Webinar: Plastic Waste Trade Book Launch

Plastic Waste Trade: A New Colonialist Means of Pollution Transfer

Basel Action Network is announcing an upcoming webinar and book launch in collaboration with Geneva Environment Network and organized within the framework of the Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues. By the end of 2024, countries worldwide are expected to come to an agreement on how to manage plastic pollution, a transboundary problem exemplified by the movement of marine debris through ocean currents, and the movement of plastic through cross-border supply chains. The book Plastic Waste Trade: A New Colonialist Means of Pollution Transfer takes a holistic view of the international waste trade and in doing so argues that the transfer of plastic waste from mainly Global North to primarily Global South countries constitutes a form of 21^st century colonialism.

Speakers will include:

• Sedat Gündoğdu, Professor, Cukurova University, Türkiye
• Peter Stoett, Faculty, Ontario Tech University, Canada
• Jim Puckett, Executive Director, Basel Action Network, USA
• Jindřich Petrlík, Toxics Coordinator, Arnika, Czech Republic
• Yuyun Ismawati Drwiega, Senior Advisor, Nexus3 Foundation, Indonesia
• Pui Yi Wong, Basel Action Network (Moderator), Malaysia

WHEN:

• Monday, April 15, 2024, at 6am PDT / 3pm CEST / 8pm ICT

The event will take place online. To learn more about this event and to register, please click the link below.

Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico. With Popocatépetl volcano in the background, a largely uncontrolled waste dump on a hillside outside of Mexico City creates a health and environmental hazard. Mexico is the largest importer of US plastic waste in Latin America, and with little transparency of the waste’s fate, it is sent under the guise of recycling, despite Mexico having its own dumps already overflowing with plastic. (Photo Credit: Tamara Pearson, Truthout)

California floods Mexico with plastic waste and continued high plastic waste exports from EU, Japan, Australia to Asia

Key Messages: California continues to increase plastic waste trucked to Mexico to falsely claim it is “recycled” and “diverted” to meet state laws. The EU and UK should undertake rapid enforcement of Y48 plastics exports and consider an immediate ban on plastic waste exports, as countries like the Netherlands are flooding Indonesia with plastic film waste.

California plastic waste exports to Mexico increased by 800% between 2015 and 2023. California plastic waste exports to Mexico were 4.6 million kg/yr in 2015. After China started restricting plastic waste imports, California’s plastic waste was pushed to Mexico resulting in 42 million kg/yr in 2023.

2023 EU plastic waste exports to Asia increased by 45% from 2022. Total EU exports to non-OECD countries rose to 750 million kg/yr in 2023 from 517 million kg/yr in 2022. This is the highest level of plastic waste exports to Asia since China implemented the National Sword in 2018. Latest EU country exports to non-OECD countries:

• Germany: 13 million kg/month (December 2023)
• Netherlands: 16.4 million kg/month (December 2023)
• Belgium: 7.1 million kg/month (December 2023)
• Spain: 13.8 million kg/month (September 2023)
• Italy: 5.1 million kg/month (November 2023)

2023 UK plastic waste exports to Turkey increased by 60% from 2022.

• Turkey: UK exported 141 million kg/yr in 2023 up from 88 million kg/yr in 2022.
• Non-OECD Countries: UK exported 77 million kg/yr in 2023 up from 47 million kg/yr in 2022.
• January 2024: UK exported 9.8 million kg/month to Turkey and 5.2 million kg/month to non-OECD countries.

Japan continues to flood other parts of Asia with plastic waste. Japan exported 55.5 million kg/month in November 2023 to non-OECD countries. This is equal to 348 shipping containers of plastic waste per day.

Check here for these annual summaries and the latest monthly data. Full-year data for 2023 is beginning to be published by government agencies.

Check here for annual summaries and the latest monthly data. 

“For years, Europe has been exporting their waste problems, putting communities and the environment in recipient countries at risk. We welcome the impending ban of all plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries but this should be expanded to all countries. To be effective, the Waste Shipment Regulation must be accompanied by robust, adequately resourced monitoring and enforcement measures in both exporting and importing countries. Loopholes must be plugged, including the export of hidden plastics in other waste streams. While improving domestic recycling infrastructure is a necessary step forward in Europe, it is clear that recycling and disposal is not the answer. We need to get to the root of the problem, that is, the proliferation and production of plastics.”

-- Mageswari Sangaralingam, Honorary Secretary of Sahabat Alam Malaysia, on the recent endorsement of the revised Waste Shipment Regulation by the Council of the European Union. The Regulation includes a ban on all plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries that will go into effect after 2.5 years (likely near the end of 2026) and all plastic waste shipments to OECD countries outside the EU will be subject to the prior-informed-consent notification procedure.

Microplastics have been found from the highest mountains to the deepest seas, in our food and inside our bodies. Researchers recently found microplastic fibers in clouds after taking samples on top of Mount Tai in eastern China. Combined with other recent research that showed in simulations that microplastic fibers can travel larger distances and reach greater heights than previously thought, this may explain the wide dispersion of microplastics even in the most remote areas of our planet. (Graphic Source: #BreakFreeFromPlastic)

Plastic People | Official Trailer – Documentary by White Pine Pictures

Proposal to control exports of used clothes under Basel

France, Denmark, and Sweden are urging the European Commission to put forward a draft Council Decision to subject textile waste exports to the controls of the Basel Convention at the 17^th Meeting of the Conference of Parties in 2025. This proposal coincided with the final approval of the revised Waste Shipment Regulation by the Council of the European Union, and the three ministers called this an “obvious moment to ‘complete the circle.’” They ask for prior informed consent to be obtained for the import and export of textile waste and a ban on the export of hazardous textile waste altogether, which they parenthetically define with an example of “stained with chemicals or paint.” The request comes after BAN, organized a side event at the COP16 meeting of the Basel Convention calling for certain "forgotten plastics" including textiles, to be added to the Basel controls on plastic waste. 69% of textiles contain synthetic fibers, which amounts to a huge and hidden plastic waste trade. According to a report last year by IPEN, the Last Beach Cleanup, Microplastic Research Group, this would amount to 500 million tonnes of plastic waste from Japan, EU, USA and the UK to non-OECD countries in 2021. Another report by Changing Markets Foundation estimates that over 300 million items of damaged or unsellable clothing made of plastic fibers are exported to Kenya each year, eventually being dumped, landfilled, or burned, with over 89% of these coming from Germany, Poland, and the UK. Through interviews with Kenyan traders, they estimated that 20-50% of used clothing in bales was unsellable.

Report ties Amazon’s packaging to drop-off scandal

A new investigation by Environment America and US Public Interest Research Group tested online retailer Amazon’s claims that its plastic packaging was recyclable through store drop-off programs. Amazon is a major contributor to the plastic pollution problem, creating an estimated 709 million pounds of plastic waste globally in 2021. The groups placed trackers in 93 bundles of Amazon plastic bags and left them in store drop bins across the US. (While this project was underway, a similar investigation by ABC News was released that looked into the Film Drop-Off Directory itself, leading to it being taken offline due to a lack of funding and questions about its credibility.) After following the trackers, the groups found no evidence that the Amazon packaging was widely recycled, with only four trackers ending up at a location that sorts items for recycling. Many of the items ended up at landfills or incinerators or left at a port to be likely exported to another country for disposal. Over a quarter of the trackers were taken to Trex Company, Inc., a company that mixes plastic with sawdust to create benches and decks, downcycling the plastic. The groups further note that Trex has strict guidelines about the plastic film it uses to produce its plastic lumber - it cannot be contaminated with food or labels - so there is considerable doubt that the Amazon packaging would have even been used to create this downcycled material. The groups urge Amazon to acknowledge that its plastic packaging is not widely recycled and likely never will be and to eliminate the use of all single-use plastics in their shipments. 

European Council approves ban on plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries

With unanimous support, the Council of the European Union fully endorsed the revised Waste Shipment Regulation negotiated in November of last year and approved by the EU Parliament last month. The regulation will update EU procedures and control measures for waste shipments and greatly limit the movement of plastic waste outside and within the EU. All plastic waste exports from the EU to non-OECD countries will be banned 2.5 years after the regulations enter into force (likely late 2026), which will now include even those plastics in the non-hazardous B3011 category under the Basel Convention. Five years after it enters into force, it will allow one narrow exception for non-OECD countries that can meet stringent waste management standards, though that is unlikely to be possible for most of these countries. For OECD countries, all exports of plastic waste will be subject to the prior-informed consent procedures, and non-recyclable contamination beyond 2% of the total load for those shipments is not permitted. Within the EU, the shipping of waste for disposal will only be allowed exceptionally. Meanwhile, exports of plastic waste from the EU increased by 26% from 2023 from 2022 to 1.32 billion kg, with over 57% of shipments going to non-OECD countries. The final text will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the EU’s Official Journal, which is expected to be in April.

Time to End ‘Waste Colonialism’ Through a Global Plastics Treaty – by Mageswari Sangaralingam

Contamination Levels

The Basel Convention's 2019 Plastic Waste Amendments utilize the term "almost free from contamination" as one criterion for whether the plastic waste shipment will be uncontrolled. This term has not been given an international quantitative value, leaving the Parties to define it on a national basis. Enclosed are the known levels adopted by certain countries to date. If readers know of other country interpretations, please let us know.

Report Launch and Panel Discussion: Ending Waste Colonialism, Governing Plastic Pollution: Japan’s Opportunity to Lead Asia out of the Plastic Crisis

• Host: C4 Center
• Date/Time: April 4, 2024: 14:00 to 15:45 (GMT+8)
• Find more information and register here.

Conversatorio Colonialismo / Let's Talk About U.S. Waste Colonialism in Mexico

• Hosts: Colectiva Malditos Plasticos, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, and Break Free From Plastic
• Date/Time: April 5, 2024: 10am – 12pm PT / 11am – 1pm CDMX
• Find more information and register here.

-- Obstructionist Tactics in Decision-Making: Key Elements for Consideration in the Context of a Treaty to End Plastic Pollution – Report by CIEL

-- Truth in recycling: Does Amazon’s plastic packaging actually get recycled? – Report by US PIRG, Environment America

-- State of the science on plastic chemicals: Identifying and addressing chemicals and polymers of concern – Report by Martin Wagner, Laura Monclús, Hans Peter H. Arp, Ksenia J. Groh, Mari Engvig Løseth, Jane Muncke, Zhanyun Wang, Raoul Wolf, Lisa Zimmermann

-- Solid waste management in the UN Plastics Treaty – Report by David C Wilson (Imperial College London), Dr Patrick O'Hare (University of St Andrews), Dr Costas Velis and Ed Cook (University of Leeds), Lucy Tanner and Rich Gower (Tearfund)

-- Hotspots of Floating Plastic Particles across the North Pacific Ocean – Report by Robby Rynek, Mine B. Tekman, Christoph Rummel, Melanie Bergmann, Stephan Wagner, Annika Jahnke, and Thorsten Reemtsma

-- Plastic pollution as waste colonialism in Aotearoa (New Zealand) – Report by Matt Peryman, Romilly Cumming, Tina Ngata, Trisia A. Farrelly, Sascha Fuller, Stephanie B. Borrelle

-- Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events – Report by Raffaele Marfella, M.D., Ph.D., Francesco Prattichizzo, Ph.D., Celestino Sardu, M.D., Ph.D., Gianluca Fulgenzi, Ph.D., Laura Graciotti, Ph.D., Tatiana Spadoni, Ph.D., Nunzia D’Onofrio, Ph.D., and Giuseppe Paolisso, M.D. et al.