years of negotiation. The guideline, once again was given interim adoption status, signaling more work is needed to address concerns raised again by developing countries that the exception can easily be exploited by exporters simply wishing to get rid of low-value electronic scrap. The Basel Convention seeks to prevent the export and dumping of hazardous wastes, particularly in developing countries.
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To download and/or endorse the BAN's alternative "Responsible Guideline"
Decision Adopted at COP14 Meeting
Norwegian Proposal Policy Brief by GRID-Arendal
Resource Recycling - Repair rift continues among Basel stakeholders
Read MoreCanada opposes ban on ‘indefensible’ practice of shipping hazardous waste to developing countries→
/A Seattle-based environmental organization is shaming Canada for refusing to support a ban on the dumping of hazardous waste in developing countries. The proposed amendment would strengthen an international treaty called the Basel Convention, which governs the global movement of hazardous waste. Canada, a signatory since 1989, has come under fire in recent years for allegedly violating the treaty. (CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
Basel Convention Agrees to Control Plastic Waste Trade→
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The 14th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Basel Convention today agreed to include mixed, unrecyclable and contaminated plastic waste exports into the control regime that requires the consent of importing countries before waste exports can proceed. The decision was hailed by the vast majority of the 187 nations present as well as by the Convention's environmental watchdog organization -- Basel Action Network (BAN) along with other civil society groups in attendance, as a breakthrough for environmental justice and an ethical circular economy.
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New Responsible Guideline for Trade in Used Electronic Equipment Published→
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The Basel Action Network (BAN) today published its new Responsible Guideline on Transboundary Movements of Used Electronic Equipment and Electronic Waste to Promote an Ethical Circular Economy under the Basel Convention. This was developed as an alternative Guideline to the Basel Convention's Interim Guideline which has been fraught with controversy and lack of consensus.
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Read More'Canada is in the wrong': Environmentalists urge the country to clear out its trash from the Philippines→
/More than 100 containers of Canadian waste were shipped to Manila in 2013 and 2014 — and have been there since
Environmental activists rally outside the Philippine Senate in Manila on September 9, 2015 to demand that scores of containers filled with household rubbish be shipped back to Canada and to push for the ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment which prohibits the export of hazardous waste from developed to developing countries. (AFP/Getty Images)
Canada needs to remove its garbage from the Philippines immediately — and pay restitution, an environmental studies professor says.
"I would say that at this point the Canadian government should be financially compensating the Philippines government," Myra Hird, who teaches at Queen's University and directs a waste flow research program, told The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
She says the Philippines have been "storing our waste for us" for years, and deserve compensation.
More than 100 containers, labelled as recycling, were shipped to Manila by a Canadian company in 2013 and 2014. Customs inspectors later discovered the containers actually contained garbage, including soiled diapers, food waste and electronic waste.
The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, says that if Canada doesn't take back tonnes of trash within the next week, he will "declare war" and ship the containers back himself. (Bullit Marquez/Associated Press)
The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, says that if Canada doesn't take back tonnes of trash within the next week, he will "declare war" and ship the containers back himself. (Bullit Marquez/Associated Press)
In a video broadcast on Tuesday, the Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte warned Canada to take back the containers within a week, or he'd ship them back himself.
At an event in Montreal Wednesday, Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna said Canada is "working very hard to address the issue of the garbage. I think that there is a solution that can be found in the coming weeks."
Philippines Ambassador for Canada Petronila Garcia did not respond to The Current's request for comment.
Some environmental lawyers have argued the shipment of trash has violated Canada's international obligations.
Kathleen Ruff, founder of the human rights and environment public advocacy campaign RightOnCanada, says Canada is in violation of the Basel Convention.
"[It] states that the government of a country has the obligation of bringing back waste … when the waste was illegally shipped. There's no question about it that the shipment of this waste was illegal."
Ruff cited the convention's definition of illegal waste, which she said includes waste that is "fraudulently or incorrectly represented, as these wastes were."
"Canada is in the wrong."
Highest Level of World’s Most Toxic Chemicals Found in African Free-Range Eggs: European E-Waste Dumping a Contributor→
/New research from IPEN and Basel Action Network (BAN) reveals dire human exposures and food chain contamination from highly toxic plastics in waste in Ghana that includes toxic e-waste shipped from Europe. Photograph: Cristina Aldehuela/AFP/Getty Images
Read MoreLargest e-recycling fraud in U.S. history sends owners of Kent firm to prison→
/For years, environmentally conscious residents acrossthe Pacific Northwest have dutifully dropped off their broken LCD TVs and computer screens at special e-recycling centers for proper handling and disposal. For good reason: Tubes inside the flat-screen monitors contain mercury, a chemical that can cause organ damage and mental impairment if the fragile tubes shatter.
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Read MoreOwners of Northwest’s Largest Electronics Recycling Firm Sentenced to Prison for Wire Fraud Conspiracy→
/The owners and Chief Executive Officers of Total Reclaim, the Northwest’s largest recycler of electronic waste, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 28 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones noted that with the men’s conduct could have impacted generations with mercury poisoning. “Your conduct spanned seven years and only stopped because you were caught. You had multiple opportunities to say enough is enough,” Judge Jones said.
Read MoreCanada's Electronics Recycling Association Drops Defamation Suit Against BAN→
/The Canadian non-profit organization Electronics Recycling Association (ERA) has elected to drop their defamation lawsuit against Basel Action Network (BAN) and Executive Director, Jim Puckett, with prejudice and no other conditions. BAN, as part of its worldwide e-Trash Transparency Project, had reported that three GPS tracked e-waste devices that were deposited at ERA's drop sites in Canada went directly to Hong Kong and Pakistan.
Read MoreA recycling kingpin is sentenced to 3 years in federal prison for e-waste disposal fraud→
/For 11 years, Brian Brundage promoted Intercon Solutions, his booming suburban Chicago electronics recycling company, as a scrupulous industry leader in environmentally responsible waste disposal, led by a colorful, high-flying entrepreneur.
Read MoreHouse Committee issues show cause order vs importer of garbage from South Korea→
/The chair of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on Friday issued a show cause order against officials of Verde Soko, importer of 6.5 tons of garbage from South Korea that were dumped in Misamis Oriental.
Read MoreWaste management dysfunctional at most shipbreaking yards→
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In the absence of a functional waste management system, most shipbreaking and recycling yards have been causing severe environmental degradation, disregarding environmental rules and regulations.
Read MoreIndia extends plastic waste import ban→
/India has extended a ban on solid plastic waste imports to previously exempted areas.
Read MoreIndia bans imports of waste plastic to tackle environmental crisis→
/India has banned imports of waste plastic a year after China, the world’s biggest importer of scrap plastic implemented a similar ban on western imports.
Read MoreGovt puts complete ban on import of solid plastic waste→
/Taking an important step towards tackling the menace of plastic waste in India, the government has completely banned import of solid plastic waste/scrap into the country. India generates 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste every day.
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