BIR News

The Basel War Wages Rages On

Some victories were won at the Geneva meeting of the Basel TWG

The 12th session of the Basel Convention Technical Working Group took place in Geneva in February 1997. This was the group’s last meeting before the next full Basel Conference of the Parties, known as COP IV, which will take place in Kuala Lumpur in October. Almost a quarter of some 200 representatives from 70 countries attending were from the world recycling industry.

There are four lists now being used by the TWG to classify materials – List A for hazardous wastes, List B for non-hazardous wastes, List C for wastes awaiting classification, and List D for wastes of particular concern.

At its most recent meeting, the TWG transferred to the B list – provided they have no hazardous contamination – a range of substances which had previously been categorized for further investigation, including materials containing copper and zinc compounds.

The TWG discussed the review form and procedure for review application, along with the hazard characterization and classification of wastes within the framework of the Basel Convention. Many parties thought it necessary that List A and List B should have equal standing and be included in the Basel Convention. The question of how the wastes placed on List C should be viewed was debated.

The TWG recognized the difficulties in preparing a guidance document on bilateral, multilateral or regional agreements. "Some developing countries still believe, inappropriately, that they can at a later time import certain recyclable materials for their industries despite signing the Basel Convention and ratifying a ban on exports from OECD to non-OECD countries of these same materials," warned Francis Veys, secretary general of BIR.

Discussions were initiated on the relationship between the wastes placed on List A and List B and the standardized system codes of the World Customs Organization. A form for confirmed cases of illegal traffic was agreed upon.

The TWG had not placed certain clearly non-hazardous wastes on List B because of concern about the possible hazards arising from unsound processing methods. Further work on how to determine the placement of wastes on List A for hazardous wastes or List B for non-hazardous wastes with respect to the amount of any hazardous constituent present in the waste – the de minimis approach – was deemed necessary.

The upcoming trade ban, which will go into effect at the end of this year, is the international recycling industry’s most pressing priority for this century. The BIR strongly urges all those involved in trade of secondary materials to join their trade associationin order to assist the world industry in this struggle.