Ross Bartley and Alev Somer, respectively BIR Director and Deputy Director for Trade & Environment, were the voice of the global recycling industry at the 2023 Conferences of the Parties to the Basel (BC COP16), Rotterdam (RC COP11) and Stockholm (SC COP11) Conventions, which took place in the Swiss city of Geneva during the first two weeks of May. At these gatherings, Parties and Observers addressed the challenges of updating the Basel Convention and its associated tools on issues including e-waste, plastic wastes and modernizing the prior informed consent (PIC) procedure.
On technical matters, there was progress in negotiations relating to Technical Guidelines for Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of Plastic Waste, against the backdrop of work towards a new legally-binding global treaty on plastics pollution. BIR is working with all Parties and Observers to update the guidelines and to encourage their adoption, including those on the ESM of Electrical and Electronic Wastes for which discussions focused on what can be considered waste and non-waste. It was decided to continue this work in the inter-sessional period running up to the 17th meeting of the Basel Convention.
On legal matters, an Expert Working Group (EWG) had been established seven years ago to review Annex I of the Basel Convention (categories of waste and waste constituents to be controlled) and also Annex III (hazardous characteristics). BIR deplores the proposals to add more metals to Annex I - for example, as powders (Al) or granules (Cu) - without the caveat that “in general pure metal alloys in their massive form (not contaminated with hazardous substances) are not considered as hazardous waste”.
In the review of Annex IV (disposal operations, including defining what are recycling operations), Parties are considering new recovery and disposal operation proposals. BIR had proposed that Parties develop a concise Guidance Document to describe these operations in Annex IV, for which a consultant will be needed. While Parties discussed proposed amendments to these Annexes, it was decided that further work would be needed. Therefore, the COP16 mandated the EWG to continue to develop its recommendations for the next Open-ended Working Group meeting in 2024.
Under strategic matters, the Basel Convention addressed the necessity of modernizing and simplifying PIC procedures to process notifications via a harmonized electronic system that should lower costs while increasing speed and efficiency. A survey was conducted by the Basel Secretariat, to which BIR submitted its response based on exchanges with its members since 1993. With a number of the Convention’s Parties and Observers having raised concerns over the efficiency of PIC procedures, it was agreed to establish a “small inter-sessional working group” to assess options going forward.
