Transboundary Movements Of Hazardous Wastes Research Articles

The Ukrainian regulation on hazardous waste in comparison with Basel Convention and the Directive 2008/98/EC

Ukraine ratified the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous waste and their disposal (hereinafter - the Basel Convention) as well as the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Managemet. However, national legislation is more declarative than specific; it tends to copy basic general provisions of international documents in this field rather than creating concrete effective mechanisms for their implementation. The duplication and inconsistency of the provisions of Ukrainian legal acts in the field of hazardous waste management has attracted the attention of scholars. This article analyses the main provisions of Ukrainian legislation regulating hazardous waste management in terms of its compliance with the Basel Convention and the Directive 2008/98/EC.

(Re)invigorating the health protection objective of the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal

The public health challenges of moving dangerous substances across jurisdictions have led to a renewed international focus on the importance of the health perspective in the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. This paper systematically reviews the health dimensions of the Basel Convention and the ways in which the Convention can be strengthened. It analyses the limits of the health objective of the Convention in promoting public health and the environment and the potential for optimising it. The paper argues that an examination of the Convention's substantive, procedural, and institutional and implementation mechanisms highlights its failure to fully achieve its potential for health protection. Parties to the Convention have initiated measures to address this issue, but the design and functioning of the Convention itself constrain the full achievement of health goals, which in turn undermines the protection of human health and the environment. To optimise the health promotion, the author argues for an adaptive governance framework by bolstering the governance mechanisms of the Convention and the Secretariat, strengthening health cooperation between international health agencies and improving domestic implementation of the Convention by its Member States.

Waste of Effort? International Environmental Agreements

AbstractMost evidence suggests that the 1,000 or so different International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) operating today are ineffectual, merely ratifying business-as-usual outcomes. But much of that empirical analysis faces two obstacles: (1) limited data from before the IEAs were enacted and thus an inability to make before-and-after comparisons and (2) difficulty estimating the counterfactual outcomes—what would have happened absent the agreements. We study one particular IEA—the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. In this special case we do have data prior to the agreement, enabling us to identify the treaty’s effects using annual bilateral waste shipments among countries before and after one of the trading partners ratifies the agreement. Despite the strengths of this approach, we find almost no evidence that the Convention has resulted in less waste being shipped among countries.

When Environment Politics Collide with the Trade: Comparative Responses to the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes

When Environment Politics Collide with the Trade: Comparative Responses to the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes

Environmentally Sound Management and Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes

Environmentally Sound Management and Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes

The Basel Convention, US politics, and the emergence of non-state e-waste recycling certification

While many authors have argued that domestic regulatory gaps as well as a lack of international cooperation can at least partly explain the emergence of non-state regulation, this article will focus on an underexplored pathway of emergence linking international, domestic, and non-state regulation. I will argue that even in the presence of a widely supported international agreement, a non-ratifying country can provide the setting for the emergence of non-state certification programs. This will happen when significant domestic legislation on the topics covered by the agreement is absent, and non-state actors are able to act as institutional entrepreneurs with an interest in implementing key elements of this agreement. By tracing the development of certification programs for the electronic waste (e-waste) recycling industry, I will show why the US, more than other countries, provided an enabling environment for the emergence of non-state e-waste recycling certification. The US’s failure to ratify the Basel Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and an overall lack of domestic legislation on e-waste exports created regulatory gaps that non-state actors were able to fill. The main global watchdog of the Convention—the US-based Basel Action Network—used certification as a forum-shifting strategy to implement key parts of the Convention in the US. Finally, the article will also show that conflicting interests and divergent perspectives on the legitimacy of the Convention and its rules have led to the development of a competing industry-supported certification program.

国际贸易中有害废料越境转移所引发环境问题的对策<br>Countermeasures to the Environmental Problems Caused by Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste in the Aspect of International Trade

随着经济全球化的深入，国际贸易在过去几十年里得以迅速发展。发展的同时也带来了不少问题，其中包括发达国家对于发展中国家进行危险废料越境转移这一环境问题。本文将根据国际公约和中国法律中相关条文的规定定义危险废物；并且根据相关案例分析危险废物越境转移所带来的危害。同时，从国际贸易理论和行政政策的角度分析产生这种现象的原因，并从市场与行政两个方面入手提出解决这个问题的办法。 With the economic globalization expanding, international trade has experienced a rapid develop- ment in the past few decades. However, many problems come with the development, one of which is an en- vironmental problem of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes from developed countries to devel- oping countries. In this article, there is the definition of hazardous waste according to the related treaties in the international convention and China’s laws. And I analysis the dangers caused by the transboundary movements of hazardous waste based on an actual case. In the meantime, I research the reasons of this phe- nomenon in the view of international trade theory and policy making, and conclude some methods to solve the problem from these two aspects.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal: The Basel Convention at a Glance

The Basel Convention, adopted in 1989 and in force since 1992, is the sole global treaty on waste management. Negotiated in response to scandals involving illicit exports from developed to developing countries in the 1980s, its objective is to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of the generation and management of hazardous and other wastes. The Convention establishes a control system for transboundary waste movement, which is based on the requirement of prior informed consent (PIC) to every intended movement, by the prospective states of import and transit, as a prerequisite to the movement being initiated. It also imposes a general obligation on parties to ensure environmentally sound management of all hazardous and other wastes wherever they are located, and obliges parties to combat illegal traffic and to reimport or otherwise dispose of illegally exported wastes. The Convention’s institutional infrastructure is the same as that of all modern multilateral environmental agreements, consisting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) as the supreme organ, a number of subsidiary bodies, and the secretariat (joint with the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions since 2011). The COP has designated the following as priority waste streams: electric and electronic wastes (e-wastes); persistent organic pollutants (POPs); obsolete pesticides; medical and biomedical wastes; used lead-acid batteries (ULABs); obsolete ships destined for dismantling; asbestos wastes; and mercury wastes. Key activities over the last decade include the elaboration of technical guidelines to assist parties in the management of priority waste streams; regional capacity-building projects in developing countries; and partnerships with industry and civil society.

Assessing the Health Effects of Informal E-Waste Processing

Riederer et al generate twice the number of obsolete personal computers as the developed regions by 2030.1 Ideally, by that time most countries will have adopted/ enforced formal health, safety and environmental standards for e-waste processing, and taken advantage of new technologies and management systems facilitating electronics reuse and recycling, supported by novel collaborations. But realistically, informal e-waste processing will continue to thrive, increasing the urgency with which we must examine the health risks in order to prioritize strategies for protecting local populations.

Environmental Consideration Leads to Successful Decommissioning of FSO

This article, written by Editorial Manager Adam Wilson, contains highlights of paper SPE 157017, ’Decommissioning of an FSO Containing Hazardous Waste: A Successful Story,’ by Claude-Henri Chaîneau, Jean-Claude Bourguignon, Guillaume Goubard, and Pierre Bang, Total E&P; Philippe Jean, SPE, PJN Consulting; Benoit Lefebvre, SITA France; Tom Peter Blankestijn, Sea2Cradle; and Emmanuel Tambe Ayuk, SNH, prepared for the 2012 SPE/APPEA International Conference on Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production, Perth, Australia, 11-13 September. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Ship dismantling issues have never been as sensitive as they are now. In this context, the Rio del Rey partnership, represented by Total E&P Cameroun, planned the Serepca-1 (SR1) tanker’s end of life. SR1 was a Suezmax type oil tanker moored off the coast of Cameroon. The ship was a significant source of raw material and contained waste that could turn its dismantling into a health hazard and an environmental hazard. Various environmental surveys were made to identify hazardous materials and to produce the ship’s Green Passport. The end of life of any tanker has economic, environmental, and social implications. Introduction SR1 was a former oil tanker, built in 1974. In 1984, it was converted into a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) and positioned in the Biafra bight, off the coast of the Republic of Cameroon. Its 14 tanks stored Kolé crude oil extracted from the Rio del Rey oil field. However, given the oil tanker’s age, the company decided to replace it. SR1’s oil storage activities ceased in May 2007, and it is in this context that a full decommissioning project was set up. Given the large quantity of steel contained in the structure, an oil tanker constitutes a significant source of raw material. The elimination strategy selected, however, can turn such a tanker and the various polluting, toxic, or inflammable substances onboard into a health and environmental hazard. Several decontamination phases must be carried out in precise sequences before any dis-mantling operation, to prevent environ-mental and health risks. When one looks at the international situation, one sees that, during the last two dozen years, most of the world’s commercial ships and warships have been sent to developing countries to be dismantled in conditions damaging to the environment and to health. The evolution of environmental regulations in the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) during the 1980s caused the cost of hazardous waste disposal operations to increase in industrialized countries. As a result, hazardous wastes have been exported to developing countries, where environ-mental regulations were less thorough. It is in reaction to this situation that the international community implemented the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

Global Environmental Governance and Regional Centers

As global environmental governance evolves, the parties to the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal and to the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants have established regional centers working on capacity building and technology transfer. This article empirically explores the following questions: Why did the parties to the Basel and Stockholm Conventions establish these regional centers? What roles do the regional centers play in treaty implementation and multilevel governance? The article argues that the parties have set up regional centers in response to three partially overlapping sets of developing- and industrialized-country interests: expanding regional cooperation (both developing and industrialized countries); attracting more resources for treaty implementation (mainly developing countries); and supporting implementation projects across smaller groups of countries (mainly industrialized countries). This article finds that the regional centers collectively operate in three broad areas important to treaty implementation: raising awareness, strengthening administrative ability, and diffusing scientific and technical assistance and information. However, the ability of the regional centers to function effectively depends on access to greater resources and stronger political support. There may also be benefits to expanding regional center mandates into areas of monitoring and compliance to improve multilevel governance. Furthermore, the regional level should be given more consideration in the study of global environmental politics.

Persistent toxic substances released from uncontrolled e-waste recycling and actions for the future

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted on March 22, 1989 and enforced on May 5, 1992. Since then, the USA, one of the world's largest e-waste producers, has not ratified this Convention or the Basel Ban Amendment. Communities are still debating the legal loophole, which permits the export of whole products to other countries provided it is not for recycling. In January 2011, China's WEEE Directive was implemented, providing stricter control over e-waste imports to China, including Hong Kong, while emphasizing that e-waste recycling is the producers' responsibility. China is expected to supersede the USA as the principal e-waste producer, by 2020, according to the UNEP.Uncontrolled e-waste recycling activities generate and release heavy metals and POPs into the environment, which may be re-distributed, bioaccumulated and biomagnified, with potentially adverse human health effects. Greater efforts and scientific approaches are needed for future e-product designs of minimal toxic metal and compound use, reaping greater benefits than debating the definition and handling responsibilities of e-waste recycling.

Shifting Mountains of Electronic Waste

Shifting Mountains of Electronic Waste

THE TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT OF HAZARDOUS WASTE: A CONTRIBUTION TO IMPROVE THE PRESENT TECHNICAL-JUDICIAL MODEL

The expression "the transboundary movement of hazardous waste" refers, from the technical point of view, to a series of phases that begin with the creation of a hazardous waste and includes its identification according to international, regional and national standards, its delivery to specialized companies and its movement from the exporting country to the importing country; these phases end with the final destination of the waste (disposal or recovery). From the judicial point of view, this same expression means a set of international regulations, at the UN level, a judicial model constituted by various Multilateral Environmental Agreements-MEAs and in particular the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. In spite of this model, an international market, dominated in certain strategic points by a chain of organized crime, has become established over the last 30 years, with consequent adverse effects on human health and the environment as well as on trade and competition. The illegal movement and transport of hazardous goods and waste undermine international policies and enforcement efforts and put law-abiding businesses at an economic disadvantage. It is here taken into account that there are in fact two judicial models that have to be referred to. Apart from the previously mentioned one, it is necessary to take into consideration the international judicial hazardous goods and waste transport model. The former model is examined (1) from a general point of view and during the various phases; (2) as far as the controls that the international regulations foresee along the chain are concerned; (3) with a case study concerning the PCB category, a category which is very vast and whose contents are sometimes considered as hazardous goods and sometimes as wastes. Because of the great complexity of the problems and in order to have a clear picture, a specific second study, which is closely connected to the first, has been conducted on the technical-judicial aspects of transport. The aim of both studies was to offer useful instruments to decision makers to help them make efficacious interventions. The different interpretations of the basic concept of waste at an international, regional and national level, together with the lack of clearly defined borders between the concept of waste and that of goods, are weak points of the regulations. The unresolved problem in the initial part of the model affects all the phases of the transboundary movement of waste. In particular, the important phase of controls, which in itself is already difficult and costly, is unable to reach its objectives. Decision makers should first of all intervene by establishing a univocal definition of waste and goods. However, the technical-judicial problem can only be resolved by legal practitioners and technical experts in the sector who are known to be super partes at an international level. In particular, it is necessary to monitor the increasingly rapid technological evolution in order to be able to identify what is waste, or has become so and what are (or continues to be) goods, considering the various degrees of development throughout the planet. Only once these aspects have been clarified will a more efficacious control of all the elements that make up the chain be possible.

Trans-boundary Movement of Hazardous Waste: Evidence from a New Micro Data in the European Union

The paper explores a new micro dataset on the export of hazardous waste generated in Europe. A total of 16 745 industrial facilities generated hazardous waste in 2009 out of which 1 272 exported some or all of the waste. A measure of the export intensity of facilities is introduced by using export of hazardous waste as a percentage of total hazardous waste generated. The study finds that 96% of the export stays within Europe and rarely goes to developing countries. The major driving force behind firms' decision to export hazardous waste may be the stringency of general environmental policies as well as the introduction of regulations and tax bases specific to waste disposal. Furthermore, the availability of sufficient waste management and recycling centers increases competition and decreases the cost of waste management, reducing the need to export hazardous wastes.

3. Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste

During 2012, key meetings were the eighth meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) and the ninth meeting of the compliance committee. The convention now has 180 parties, with Brunei Darussalam and Zimbabwe becoming bound in 2012. The Ban Amendment gained a seventy-fourth ratification in 2012 with Lesotho. There were no ratifications or acceptance of the 1999 Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel Liability Protocol) in 2012, so by year’s end there remained ten ratifications (twenty needed for entry into force). The Expanded Bureau met late in 2012, partly to plan for the simultaneous Conferences of the Parties (COP) of the Basel Convention, the Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade...

Still Up to the Challenge? International Trade Issues Facing the Basel Convention as it Enters its Third Decade

The Basel Convention is inarguably a noble effort to combat the grave threat to human and environmental health posed by hazardous wastes, but it has failed in at least one of its fundamental objectives: to minimize the movement of hazardous waste across international borders. Is the framework of the Convention sufficient to achieve its goals as well tackle emerging issues in international trade?The first half of the paper provides generous background information about the Basel Convention including: - its origins and purpose - a case study of the infamous Khian Sea incident - the organization and scope of the treaty - how the treaty employs trade measures to minimize trade in hazardous waste - how the Convention approaches compliance and dispute resolution - the future implementation of the Convention via the New Strategic Framework to be addressed at COP10 - proposed provisions including the Basel Ban Amendment and the Protocol on Liability and Compensation.The second half of the paper discusses the Basel Convention's strengths and analyzes its shortcomings. It also suggests improvements for the Convention to succeed in its original and assumed objectives. Topics addressed include: - the incorporation the Precautionary Principle into the treaty - inconsistent standards in Annex IX - the circumvention of the convention by traders of e-waste and ship breaking - hazardous wastes outside of the Convention such as ship wastes and radioactive waste - the failure of the treaty's trade measures to achieve its objectives - the potential conflict of the treaty's trade measures with the WTO Agreements - inadequacies of the Basel Compliance Mechanism - the lack of a dispute settlement system.After 20 years, the purpose of the Basel Convention remains as relevant as ever, but its framework, while not ill-conceived, has proven insufficient. Unfortunately, the New Strategic Framework fails to adequately address most of Convention’s most significant weaknesses. Ratification of the Ban Amendment and Liability Protocol in addition to significant tweaks, particularly in the arena of compliance, will likely afford the Basel Convention an opportunity to position itself to face the emerging issues of international trade and achieve a reduction in the transboundary movement of hazardous waste over its third decade.

途上国の経済発展とバーゼル条約

途上国の経済発展とバーゼル条約

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal

‘New Age’ Trade Agreements and their Possible Contribution to Toxic Trade

Over the past seven years, a spate of bilateral “new age” economic partnership accords have been struck between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and several of its members namely: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. These agreements were seen as Japan’s response to the growing Chinese economic power and influence in the region. The seeds to these agreements were planted in 2002 when Japan began a parallel approach towards building closer economic relations between Japan and the ASEAN community. Japan utilised the moniker “economic partnership agreements” (JEPAs) to call the agreements, which are essentially trade agreements that complement the basic WTO agreements on goods and services, and incorporate areas presently not covered under the WTO called the “Singapore issues” (i.e., investment, government procurement, competition policy, and trade facilitation). These JEPAs have invariably been called “WTO-Plus” agreements and “Mega-Treaties” to evoke their scope and magnitude. Civil society groups voiced concerns over the JEPAs questioning their constitutionality to the impact of the trade related provisions on the local economy. Amidst the din of protests the JEPAs received in Southeast Asia the issue of toxic waste trade resonated with most prominence. The issue of Japan’s intent to make Southeast Asia its toxic waste bin and the ensuing environmental and public health blight that could occur as a result of the tsunami of Japanese toxic wastes caught the public and the government of Japan’s attention. This article examines the legal provisions under the JEPAs that gave rise to the concerns over toxic waste trade and dumping, and the implications these have on the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements, particularly that of the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal by the Southeast Asian countries who are parties to the JEPAs.