Regulation could clean up New Zealand's exports of contaminated recycling to developing countries→
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Eugenie Sage wants more plastic and paper recycled in New Zealand. (Video first published in May 2019)
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Online Basel Convention meeting will disadvantage developing countries, says NGO→
/Basel Action Network calls for longer 2021 meeting instead.
14 May 2020 / Africa & Middle East, Chemical restrictions, Global, Multinational bodies, Plastics, Substance notification & inventories, Substances of concern
The Basel Convention's open-ended working group (OEWG) meeting should not be held electronically in June, according to NGO Basel Action Network (BAN), because it "will greatly harm the already difficult circumstances for developing countries" that are parties to the convention.
The secretariat of the UN convention, which controls international movement and disposal of hazardous wastes, announced that an in-person meeting in Geneva wasn't possible due to the coronavirus pandemic. The convention's bureau on 9 April agreed to hold the meeting online "as an exceptional measure in the current situation", the secretariat said.
The online meeting will "not adopt full-fledged decisions as it would usually do, but only simple process decisions," the secretariat said in a statement, such as calling for comments on various documents that could then be taken into account before the convention's conference of parties (COP) in July 2021.
SWEAP reports increase in waste detection rate – results of waste inspections→
/The overall purpose of SWEAP (Shipment of Waste Enforcement Actions Project) is to support the circular economy by disrupting the illegal waste trade at the EU level, among others by increasing skill set amongst inspectors and law enforcement agencies.
Read MoreNGOs urge Bangladesh authorities to halt the import of a highly toxic offshore unit that illegally departed from Indonesia→
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The Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) tanker J. NAT is currently being towed towards the infamous shipbreaking beach of Chattogram. The vessel, formerly known as JESSLYN NATUNA, operated in the Natuna gas field and was owned by Indonesian company Global Niaga Bersama PT.
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Read MoreAfrica's Exploding Plastic Nightmare→
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As Africa Drowns in Garbage, the Plastics Business Keeps Booming. A woman takes a break from collecting waste to read the newspaper at the Dandora municipal dump site in Nairobi, Kenya, on Feb. 15, 2020. Photo: Khadija Farah for The Intercept.
Read MoreNo 'Away': Why is the U.S. Still Offshoring Plastic Waste Around the World?→
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In just two short years, the world has awoken to the hidden, harsh realities of the plastic waste trade that is called “recycling.” More than 100 investigations and reports have shown serious environmental and social harms in receiving countries. In the recent “Plastic Wars,” FRONTLINE and NPR showed plastic waste from the United States (U.S.) dumped and burned in Indonesian communities in 2019. Making climate change worse, millions of tons of carbon have been emitted in shipping U.S. plastic waste to far frontiers where the reports show that the plastic waste may not have actually been recycled.
Read MoreEnvironment Ministry foils bid to illegally import used lead acid batteries from Australia→
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The Environment and Water Ministry says it has successfully foiled an attempt to illegally import five containers of used lead acid batteries via Port Klang on March 30 following information shared by the Australian government.
Read MoreEuropean Union Approved Shipbreakers Ignored as Evil Trade Continues to Kill→
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WORLDWIDE – According to new data released by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 674 ocean-going commercial ships and offshore units were sold to the scrap yards in 2019. Of these vessels, 469 large tankers, bulkers, floating platforms, container and passenger ships were broken down on only three beaches in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, amounting to near 90% of the gross tonnage dismantled globally.
Read MoreList of Ships Scrapped Worldwide Reveals US Shipowners are Among the Worst Dumpers→
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Brussels, Belgium. 4 February 2020. According to new data released today by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 674 ocean-going commercial ships and offshore units were sold to the scrap yards in 2019. Of these vessels, 469 large tankers, bulkers, floating platforms, cargo- and passenger ships were broken down in primitive, substandard conditions on three beaches in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, amounting to near 90% of the gross tonnage dismantled globally.
Read MoreIs India Becoming America’s Trash Bin for Illegal Plastic Waste?→
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After handling nearly half of the world’s recyclable waste, mostly from the United States and other developed nations, for over two and a half decades, China banned the import of containers carrying scrap paper, plastics and metals for recycling and reuse early last year. So where is the waste ending up now?
Read MoreWhere does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America's dirty secret→
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A Guardian report from 11 countries tracks how US waste makes its way across the world – and overwhelms the poorest nations
Read MoreLast batch of imported trash sent back to South Korea→
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Environment activists urge government to ban all types of waste importation as the remaining 5,177 metric tons of wastes from South Korea are being shipped back to their country of origin. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO (from EcoWaste Coalition)
Read MoreChina Announces Major Anti-Plastic Campaign→
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Workers stand over piles of used white plastic food containers at a construction site in Hefei, in eastern China's Anhui province STR/Getty.
Read MoreCustoms dept sleuths blow lid off dump in India racket→
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India, which is already battling mounds of garbage, is becoming a dumping ground for solid municipal waste generated by developed countries.The customs department has blown the lid off a sinister racket of garbage generated in US and Europe…
Read MoreWhat happens to your old laptop? The growing problem of e-waste→
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Globally, we produce 50m tonnes of toxic electronic waste every year — and the UK is one of the worst offenders.
Read MoreIndonesia lets plastic burning continue despite warning on health danger→
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Photo: Ulet Ifansasti / New York Times. Black smoke — caused by burning plastic as fuel at a tofu factory — hovers over Tropodo, Indonesia. The government is challenging a study that says the smoke is poisoning residents.
Read MoreThe Price of Recycling Old Laptops: Toxic Fumes in Thailand’s Lungs→
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Foreign workers sorting through piles of shredded e-waste on the premises of New Sky Metal in Thailand in September. Bryan Denton for The New York Times.
The e-waste industry is booming in Southeast Asia, frightening residents worried for their health. Despite a ban on imports, Thailand is a center of the business.
Read MoreChinese scientists raise alarm about LCD screen pollution→
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Chemicals leaking from millions of computer screens in homes, offices and schools could damage human health, according to research by Chinese scientists.
Chemistry professor Su Guanyong and colleagues at Nanjing University of Science and Technology in eastern Jiangsu province studied more than 360 types of chemicals used in computer and mobile phone screens and found that 87 of them could be a danger if they got into the environment.
Read MoreSri Lankans demand UK take back rotting waste→
/Sri Lankans are up in arms over the alleged dumping of hazardous waste from Britain, including syringes and suspected human remains from mortuaries.
Read MoreLong Awaited Global Ban on Exporting Hazardous Waste to Developing Countries Becomes Law Today→
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The Basel Ban Amendment, adopted by the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous and Their Disposal in 1995, today becomes international law. This amendment, now ratified by 98 countries, and most recently, by Costa Rica, prohibits the export of hazardous wastes from member states of the European Union, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Liechtenstein to all other countries. This agreement today becomes a new Article (4a) of the Basel Convention.
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