Why is it in the news?
- The 1995 Basel Ban Amendment, a global waste dumping prohibition, has become an international law after Croatia ratified it on September 6, 2019.
Basel Convention:
- The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted on 22 March 1989 by the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Basel, Switzerland
- It does not address the movement of radioactive waste.
- To implement and restrict the trade of hazardous waste between more developed countries and less developed countries an organization is formed which is known as Basel Action Network (BAN)
- The provisions of the Convention center around the following principal aims:
- The reduction of hazardous waste generation and the promotion of environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, wherever the place of disposal.
- The restriction of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes except where it is perceived to be in accordance with the principles of environmentally sound management.
Which countries yet to sign/ratify?
- Countries like the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, India, Brazil, and Mexico are yet to ratify the ban.
- The US produces the most waste per-capita but has failed to ratify the Basel Convention and has actively opposed the Ban Amendment.
- Nearly, 40 percent of e-waste delivered to US recyclers is exported to Asian and African countries.
Basel Action Network (BAN):
- Founded in 1997, the Basel Action Network is a charitable organization of the United States, based in Seattle.
- BAN is the world’s only organization focused on confronting the global environmental justice and economic inefficiency of toxic trade and its devastating impacts.
- BAN serves as the information clearinghouse on the subject of waste trade for journalists, academics, and the general public.
