Delegates debate banning toxic waste exports as UN conference concludes

The Associated Press , Nusa Dua, Bali | Fri, 06/27/2008 12:12 PM | World

African nations and other poor countries at a UN conference pushed Friday for a ban on toxic waste exports that they said would protect them from the steady stream of dangerous chemicals and old electronics damaging their health and environment.

But activists and some delegates said the proposal was running into opposition from the United States, Japan and even India over concerns it would stifle growing recycling industries in the developed world that are booming amid the rising price of metals.

"Countries in every part of the world are split over the ban," said Agus Purnomo, head of Indonesia's delegation, which supports the proposed ban.

"Some want it to go into effect immediately, while others would like it to include language that reflects new developments on technology on waste management," he said, noting that while many nations have improved capacity to manage waste, others continue to lag far behind.

The ban is the boldest attempt at the conference to strengthen the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. The 1989 convention allows the 170 parties to ban imports and requires exporters to gain consent before sending toxic materials abroad.

But environmentalists and African nations contend the accord has failed to stem the flow of toxic waste and keep pace with a rapidly changing trade that is increasing global in nature. They said that insufficient funds, widespread corruption and the absence of the United States as a participant have undermined the pact, leaving millions of poor people exposed to heavy metals, PCBs and other toxins.

Many delegates from the developing world say the only way to bolster the convention's effectiveness is to bring an export ban into force.

"The ban is very important because that is what will reassure us that people aren't coming to dump any of these things on our shores anymore," Nigeria's Environment Minister Halima Tayo Alao said. "These products are hazardous and the lives of our people are continuously being put on the line by dumping them on our shores."

An amendment calling for a ban was first proposed in 1995, but not enough of the convention's members have ratified it. It has resulted in some regions, including the European Union, enforcing the ban while the rest of the developed world largely ignores it.

Delegates were expected to adopt lesser measures to improve the pact, including industry-supported guidelines for disposing cell phones and an agreement to start similar discussions for old

They also were expected to boost funding for the convention's 14 regional centers, which provide technical support and training to poor nations, and to agree to improve cooperation and coordination between the convention and the other UN chemical pacts.

Also discussed were measures aimed at better regulating the recycling of contaminated old ships, mostly in South Asia.

Achim Steiner, executive director for the UN Environment Program, acknowledged that the convention has lagged behind the rapidly changing nature of toxic waste. He said the biggest challenge was finding a way to manage waste from the world's growing middle class -- the estimated 20 million to 50 million tons of televisions, cell phones, computers and home appliances that are sent to poor nations for recycling.

He said the international community was making progress, noting his agency was drawing up a waste strategy and had recently launched a project to implement a hazardous waste management plan for Abidjan, where a toxic spill in 2006 killed 10 people and sickened tens of thousands.

He also said developed nations had started programs to buy back outdated equipment, and that pressure from Greenpeace and other environmental groups had prompted major electronics and phone companies to start designing more environmentally friendly products. (****)

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