Conference

special
Our Planet
The magazine of the United Nations Environment Programme

GLOBAL WASTE
CHALLENGE
Ioan Jelev
Building partnerships,
mobilizing resources
Sachiko Kuwabara-
Yamamoto
Much to discuss, much to do
Elliot Morley
Delivery time
Everton Vieira Vargas
Adolescence and money
problems
Richard Gutierrez
Complete the job
Suzanne Arup Veltzé
Creating synergy
Philippe Roch
New challenges

BASEL CONVENTION COP7

Our Planet
www.ourplanet.com

From the desk of used to manufacture goods, from en-

KLAUS TOEPFER
United Nations
Under-Secretary-General
2 Editorial
and Executive Director,
Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director,
UNEP UNEP
hen the world drew up the
3 Building partnerships,
mobilizing resources
Ioan Jelev, Secretary of State for the
W Basel Convention on the
Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
Environment, Romania their Disposal the aim was to outlaw
‘toxic traders’ transporting the deadly
4 Much to discuss, much to do chemicals of the developed world to
Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto, dumping grounds in the developing
Executive Secretary, Basel Convention one. Fifteen years later, the Convention
is wrestling with many new and
6 Delivery time mounting waste streams triggered by,
Elliot Morley, Environment Minister, for example, the boom in electronic
UK consumer goods such as the personal
computer and the mobile phone. Other
7 Adolescence and money problems debates have spotlighted the disposal
Everton Vieira Vargas, Director, of old military vessels and decom-
Department of the Environment and missioned fishing boats.
Special Issues, Brazilian Ministry of Is a vessel en route from Europe or
Foreign Relations North America to a breaker’s yard half
way across the world a ship heading for
10 Complete the job dismantling? Or is it hazardous waste,
Richard Gutierrez, Toxics Policy since it is likely to be filled with
Analyst, Basel Action Network asbestos, toxic metal sludges and
other health-threatening substances?
10 Creating synergy Similarly, shipping huge numbers of
Suzanne Arup Veltzé, Managing computers – outdated by the latest
Director, International Solid Waste model in a developed country – to a
Association developing one may offer poorer people
there a chance to step onto the
12 New challenges information technology ladder. Or may-
Philippe Roch, State Secretary and be this is just a clever way of passing on
Director, Swiss Agency for the the economic, social and environ-
Environment, Forests and mental costs of disposal from the con-
Landscape sumers and companies of the rich.
The issues are complex, but the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) solutions may not be. If we focus on
PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya generating less waste in the first place,
Tel (254 20) 621 234; fax 623 927;
telex 22068 UNEP KE in any form, we are at least on the right
e-mail: cpiinfo@unep.org
www.unep.org track. Through new initiatives, falling
ISSN 1013-7394 under the Convention, the world is now
Director of Publication: Eric Falt starting to realize this goal. Guiding
Editor: Geoffrey Lean
Coordinator: Naomi Poulton them are the outcomes of the World
Special Contributor: Nick Nuttall
Production: Banson Summit on Sustainable Development.
Printed in the United Kingdom
Its Plan of Implementation calls for
Front cover: Jerry Mason/Science Photo Library
The contents of this magazine do not necessarily
action to change unsustainable pat-
reflect the views or policies of UNEP, the Secretariat of terns of consumption and production.
the Basel Convention or the editors, nor are they an
official record. The designations employed and the Focusing on the three Rs – reduce,
presentation do not imply the expression of any reuse and recycle – is one way forward.
opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP or the
Secretariat of the Basel Convention concerning the We can reduce the impact of our
legal status of any country, territory or city or its
authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers
consumer economies by cutting the
or boundaries. quantities of resources and materials
ergy and water to the volumes and
kinds of plastics, metals and chemicals.
Many makers of electronics equipment,
for example, can now proudly claim that
between 50 and 100 per cent of their
products have lead-free solder.
Many products, or their com-
ponents, can be reused. The Body
Shop, for example, offers refillable
cosmetics containers. To facilitate re-
cycling, manufacturers need to ensure
that their goods can be simply and
safely taken apart. Eco-design is key,
as are effective and readily accessible
collection and recycling facilities.
The theme of the Seventh Meeting
of the Conference of the Parties to the
Basel Convention is ‘Partnership for
meeting the global waste challenge’.
Governments have a critical role to
play through enacting and policing
regulations, introducing taxes or
levies, and promoting policies, ins-
truments and public awareness that
favour the three Rs. But partnerships
with industry, business and con-
sumers are also vital. So are those
with other areas of the United Nations
like the International Maritime
Organization, the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations and
secretariats of other environmental
agreements – particularly those such
as the Rotterdam Convention on the
Prior Informed Consent Procedure for
Certain Hazardous Chemicals and
Pesticides in International Trade
and the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants.
So I am delighted to mention just
one of the Basel Convention’s many
excellent partnerships, with the
Shields Environmental Group. Shields
has established a mobile phone
recycling plant in Bucharest, Romania,
employing 100 people. It is part of a
take-back initiative called Fonebak
now operating in both the developed
and the developing worlds.
Finally, maybe I could make a
special, possibly old-fashioned, plea
for one more R. Many modern
consumer goods end up in the bin
because poor design, cost or lack of
spare parts makes them impossible to
fix when broken. Maybe we should talk
not just about reduce, reuse and
recycle – but also about repair! ■

2

B U I L D I N G PA R T N E R S H I P S
mobilizing resources
IOAN JELEV reports on the last
Conference of the Parties and looks
forward to the new one
he Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
T Basel Convention – from 9 to 14 December 2002 in Geneva
– was memorable, with many key decisions taken and a
finish in the early hours of the morning! As President of COP6, it
gives me great pleasure to add my welcome to you in this special
supplement of Our Planet magazine on the occasion of the Seventh
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention.
COP6 considered and adopted decisions on many issues
concerned with implementing the Convention, its amendment and
its annexes, and institutional, financial and procedural arrange-
ments. Many contributed to refining the Convention through
adopting technical guidelines on the environmentally sound
management of biomedical and health care wastes, plastic wastes,
waste lead-acid batteries, and the dismantling of ships.
COP6 also set the budget for 2003-2005, agreed on a
compliance mechanism for the Convention, adopted a Strategic
Plan, and finalized the Framework Agreement on the legal
establishment of the Basel Convention Regional Centres. It thus
Our Planet
Banson
paved the way for a smooth implementation of the Convention, and
for facilitating support mechanisms for it. These will be advanced
further at COP7.
Growing challenge
The theme of COP7, ‘Partnership for meeting the global waste
challenge’, was chosen to tackle the growing challenge of the
environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes against
the backdrop of their continuously increasing generation in many
countries. It calls for an integrated approach on hazardous and
municipal wastes, in which partnerships with and between
international organizations, governments, industry and civil society
are crucial for success.
COP7 will place great emphasis on defining the role of the
Basel Convention in building partnerships to meet the global waste
challenge. An important aspect of these is the mobilizing of
adequate resources as a support base for Parties for the sound
implementation of the Convention.
I wish COP7 the greatest of successes ■
Ioan Jelev is Secretary of State for the Environment, Romania, and
was President of COP6 of the Basel Convention.
3
Our Planet

Much to discuss
MUCH TO DO
SACHIKO KUWABARA-YAMAMOTO describes the work of
the Basel Convention and the challenges ahead

ince the Basel Convention came together with their rapid obsoles-

S into force in 1992, an effective

international regime has been
established to regulate transboundary
cence – is generating huge amounts
of waste containing hazardous mat-
erials when such equipment reaches
movements of hazardous and other the end of its useful life, and its
wastes. It is operating successfully export on a massive scale to develop-
worldwide with the support of 163 ing countries not equipped to receive
Parties. We are proud of our achieve- it. More and more hazardous wastes
ments and of the significant progress are being found intermingled with
made recently with launching a ten- municipal and household ones. It will
year Strategic Plan for the Implemen- take decades to reverse this upward
tation of the Basel Convention and a trend from which human health and
compliance mechanism, the legal the environment can only suffer.
establishment of our network of Basel Pursuing sustainable development
Convention Regional Centres, and the will require decoupling waste gen-
continued development of our unique eration from economic growth. An
Partnership Programme. international regime regulating the
The time has now come for us to transboundary movement of hazard- A central goal of the Basel
go further. Our Parties report gener- ous and other wastes is essential but Convention is the ‘environmentally
ating over 100 million tonnes of not enough to tackle this issue. sound management’ of hazardous
hazardous waste a year. The actual wastes; this aims to protect human
global total is probably significantly Key issues health and the environment, particu-
above this figure – and the generation larly by minimizing hazardous waste
is growing steadily. Global population Against this backdrop, the Note from production whenever possible. En-
growth, industrialization and rising the President of the Expanded Bureau vironmentally sound management
consumption are driving increasing of COP6 in consultation with the Ex- means addressing the issue through
levels of waste. The mass consumption panded Bureau identified key issues, an 'integrated life-cycle approach', in-
of electronics and other equipment – some of which are mentioned below. volving waste prevention and strong
controls from the generation of a
hazardous waste to its storage, trans-
port, treatment, recycling, recovery
WELCOME TO THE MEETING and final disposal.
A framework for life-cycle manage-
Welcome to the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) ment of hazardous and other wastes
to the Basel Convention. The COP takes place every other year and is the has been set by the 1999 Basel
governing body of the Basel Convention, composed of all governments Ministerial Declaration on Environ-
and organizations that have ratified or acceded to the Basel Convention mentally Sound Management adopted
(currently 163 Parties). Decisions are taken at every COP, for the next at the tenth anniversary of the
biennium and beyond, on strategic and financial planning, implemen- Convention, as the focus of action in
tation and procedural matters, technical support, regional outreach and the second decade of operation. The
capacity building, and cross-sectoral partnerships, among other issues. ensuing Strategic Plan for the
Implementation of the Basel Con-
On behalf of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and its staff, I wish vention, adopted at COP6, identified
you a pleasant and most fruitful time with us in Geneva and look forward priority activities for preventing,
to concrete and proactive outcomes. minimizing, recycling, recovering and
disposing of hazardous and other
wastes, and for promoting and using

4

hazardous wastes in isolation from
Erico Wallfisch/UNEP/Topham
broader waste issues takes us to
partnerships. The theme of the
Conference is 'Partnership for meeting
the global waste challenge'.
As we set out in our Strategic Plan,
solving the hazardous waste problem
requires 'cooperation and partnership
at all levels, within and between
countries, public authorities, inter-
national organizations, the industry
sector, non-governmental organi-
zations and academic institutions'.
North-South and South-South part-
nerships, and cross-sectoral public-
private partnerships all have their
immense value. Partnerships do and
will make a major contribution to
strengthening the implementation of
the Convention coupled with the
promotion of the life-cycle approach
and the environmentally sound man-
agement of hazardous wastes.
Different partnerships
COP7 will help define the role of the
Basel Convention in building partner-
ships for its effective implementation.
The key challenges are to They are varied and wide ranging. For
manage wastes in a way example, when they are related to the
that protects human life-cycle approach to chemical and
hazardous waste management, they
health and the can entail the sustained collaboration
environment, through of the Basel Convention with the
measures applying to the Stockholm Convention and the Global
entire waste cycle Environment Facility to tackle persis-
tent organic pollutant wastes. Another
example is pursuing synergies with
cleaner technologies. From a practical the Rotterdam and Stockholm Con-
point of view, this means that it is ventions and engaging with the
necessary and appropriate to manage Strategic Approach to International
hazardous wastes that have been Chemicals Management (SAICM) pro-
generated domestically in a similar cess, launched by the UNEP Govern-
way to imported ones. ing Council. Various initiatives have
The key challenges are to manage already been undertaken to ensure
wastes in a way that protects human that the three Conventions support
health and the environment, through each other at the global, regional and
measures applying to the entire waste national levels.
cycle – from reducing the production Partnerships can be envisaged in
of wastes, to promoting recovery, re- the area of integrated waste man-
cycling and reuse, and to ensuring that agement, to take another example, via
their disposal is carried out using the network of Basel Convention
environmentally sound methods and Regional Centres – as programmes
technologies. with local governments to promote the
Recognizing that the sound imple- environmentally sound management
mentation of the Basel Convention of hazardous wastes as part of
requires us to move away from looking municipal waste. This would alleviate
at the transboundary movements of health risks from hazardous wastes
Our Planet
(from hospitals, laboratories or
medium-sized enterprises, for ex-
ample) that have been mixed with
municipal wastes.
Further promoting the regional
approach, partnerships are sought for
developing regional capacity for the
environmentally sound recycling, re-
covery or disposal of hazardous
wastes: this is exemplified by the
ongoing Basel Convention initiative for
the environmentally sound recovery of
used lead-acid batteries in the
Caribbean and Central America. This
approach enables economies of scale,
makes transparent the export and
import of the specific wastes stream,
and facilitates enforcement.
Yet another example is represented
by partnerships with the private
sector – such as our mobile phone
and e-waste initiatives – whereby
manufacturers gather best practices
in product life-cycle management for
the benefit of the international com-
munity at large, especially developing
countries.
Essential base
Partnerships with a wide range of
potential donors are essential to
ensure an adequate technical and
financial resource base to support
Parties in implementing the Basel
Convention. The Convention is an
under-resourced instrument in this
challenge. Partnership initiatives re-
flecting real synergies will provide
more effective and efficient mobiliz-
ation of resources. Hence, a compre-
hensive resource mobilization strategy
– Mobilizing Resources for a Cleaner
Future – better to articulate the
potential of the Basel Convention, has
been formulated and will be discussed
at the COP.
There is much to discuss and much
to do. We hope for lively discussions at
the high-level segment of this year’s
Conference, establishing an inter-
active forum with proactive interven-
tions from Parties, other stake-
holders, prominent experts and
special guests ■
Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto is
Executive Secretary of the Basel
Convention.
5

have had a lifelong interest in
I environmental issues. The issue of
hazardous waste may be perceived
as the ‘poor relation’ compared with
higher profile, more ‘exotic’ topics
such as biodiversity loss and climate
change – but I believe its environ-
mentally sound management is crucial
for the well-being of our planet. The
DELIVERY TIME
ELLIOT MORLEY hails the successes of the Basel
Convention and calls for a higher profile and a focus on
strategic delivery
Basel Convention represents one of
the most important global agreements
achieved in recent times.
Nevertheless, public perception of
the management of hazardous waste
tends to be rather limited, except after
accidents or disasters. In this respect
the Convention has, to some extent,
been a victim of its own relative
success in preventing incidents of
uncontrolled dumping of hazardous
wastes through its control system of
prior informed consent.
When I look at its successes – and
then ahead to what its future priorities
might look like – I am convinced there
is a strong case for raising the profile
of the Convention and its work.
The Convention’s second decade
was heralded both by the adoption
of the Protocol on Liability and
Compensation and by the Ministerial
6
Declaration on Environmentally Sound
Management, which sets out the
framework for the environmentally
sound management of hazardous
waste, including preventing and mini-
mizing it and further reducing its
transboundary movements.
The Strategic Plan – agreed at the
Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the
Parties (COP6) – sets out how the
activities and objectives envisaged by
the Declaration will be translated into
action, and is a good first step in
delivering its aims.
Exploring synergies
However, while the Plan’s success is
firmly linked with secure and adequate
funding, Parties must also consider
how it can be strategic in its delivery,
as well as in its objectives. As we are
beginning to see, the Basel Convention
Regional Centres are important de-
livery mechanisms for the Strategic
Plan. They provide an excellent opp-
ortunity to share both resources and
expertise effectively, and will be
particularly helpful in exploring syn-
ergies with other multilateral environ-
mental agreements. Nevertheless,
Banson
Parties must explore means of ensur-
ing that delivery through the Centres is
both effective and efficient.
Over the years the United Kingdom
has made significant contributions to
the work of the Convention, for
example the part-funding of the used
oils project in the Caribbean. We are
attracted to funding projects de-
veloped and delivered through the
Centres, given the regional benefits
and efficiencies that they offer.
Technological advances and the
advent of the digital revolution have
benefited the global community in
many ways, but we are beginning to
witness the problems of managing and
disposing of the obsolete technology
being replaced. Increasing quantities
of ‘technology’ wastes – such as waste
electronic and electrical equipment –
are already providing new challenges
for the Convention. Yet I have no doubt
that the resources to tackle these
problems lie within its network of
experts.
One of the Convention’s greatest,
and most invaluable, resources is its
experience and expertise, from gov-
ernments, industry and environmental
organizations. The United Kingdom is
hopeful that Technical Guidelines on
the Environmentally Sound Manage-
ment of Persistent Organic Pollutants
– a great example of Basel expertise
being recognized and utilized in the
international community – will be
adopted at this COP7. The Convention
also has a vital role to play in guiding
the work of newer multilateral
environmental agreements – such as

the Stockholm Convention and the
Rotterdam Convention – as they enter
their initial phases; a role, for example,
in providing expertise and opportun-
ities on delivery at the regional level,
and in providing the benefits of Basel’s
considerable experience in operating a
system of prior informed consent.
Exploration of synergies between
these chemicals/waste conventions
will allow all three to use resources,
knowledge and expertise more effec-
tively. Linkages with other inter-
national initiatives – particularly those
on sustainable consumption and pro-
duction – are also vital if we are to
mobilize and use resources for the
Basel Convention more effectively. The
United Kingdom recognizes and
strongly supports progress in this area.
The Convention has a number of
opportunities to demonstrate its
leadership credentials over the next
few years – not least through its
recently established Compliance
Committee which, if suitably re-
sourced, offers a mechanism for
measuring and assisting compre-
hensive and constructive delivery of
the Convention’s objectives. It is a
unique mechanism among multi-
lateral environmental agreements and
many will be monitoring its progress.
Key objectives
Compliance and enforcement will
remain key objectives over the coming
years. The Multilateral Environmental
Agreement Guidelines on Compliance
and Enforcement are a useful tool but
Parties need to consider whether they
are being used as effectively as they
could be, and what experience Parties
have in using them. Again, expertise
and experience within the Convention
should be drawn upon to maximize the
use of available resources.
As we move towards the second
half of the decade of environmentally
sound management, we will no doubt
face a number of new challenges,
both in terms of waste streams and in
our ways of working. In the next few
years we must turn our attention to
delivery ■
Elliot Morley is Environment Minister,
United Kingdom.
Adolescence and
MONEY
PROBLEMS
EVERTON VIEIRA VARGAS argues that mobilizing
resources for implementing the Basel Convention
should take precedence over urgent debates on its
effectiveness and on broadening its scope
he Basel Convention has now
T reached ‘adolescence’ – 12 years
since entering into force in May
1992. Its Seventh Meeting of the
Conference of the Parties (COP7) will no
doubt be influenced by the growing
debate concerning its achievements and
what many see as the impending necessity
to broaden its scope, transforming it into a
‘global waste’ convention. Although the
time is clearly favourable for a wide-
ranging discussion on whether the
Convention is actually performing as
envisaged – and on whether it needs to be
updated – one underlying issue should
clearly precede this. All Parties, regardless
of region and development stage, will
need to focus on resource mobilization at
COP7.
The primary goals of the Convention
are reducing the transboundary move-
ments of hazardous wastes and ‘other
wastes’; preventing and minimizing the
quantity and toxicity of wastes generated;
the environmentally sound management
of such wastes, preferably near their
source; and actively promoting the trans-
fer and use of cleaner technologies.
Although these long-standing aims have
been clearly reaffirmed by the Basel
Declaration on the Environmentally
Sound Management of Wastes adopted at
COP5 in 1999, it is arguable whether the
Convention has been successful in
attaining them. From the developing
countries’ point of view, promoting the
transfer of technologies which are cleaner,
or that promote recycling, has certainly
been the weakest point.
The Convention originated from
Our Planet
international mobilization on a problem
that threatened to grow exponentially at
the end of the 20th century – the
indiscriminate and unregulated export of
hazardous wastes from developed econ-
omies to countries absolutely unequipped
to deal with them. Primarily, therefore, it
has a double purpose: to reduce the
generation of wastes and to help develop-
ing countries deal with hazardous wastes
produced in their development process.
It has had a very positive impact on
unregulated hazardous waste exports –
beginning with the institution of a prior
informed consent procedure – even
though the problem is far from being
resolved, especially in parts of Africa and
in Asia.
Branching out
The Convention has branched out over the
years, adopting far-ranging technical
guidelines, negotiating the so-called ‘Ban
Amendment’ (to ban exports of hazardous
wastes from countries in the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Develop-
ment to other countries, but still to enter
into force) and its mechanism for
promoting and enforcing compliance (the
Protocol on Liability and Compensation
adopted in 1999, also still to enter into
force). Thus, the discussion of global
waste management – as opposed to
hazardous waste management – reaches
centre stage when many of the core issues
under its scope remain partly unresolved.
The debate on global waste manage-
ment is both necessary and urgent, since
the definition of non-hazardous waste is
▲
7
Our Planet

rapidly changing. Nevertheless, the Parties must carefully evaluate

Banson
whether this new challenge can be met by the Convention in its
present stage and form, or whether it will demand new efforts in
policy making and – above all – in funding. Another overriding
concern is whether this debate will eventually supersede other
issues before the Convention, and some of the core basic goals.

Growing concern

The Convention is open to interpretation on whether it can, or

should, regulate movements of non-hazardous wastes (‘other
wastes’, as mentioned in Article 1 of the Convention text). Two
points support this new direction. The Convention, although
primarily oriented to hazardous wastes, does not necessarily
preclude the regulation of ‘other wastes’. Meanwhile there is
growing concern worldwide that the concept of non-hazardous
waste is rapidly changing because of lifestyle changes,
with considerable effects on the perils now associated with
household waste.
The definition of household waste is indeed changing rapidly,
with the increasing input of hazardous substances from mobile
phones, batteries, computers, paints and solvents, lamps and other
items that frequently are not separated for recycling or environ-
mentally sound management – especially in developing countries
and economies in transition.
Resource mobilization becomes a major priority in the
particular context of a new and complex goal to be pursued, not
just for the Convention – the limitations of the Trust Fund are

Gilles Saussier/UNEP/Topham
widely known – but for all multilateral agreements on chemical
safety. On one hand, it is certainly not desirable to limit enlarging
the Convention’s scope, and its potential for growth, for lack of
proper funding. On the other, it seems illogical to burden the
Parties – particularly developing countries – with higher financial
obligations at a time when rationalizing governance has become a
paramount issue in environmental negotiations.
If the Convention – and other multilateral environmental
agreements, for that matter – are to maintain their relevance and
venture into new areas they must secure innovative ways to
mobilize resources that will not put an additional burden on
developing countries’ tight budgets.
Chemical safety is no doubt a growing concern among
stakeholders. The multilateral system has recently acted accord-
ingly, successfully promoting the negotiation and implementation
of internationally binding legal instruments designed to address it.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and
the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent
Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in
International Trade have recently entered into force. The
Rotterdam Convention held its first Conference of the Parties in
September 2004, while the Stockholm Convention will kick off in
May 2005. Combining these with the work already performed by
the Basel Convention – and taking into consideration the ongoing
debate centred around a Strategic Approach to International
Chemicals Management (holding its second Prepcom in October)
– chemical safety issues are undeniably on the international
environmental agenda, and their discussion is evolving rapidly. some level, for attention (government involvement, personnel
Unfortunately, these multilateral environmental agreements dedication and capacity-building initiatives) – and, invariably, for
will involve an increasingly complex and intense negotiations funding. This specially concerns developing countries, and least
agenda. They will be competing amongst themselves, at least at developed countries in particular. Their need to participate fully

8
 Our Planet
S. Shepard/UNEP/Topham

The concept of non-hazardous waste is

rapidly changing because of lifestyle
changes, with considerable effects on
the perils now associated with
household waste

points – bringing the private sector into direct involvement with

the Parties in discussing guidelines and creative solutions for
growing hazardous waste management; and providing for direct
channelling of much-needed financial resources specifically
aimed at addressing concrete environmentally sound management
problems.

Direct participation

The private sector – most importantly, industries – must be

engaged in the debate and in funding specific initiatives directed
to concrete goals in waste management and reduction. This is
particularly important in product areas where the difference
between hazardous and household waste is rapidly disappearing.
The recent initiative on mobile phones is most welcome. The pilot
programme’s area selection could not be more relevant, and the
work done so far has shown how much can be achieved with the
direct participation of governments and industry focused on one
specific area of waste prevention and management. Although
Banson

there are points to be smoothed out – most importantly the

involvement of funding by the Parties, especially for secretarial
tasks, in a programme which should finance itself – the outlook is
definitely positive.
The debate centred around the Convention’s scope – mainly its
possible evolution into a global waste convention – must be taken
seriously in view of the rapidly changing concept of household
waste. But the Convention cannot evolve towards this new goal if
it cannot achieve its old ones. The growing consensus is that Basel
– like other chemical safety multilateral environmental agree-
ments – must adopt new financing solutions just to meet
its present objectives of addressing hazardous waste. The
Partnership Programme is an inventive and positive way to address
resource mobilization, while stimulating the private sector’s
greater involvement – both financial and technical – with the
Convention’s work. With lack of adequate funding – and
increasing competition from the other chemical conventions – the
Basel Convention will have to rely increasingly on alternative
funding mechanisms if it is to keep up with the challenges ahead,
including the pressing discussion on global waste ■

Everton Vieira Vargas is Director of the Department of the

Environment and Special Issues of the Brazilian Ministry of
Foreign Relations.

and actively is hindered by their relative scarcity of means, both The author thanks Raphael Azeredo for his valuable
human and financial. contribution in the preparation of this text. The views
The Convention’s Partnership Programme is a good example of expressed in this article reflect solely the author’s opinion.
an innovative approach to resource mobilization. It has two strong

9

COMPLETE
the job
‘I think the economic logic behind
dumping a load of toxic waste in the
lowest wage country is impeccable
and we should face up to that… I’ve
always thought that under-populated
countries in Africa are vastly under-
polluted.’ Lawrence Summers, 1991
‘… Perfectly logical but totally insane…
a concrete example of the... social
ruthlessness and arrogant ignorance
of many conventional “economists”
concerning the world we live in…’.
Such was the Brazilian environment
secretary’s retort to Mr Summers’
infamous statement, made when he
was the World Bank’s chief economist.
Mr Summers’ words may not have
started the global trade in hazardous
waste, but they did express the forces
behind it.
From its inception, the Basel
Convention has had to contend with the
insane logic of conventional economics
and the social ruthlessness of the
Creating S Y N E R G Y
SUZANNE ARUP VELTZÉ describes a fruitful partnership where three major players in
international waste management have joined forces for development
ith members in more than 70
W countries, the International
Solid Waste Association
(ISWA) disseminates information to
promote sustainable waste manage-
ment worldwide. ISWA and UNEP have
been cooperating on waste manage-
ment matters for some years, mainly
through ISWA Working Groups and
UNEP’s Division for Technology, Indus-
try and Economics. This partnership
has developed in the last couple of
years and now includes the Secretariat
of the Basel Convention. The three
10
RICHARD GUTIERREZ argues that the Basel
Convention has not yet vanquished insanity
and ruthlessness in the toxic waste trade
and calls for true partnerships to forge
sustainable solutions
waste trade. Any assessment of
Basel’s accomplishments must be
gauged on how the Parties have
prevailed over these forces.
The 1980s were a decade of liberal
markets and increased globalization –
a breeding ground for waste traders to
dump poisons in developing countries.
‘Jolly Rosso’, ‘Khian Sea’ and ‘Koko
Beach’ epitomized the toxic waste
trade anarchy of the decade. The Basel
Convention was born of this chaos in
1989.
Toxic trade
At first the Convention teetered and
almost collapsed, as it failed ad-
equately to prevail over the toxic trade
and to prohibit exports from rich to
poorer countries. The African group –
which initiated the Convention – was
disappointed with the resulting text
and refused to sign. It saw Basel as a
failed instrument that legitimized
bodies have joined forces and share
the same approach to development.
Two years ago the cooperation
launched the training resource pack
(TRP), providing a unique set of
training materials on all aspects of
hazardous waste management in
developing economies. The TRP is the
result of the work of the ISWA Working
Group on Hazardous Wastes, UNEP
and the Basel Convention. It received
the ISWA Publication Award and was
specially recognized by the UK Royal
Society for the Promotion of Health. It
waste trade through notification, in-
stead of criminalizing it. Its sentiment
was shared by other developing
nations, a few European countries, and
by non-governmental environment
organizations.
But these diverse groups did not
give up. Led by developing countries,
they collaborated and established
regional bans: by 1992, when the Basel
Convention entered into force, more
than 88 countries banned the import of
hazardous wastes.
The partnership’s efforts created
the momentum for progressive Euro-
pean countries to join in and push for
what most thought Basel needed at the
outset – a global trade barrier against
exploiting weaker economies with toxic
waste. Thus, in 1994, the Parties
decided by consensus to adopt the
proposal by the G-77 and China
(Decision II/12) to ban the export of all
hazardous wastes (including for re-
cycling) from countries belonging to
is being translated into Spanish and
Chinese with the help of local ISWA
national members.
Freely available
The TRP is designed to help ‘train the
trainers’, providing them with slides on
a CD-ROM, which can also be down-
loaded free of charge from both the
ISWA and UNEP websites. Indeed, all
the material is provided free in order
to be available as widely as possible
in developing countries. ISWA has
the Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) to
non-OECD ones; the following year,
they instated the ban as an amend-
ment to the Convention (Decision III/1).
This was a titanic achievement.
Industrialized countries, such as the
United States, Japan and Canada,
fought hard to prevent the global ban,
but the multi-stakeholder partnership
persevered, establishing the global
exemplar of environmental justice.
Testament to success
By the end of the 1990s, the toxic waste
barges and drums had grown fewer – a
testament to the success of the export
prohibitions, increased regulation and
awareness brought about by the
Convention and its decisions. Yet now –
as the Seventh Meeting of the
Conference of the Parties (COP7) deals
with ‘Partnership for meeting the
global waste challenge’, and as the
Convention embarks on limited part-
nerships with industry – the waste
trade has been increasing again,
exporting, for example, disused ships
and post-consumer wastes, like
electronics, to developing countries. A
staggering amount of toxics is being
transferred. These wastes, like their
changed its policy so as to make
publications free to download for all
members.
ISWA, UNEP and the Basel
Convention have used the TRP in
training courses in Turkey, Australia
and China, and are holding a regional
workshop on 8-10 November 2004 in
Split, Croatia. They will also carry out
training courses in Argentina, covering
various waste issues, as part of ISWA’s
partnership with the Argentine Minis-
try of Environment and Sustainable
Development on a national waste
strategy for the country. The courses
will include a hazardous waste training
course based on the TRP.
ISWA and UNEP have also published
a short booklet on waste management
planning for local government in
developing countries, which was first
launched at a local government session
predecessors, victimize some of the
poorest, most desperate peoples; they
receive the disproportionate burden of
the poisonous effluent of the affluent.
Two important uncompleted tasks
must be finished. First, the Basel
Decisions are in great jeopardy of
becoming paper tigers, since the
number of ratifications needed for
them to enter into force has not yet
been attained. The Parties must clear
up the uncertainty that hangs over this
by expressing an unequivocal decision
upholding the traditionally understood
interpretation on the required number
of ratifications. The Convention on
International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
recently took a similar step.
Second, the amount of hazardous
wastes being generated around the
world must be capped and then
steadily reduced. The Convention must
address the outrageous fact that – 15
years after its adoption – this amount
has continued to increase. If this
continues, Basel will be left fruitlessly
pursuing end-of-pipe solutions.
The task ahead is not easy. Once
again, a broad and committed partner-
ship involving all civil society is needed.
As the Convention works with industry
on electronic wastes, it must not
at the 2002 World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannes-
burg. A joint workshop with UNEP and
the ISWA Scientific and Technical
Committee has identified further steps
for joint action. This decided, among
many proposals, that ISWA should
initiate reporting guidelines for the
waste sector within the UN-approved
Global Reporting Initiative.
New cooperation
ISWA will also join forces with the 23
UNEP National Centres for Clean
Production around the world, which
should help to spread its knowledge
base more efficiently in developing
countries. To kick-start this new co-
operation, ISWA will take part in a
high-level seminar on sustainable con-
sumption and production on 15-16
These wastes victimize
some of the poorest, most
desperate peoples
abandon its old partners – the develop-
ing countries and non-governmental
organizations – but draw them in and
give them active roles in arriving at a
solution. Reforging such past partner-
ships is essential if truly sustainable
solutions are to be found. The leader-
ship and intimate involvement of
developing countries in the Basel
Decisions were vital to its past
success. The same is needed if new
partnerships are to prevail over the
waste trade’s same crazy logic and
social ruthlessness.
Protecting the vulnerable
The Basel Convention brought to-
gether all nations and civil society to
protect the most vulnerable – the poor
and the environment. Now, more than
Wolfgang Maria Weber/Still Pictures
ever, we – all the stakeholders of the
world – need to face up to this fact and
fulfil the promise of the Basel
Convention for generations to come ■
Richard Gutierrez is the Toxics Policy
Analyst of the Basel Action Network.
November in Mexico, where it will
present examples of sustainable
resource use.
In the cooperation between these
three major players in international
aspects of waste management, the
Basel Convention provides the legal
framework, UNEP provides a more
formalized network and ISWA provides
links between industry, public auth-
orities and research institutions. This
creates a special synergy from which
all benefit. This cooperation will soon
increase because ISWA at its Annual
Congress in Rome will sign a
cooperation agreement with the World
Bank, adding a fourth important
player ■
Suzanne Arup Veltzé is the Managing
Director of the International Solid
Waste Association (ISWA).
11
New challenges
PHILIPPE ROCH outlines issues facing the Basel Convention and calls for
commitment to develop it further
ew challenges face the Basel Convention and its Parties. The Convention was developed in the 1980s to put an end to
Nuncontrolled transboundary movements of hazardous wastes, mainly from industrialized countries to developing ones. The
Third Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) additionally decided to ban exports of hazardous wastes from countries
belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD ones. The situation has now
clearly improved, even though the Decision on the ban has not yet been ratified by enough Parties for it to become a legally binding
part of the Convention. Nevertheless, further commitment of the Parties is still needed.
In this context, I believe that the Basel Convention must look for appropriate solutions to two major concerns. The first is
transboundary movements of huge amounts of waste electrical and electronic equipment, with the considerable risk that they will
not be recycled in an environmentally sound way. The second is the uncontrolled dismantling of ships.
The use of natural resources, the consumption of products and goods – and the concomitant production of waste – are still
increasing worldwide. Huge amounts of municipal waste are a burden on large, rapidly expanding metropolitan areas. The resulting
adverse effects on human health and on the environment show that inappropriate waste management is a very serious problem.
It has become evident that establishing a system to control transboundary movements of hazardous and household wastes is not
enough. The Convention must work hard to prevent and minimize the production of hazardous and other wastes and to dispose of
them in an environmentally sound way. At COP5 environment ministers reacted and produced a Ministerial Declaration on the
Environmentally Sound Management of Wastes. However, we are still far from reaching this goal.
Nevertheless, there are solutions to the waste problem. Cleaner production processes and environmentally sound waste
management technologies are available. They significantly reduce resource consumption and negative environmental impacts.

■ Cleaner production processes in the production chain must become incentives and advantages in the market.
■ Uncontrolled landfill sites must be closed down and remedied; state-of-the-art recycling plants, landfill sites and waste
incinerators must be built; and thought must be given to using incineration capacity in upgraded state-of-the-art cement kilns.
■ Waste disposal projects must be developed and supported to help countries or regions, as in the Africa Stockpile Project for
used pesticides.

State-of-the-art waste management is not excessively expensive. In my experience, it is cheaper than paying the future costs
associated with not taking action. Obstacles to action – such as economic constraints, political and social factors, and lack of
awareness, information and know-how – must be overcome.
The Parties could give thought to exploring possible development of the Basel Convention towards a comprehensive regulatory
global waste convention, using its existing but broadly formulated content on waste management as a starting point. Work that has
already begun with real projects, and with technical and legal tasks, should be continued, but should be streamlined and brought
back to the original context – supporting all Parties in implementing the Basel Convention. These two possibilities are not mutually
exclusive; pragmatic approaches could be the key to success.
COP7’s theme is ‘Partnership for meeting the global waste challenge’. It is my conviction that real partnerships under the Basel
Convention are a key instrument for environmentally sound management of wastes. The participation of all stakeholders is an
important factor in ensuring the success of the further development of the Convention and its ongoing work. The mobile phone
partnership initiative – which I started together with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention – is the first work done by the Secretariat
on a new partnership with the computing industry, and other partnership programmes are important as initial exemplary actions.
It is important to exploit synergies with other chemicals conventions such as the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and to
include this in the partnerships’ thinking. I call upon all stakeholders to increase their cooperation at all levels.
The Basel Convention cannot do everything on its own, but must be an active player. I therefore encourage Parties, signatories
and non-governmental organizations to support these partnerships, to make full use of synergies and cooperation, and to make
F. Ardito/UNEP/Still Pictures

available to the Secretariat the human and financial resources needed to tackle these challenges effectively and to create a modern,
integrated approach to waste management for the future ■

Philippe Roch is State Secretary and Director of the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape and was President
of COP5 of the Basel Convention.