Waste trade

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En una reciente investigación de organizaciones miembro de GAIA en México, Ecuador, Argentina y Chile, se alertó que en 2020, en plena pandemia, las exportaciones de residuos plásticos desde Estados Unidos hacia algunos países de América Latina aumentaron en más del 100%. 

Por eso, las organizaciones que conforman la Alianza Global por Alternativas a la Incineración (GAIA) en América Latina y el Caribe declaran su rechazo y estado de alerta ante esta amenaza, que convierte a nuestra región en un destino emergente de la basura plástica mundial luego de que China detuviera en 2018 ese tipo de importaciones para proteger su territorio de la contaminación.

A escala mundial, existe una creciente preocupación sobre el envío de residuos plásticos desde potencias como Estados Unidos, el mayor exportador de residuos plásticos, hacia naciones con débiles legislaciones y controles. Ante esta situación, vemos con preocupación que: 

  • Según la base de datos de libre comercio internacional de Estados Unidos, USA Trade Online, entre enero y agosto de 2020 llegaron 44.173 toneladas de desechos plásticos procedentes de Estados Unidos a 15 países latinoamericanos. Eso significó el envío de aproximadamente 35 contenedores diarios a la región con estos materiales. 
  • Pese a las normativas y a las iniciales acciones gubernamentales, en los países investigados aún se desconoce el estado en que ingresan, a través de puertos y fronteras, miles de toneladas de desechos plásticos cuyo principal origen es Estados Unidos, que además no es parte firmante del Convenio de Basilea.
  • Actualmente, el comercio de residuos plásticos se realiza a través de partidas, subpartidas y fracciones arancelarias amplias y ambiguas, que no permiten el seguimiento de estos materiales hasta su uso final. Por las experiencias de países asiáticos, existe amplia evidencia de que estos desechos llegan contaminados o son difíciles de reciclar, lo cual causa un impacto en los países receptores. 
  • GAIA no es la única organización que ha observado con preocupación el aumento de los flujos de desechos plásticos hacia la región. Un informe de Interpol de 2020, alertó que el sector del reciclaje está creciendo en América Latina, con inversores chinos que han mostrado su interés en nuestro continente para instalar sus fábricas debido al acceso a mano de obra barata y la cercanía con Estados Unidos.
  • México, El Salvador y Ecuador son los principales importadores de desechos plásticos en la región. Solo entre enero y agosto de 2020, llegaron 32.650 toneladas a México; 4.054 toneladas a El Salvador; y 3.665 toneladas a Ecuador, según los datos recopilados por The Last Beach Cleanup.

Alertamos que estamos ante un peligro inminente de contaminación de la naturaleza y vulneración de los derechos de las comunidades de vivir en un ambiente seguro para su salud y la de sus territorios. Asimismo, representantes de distintas organizaciones han manifestado su adhesión y preocupación indicando:

“El comercio transfronterizo de desechos plásticos es quizás una de las expresiones más nefastas de la mercantilización de los bienes comunes y de la ocupación colonial de los territorios del sur geopolítico para convertirlos en zonas de sacrificio. América Latina y el Caribe no somos el patio trasero de los Estados Unidos, somos territorios soberanos y exigimos el cumplimiento de los derechos de la Naturaleza y de nuestros pueblos” – Fernanda Soliz, directora área de salud, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Ecuador.

“Que Estados Unidos no haga nada para que las empresas dejen de exportar residuos plásticos a América Latina y el Caribe, así como a todo el Sur Global, es irresponsable e inmoral. En vez de aplicar en su país las medidas adecuadas de reducción, Estados Unidos está perpetrando un colonialismo de residuos al depositar esta contaminación tóxica en otros países. Solidarizamos con nuestros socios y aliados latinoamericanos que les están exigiendo a sus gobiernos que dejen de aceptar las importaciones de residuos, y exigimos al gobierno de EE.UU. que se responsabilice de encontrar soluciones reales y equitativas a la crisis de la contaminación por plástico.” – Melissa Aguayo, Coordinadora, Break Free From Plastic, Estados Unidos.

El problema de la contaminación por plástico no es sólo una cuestión de acumulación de residuos, es también un problema de justicia medioambiental y un factor que alimenta nuestra crisis climática. Este informe muestra que las desigualdades y los daños causados por la contaminación plástica no tienen fronteras y, en última instancia, perjudican a las comunidades de color. Nuestras comunidades latinxs en Estados Unidos y en los países latinoamericanos, viven esta contaminación todos los días, desde la extracción hasta la incineración. Este informe realmente pone de manifiesto que no existe tal cosa como “lejos” – y que tenemos que empezar a abordar el problema de la contaminación con soluciones concretas.” – Mariana Del Valle – GreenLatinos 

Las organizaciones firmantes exigimos con urgencia que :

  • Los países de América Latina y el Caribe adapten sus legislaciones para aplicar el Convenio de Basilea (del que todos son suscriptores, menos Haití) y su Enmienda de Plásticos.
  • Las autoridades transparenten la información respecto a las importaciones de residuos plásticos y reforzar sus controles.
  • Deben existir registros aduaneros que permitan saber con exactitud el tipo y el estado de los desechos plásticos que ingresan a los puertos latinoamericanos.
  • La protección de nuestro territorio y sus comunidades sean prioritarios ante acuerdos bilaterales o multilaterales como tratados de libre comercio que podrían abrir puertas al ingreso de desechos plásticos.

Estamos ante una crisis de los residuos que muestra que para alcanzar el éxito en los esfuerzos hacia una gestión de residuos realmente sustentable, se deben priorizar políticas de reducción, y en segundo término asegurar la reutilización y reciclabilidad de los envases, asegurando que su reciclaje se realice en sitios cercanos a donde se generan. Rechazamos tajantemente que las altas cifras de reciclaje que muestran los países ricos sean a costa de convertir nuestro continente en un basurero.

Adhieren:

Acción Ecológica, Ecuador
Acción Ecológica y Academia Mexicana de Derecho Ambiental
Agrupación Aitué de Huillinco, Chile
Alianza Basura Cero Chile
Arnika, República Checa.
Asociación Ecológica Santo Tomás, México.
Ban SUP (Single Use Plastic), Estados Unidos.
C-CUBED, Nigeria
CAAN Glens Falls, Estados Unidos.
Cafeteria Culture, Estados Unidos.
Climate Reality Project Philippines, Filipinas
Colectivo VientoSur, Chile.
Community Research, Estados Unidos.
CREPD, Camerún.
CT Coalition for EJ, Estados Unidos.
Digital Data Standards LLC, Estados Unidos.
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Estados Unidos.
Ecoton, Estados Unidos.
Ecoviable, Colombia.
Evestico Ltd, Reino Unido.
FoCo Trash Mob, Estados Unidos.
Fronteras Comunes, México.
Fundación Basura, Chile,
Fundación El Árbol, Chile.
Fundación Lenga, Chile.
Galena Green Team, Estados Unidos.
Gili Eco Trust, Indonesia.
Greenpeace Finlandia.
Health and Environment Justice Support (HEJSupport), internacional.
Humusz Waste Prevention Allience, Hungría.
ICA Agro SpA, Chile.
INTA, Argentina.
JA!Justica Ambiental, Mozambique.
Just Goods, Estados Unidos.
KY Environmental Foundation, Estados Unidos.
Local Futures, Estados Unidos.
Love Plant Nourish by Ike & Eli’s Organic Farm, LLC , Estados Unidos.
Mingas por el mar, Ecuador.
Missouri River Bird Observatory, Estados Unidos.
MN BIPOC Environmental Justice Table, Estados Unidos.
Nipe Fagio, Tanzania.
PCC Environmental Club, Trinidad y Tobago.
Plastic Free Society, Francia.
Plastic Oceans International
Plastic Pollution Coalition, Estados Unidos.
Plataforma Antiincineración de Montcada, España.
Public Environmental Centre for Sustainable Development, Bulgaria.
Purge Plastic, Reino Unido.
Red de Acción por los Derechos Ambientales RADA, Chile.
SAISOCA, Venezuela.
Sea Hugger, Estados Unidos.
Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, Tailandia.
StopPlastics, Canadá.
Sustainable Environment Development Initiative, Nigeria.
Sustainable Mill Valley, Estados Unidos.
Taller de Comunicación Ambiental (Rosario), Argentina.
Taller Ecologista, Argentina.
TECHshare – Technik, Bildung, Solidarität, Suiza.
The Last Beach Cleanup, Estados Unidos.
The Last Plastic Straw, Estados Unidos.
The Ocean Project, Estados Unidos.
UANL, México.
UDD, Chile.
Universidad Santo Tomás, Colombia.
UUFHCT, Estados Unidos.
VMCH, Australia.
WasteLess, India.
Whole Vashon Project, Estados Unidos.
Wonderfil, Estados Unidos.
Zero Waste Association of South Africa, Sudáfrica.
Zero Waste Lab Portugal.

Foto: Andy Li en Unsplash

 

En 2020, en plena pandemia, las exportaciones de residuos plásticos desde Estados Unidos hacia algunos países de América Latina aumentaron en más del 100%. A escala mundial, existe una creciente preocupación sobre el envío de residuos plásticos desde potencias, como Estados Unidos, hacia naciones pobres con débiles legislaciones y controles. 

 

Estados Unidos exportó 44.173 toneladas de desechos plásticos a 15 países latinoamericanos, entre enero y agosto de 2020, lo que significó el envío de por lo menos 35 contenedores diarios a la región con estos residuos. Esto ocurre en medio de un creciente rechazo mundial al comercio transfronterizo de desechos plásticos por su impacto en los países receptores, generalmente en vías de desarrollo. 

Esta es una de las revelaciones de una investigación realizada por organizaciones sociales y medioambientales de México, Ecuador, Argentina y Chile*, con el apoyo de la Alianza Global para Alternativas a la Incineración (GAIA, por sus siglas en inglés), que promueve estrategias de basura cero. 

Según GAIA, América Latina y el Caribe se están convirtiendo a pasos acelerados en un nuevo destino de la basura plástica mundial, en especial de la procedente de Estados Unidos, el mayor exportador de estos desechos. La región se ha sumado a países del sudeste asiático como receptores de estos desperdicios. 

Este movimiento es parte de una nueva tendencia que se originó en 2018 después de que China restringiera esas importaciones. En ese año, la potencia asiática cerró las puertas a los desechos plásticos de Estados Unidos, que llegaban sucios o eran difíciles de reciclar, lo cual generaba mayor contaminación en su territorio. 

Ahora ese flujo ha desembarcado en puertos y fronteras de la región y la tendencia es hacia el alza. De acuerdo a la información recopilada, México, El Salvador y Ecuador son los principales destinos en América Latina de estos desechos plásticos. Solo entre enero y agosto de 2020, llegaron 32.650 toneladas a México; 4.054 toneladas a El Salvador; y 3.665 toneladas a Ecuador. El estudio se concentró en los casos de México y Ecuador. 

Foto: Pat Whelen en Unsplash

Ambos países registraron fuertes incrementos en las importaciones de desechos plásticos desde Estados Unidos, pese a la pandemia. En México, en 2019, los envíos no superaron las 4.000 toneladas mensuales. Pero en julio de 2020, se registró un súbito aumento a más de 6.700 toneladas. Entre enero y agosto de 2020 el crecimiento de estas importaciones fue del 135%. 

Ecuador tuvo un repunte similar en el mismo periodo del 137%. En enero de 2020 importó desde Estados Unidos 446,3 toneladas y en agosto la cifra fue de 1.059,7 toneladas. Anualmente, las compras de estos desechos por empresarios ecuatorianos equivalen a la producción total de residuos plásticos de 40 cantones del país sudamericano. Este es un grave contrasentido para una nación que entierra el 96 % de su basura.

Por estados, California fue el principal exportador de desechos plásticos a estos dos países de la región. Estos desechos ingresaron a México, principalmente por vía terrestre en camiones. A Ecuador, a través de sus puertos. California lidera las exportaciones de residuos plásticos a países con mala gestión de residuos. México, El Salvador y Ecuador están entre los 13 países del mundo que más desechos plásticos reciben desde California, según cifras de la base de datos de libre comercio internacional de Estados Unidos, USA Trade Online, levantadas por la organización norteamericana The Last Beach Cleanup. 

Chile y Argentina están en el lado opuesto. Estos países tienen importaciones mínimas de residuos plásticos en comparación con México y Ecuador. A Chile llegaron 102 toneladas entre enero y agosto de 2020. A Argentina, 301 toneladas en el mismo lapso. Este último país tiene normas restrictivas para el ingreso de residuos peligrosos y de desechos recolectados en la calle o procedentes de la industria desde el exterior. Pero en 2019, el presidente Mauricio Macri flexibilizó el ingreso de esos desechos al derogar el Decreto 181 de 1992, una medida que fue revertida por su sucesor, Alberto Fernández.

En México, los investigadores reportaron la existencia de legislaciones con vacíos, inconsistencias y duplicidades en una serie de normas que abordan este tipo de. En Ecuador, hay normativas  que establecen regulaciones a todo movimiento transfronterizo de residuos o desechos, sean peligrosos, especiales o no peligrosos. Estos deben contar con la autorización del Ministerio del Ambiente, pero esa entidad solo ha recibido tres solicitudes, lo cual contrasta con el creciente número de importaciones hacia ese país.

GAIA no es la única organización que ha observado con preocupación el aumento de los flujos de desechos plásticos hacia la región. En agosto de 2020, la Interpol publicó un informe que menciona el crecimiento del sector reciclaje en América Latina, lo que podría abrir nuevos mercados para los residuos plásticos, sobre todo de Estados Unidos. Explicó que existen crecientes inversiones en la región para implantar nuevas instalaciones de reciclaje en México, Argentina y otros países de América Central, del Sur y en el Caribe. 

Residuos plásticos ilegales importado desde Estados Unidos a Batam, Indonesia en 2019 que fueron enviado de regreso. Con cientos de containers que llegan al país todos los días, es imposible para las autoridades locales inspeccionar el contenido de cada contenedor. Sei Ratifa AFP.

 

América Latina, obligada a controlar el comercio de desechos plásticos 

 

En los países de estudio, la investigación evidenció la falta de información y de controles por parte de las autoridades a los desechos plásticos que ingresan a sus territorios. Aquello supone un mayor reto para la aplicación del Convenio de Basilea y de su Enmienda de plásticos, de la que son suscriptores casi todos los países latinoamericanos, con excepción de Haití. 

El Convenio de Basilea es un acuerdo internacional sobre el control de los movimientos transfronterizos de los desechos peligrosos y otros desechos. En mayo de 2019, los países parte adoptaron la Enmienda de plásticos ante la creciente contaminación mundial por basura plástica y microplásticos. 

La Enmienda de plásticos agregó al acuerdo el control de los residuos plásticos mezclados, no reciclables, sucios y halogenados (que generan emisiones tóxicas cuando se someten a ciertas temperaturas o son quemados), así como todos los residuos plásticos no destinados a un reciclaje ambientalmente racional. Su propósito es mejorar el control de los movimientos transfronterizos de los desechos plásticos y evitar que los países industrializados inunden a los países pobres con su basura. No es una prohibición a la importación, pero sí requiere a los exportadores el consentimiento de los países receptores. La Enmienda entró en vigencia en enero de 2021. 

En la región, los gobiernos están adaptando sus legislaciones para acoger los postulados del acuerdo, pero la investigación demuestra graves deficiencias respecto a la transparencia de las cifras sobre este tipo de importaciones y la existencia de registros aduaneros imprecisos y ambiguos que no permiten saber qué tipo de desechos plásticos y en qué estado llegan a los puertos latinoamericanos. 

A ello se suman otros desafíos como los acuerdo bilaterales o multilaterales como tratados de libre comercio como el existente Estados Unidos, México y Canadá (T-MEC), que abren las puertas al ingreso de esos desechos y entran en conflicto con los postulados del Convenio de Basilea. 

Para Magdalena Donoso, coordinadora en América Latina de GAIA, la región vive un nuevo colonialismo. “Los recursos naturales de la región latinoamericana han sido desde los tiempos de la colonia explotados y extraídos de manera sistemática y brutal. Hoy estos materiales se exportan en grandes cantidades, mientras muchos de ellos son devueltos a nosotros en la forma de residuos y productos baratos hechos de materiales reciclados tóxicos. Este es a todas luces un nuevo colonialismo de los países del norte, los que hoy exportan su problema de generación excesiva de residuos hacia los territorios latinoamericanos”, afirma. 

GAIA y sus organizaciones aliadas en los países de estudio exigen a los gobiernos el cumplimiento del Convenio de Basilea y mayor transparencia sobre el tipo de desechos plásticos que están llegando a la región, para evitar que nuestros países se conviertan en nuevos vertederos de la basura mundial. 

 

*Organizaciones participantes por cada país:
Argentina: Taller Ecologista.
Chile: Alianza Basura Cero Chile
Ecuador: Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Alianza Basura Cero Ecuador, VLIR–UOS.

México: Acción Ecológica, AMDA, Asociación Ecológica Santo Tomás, Fronteras Comunes, Greenpeace, LIDECS.

19 May 2021 – The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific together with #breakfreefromplastic is holding a media briefing today on the ongoing plastic waste trade. With speakers from both receiving and exporting countries, the event is a deep dive into the environmental and social issues brought about by the trade. 

For almost 3 decades, the trade in plastic waste has persisted and eventually worsened as China shut down its doors from receiving wastes in 2018. In effect, surrounding countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam became the new favourites of plastic waste exporters. However, most receiving countries lack proper waste strategies and facilities thus leading to the open dumping or burning of waste materials which adversely affects the health of communities and the environment.

Although efforts have been put into place to stop the illegal trade in plastic waste, countries in the Asia Pacific continue to fight an uphill battle against a torrent of unlicensed and unrecyclable wastes. In May 2019, the Philippine government – pressured by calls from civil society organisations – sent tonnes of mislabelled garbage back to Canada. Similarly, in 2020, Tunisia received containers of mixed municipal waste deceptively labelled by the Italian company Sviluppo Risorse Ambientali as recyclables. In April 2021, Malaysian authorities announced that over 300 shipping containers of illegal waste were sent back to its countries of origin. 

Citing the Basel Convention, Mageswari Sangaralingam of the Consumers of Association of Penang states, “Regulations are vital and acquiring informed consent from receiving countries is a favourable first step to restraining the onslaught of plastic wastes.  We need to plug the loopholes, besides ensuring robust monitoring and enforcement measures to tackle illegal waste trade.”

Hemantha Withanage of the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) stated that the plastic waste trade is a form of injustice and stressed that the Asia Pacific is not the world’s dumping ground. “Laws are needed to address injustices and CEJ together with the rest of the Asia Pacific will utilise those laws to keep the region safe from the harmful effects of toxic waste.”

Ray Yeung of The Green Earth agrees and shares that Hong Kong has been a major free port of the plastic waste trade between wealthy economies and developing countries. However, Hong Kong has recently revised its policies and strengthened the enforcement of regulations ensuring that traders have obtained necessary permits before the arrangement of waste shipment. Since the revision, the amount of re-exporting plastic scrap dropped over 70% in February and March this year. Yeung urges the Environmental Protection Department to beef up their gatekeeping role. “Hopefully, Hong Kong will no longer be a part of this illegal practice. We will closely communicate with our partners from the Asia Pacific and we will stay vigilant and keep a close eye on inbound containers.”

Environmentalist and Indigenous rights campaigner, Tina Ngata shared, “Compared to other developed countries, New Zealand is behind in managing its wastes. While laws and stricter regulations can help curb the influx of plastic waste, the long-term solution is to completely break away from single-use plastics. What we do and what we consume affects the whole.”

With journalists from international and regional media in attendance, the media briefing offers insights into government regulations and how communities are standing firm, stressing that the Asia Pacific is not a massive landfill for plastic waste.

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Media Contacts:

Sonia Astudillo, Communications Officer, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific  I sonia@no-burn.org I +63 917 5969286 

Jed Alegado, Senior Communications Officer, Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) Asia Pacific I jed@breakfreefromplastic.org I +63 917 6070248

About GAIA  |  Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives is a worldwide alliance of more than 800 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 90 countries whose ultimate vision is a just, toxic-free world without incineration. www.no-burn.org and www.zerowasteworld.org 

About Break Free From Plastic | www.breakfreefromplastic.org/ | @brkfreefromplastic

The #breakfreefromplastic Movement is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 11,000 organizations and individual supporters from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. Break Free From Plastic runs the #WeChooseReuse campaign, calling for a global shift towards refillable and reusable products.

Related resources:

In 2020, Hong Kong re-export 100,000 tonnes of plastic waste which equivalent to five thousand containers to Southeast Asia countries, including Vietnam, Thailand and the Malaysia.

Since the Basel Convention was ratified last year and implemented on January 1, 2021. HK EPD has then formulated the “Guidelines and References for Waste Plastics Import and Export Control”, which requires proper declaration for import or re-export of regulated waste plastics.

In 2021, the amount of importing and re-exporting plastic scraps dropped 30% (9600 tonnes) and 70% (1284 tonnes) respectively in March this year.

Re-export of plastic waste in Hong Kong 
Year  Quantity (Tonnes) 
2021 (January – March)  7532 
2020  273,053 
2019  279,764 
2018  1,688,679 
Hong Kong re-export of plastic waste to Southeast Asia Countries （2019） 
Region  Total Import (Tonens)  Import from Hong Kong (Tonnes)  Percentage  Ranking of Hong Kong 
Vietnam  279,717  48,356  25%  2 
Thailand  138,427  34,764  17%  2 
Philippines  16,330  2,244  13%  3 
Source: UN Comtrade 

Environmental groups: further delay is unacceptable

Photo credits: Réseau Tunisie Verte

Tunis, Rome and Brussels, 3 May 2021 – Forty-four Tunisian, Italian, European and international environmental groups have demanded today that Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius cease delay and order the immediate return of Italian municipal waste illegally shipped to Tunisia last year. According to the groups, EU and international environmental law make it plain that Italy should have taken its waste back at least three months ago.

In 2020, Italian company Sviluppo Risorse Ambientali illegally exported 282 containers of mixed municipal waste to Tunisia under deceptive claims that the waste was processed and would be recycled. In fact, it was mixed municipal waste, with little chance for recycling. 

The exports quickly became the subject of a national scandal in Tunisia when it was revealed that certain officials had approved the shipments. The shipments cost the former Minister of the Environment his position and resulted in his prosecution and detention. Despite the furore, however, Italian national authorities have still failed to repatriate the wastes, three months after the 8 January deadline as is required under the Basel Convention.  

Under the Basel Convention, the Bamako Convention and the Izmir Protocol of the Barcelona Convention, the export from Italy to Tunisia was illegal trafficking and a criminal act.  Further Italy is required to repatriate the waste within 30 days of the discovery of illegal traffic. 

On 3 March the organizations Réseau Tunisie Verte, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Basel Action Network and Zero Waste Europe published a short report examining the legality of these shipments and called for their repatriation. Following a complete lack of action on the port of Rome, on April 1, Tunisian groups protested outside the Italian embassy demanding that Italy takes its waste back. On 29 March, Italian MEPs Piernicola Pedicini and Rosa D’Amato (Verts/ALE) also raised European parliamentary questions asking the European Commission how they will ensure that the Italian government fulfills its Basel Convention obligations and guarantee this does not happen again. 

While a court in Rome is currently considering the fate of the financial guarantee that the Italian exporter had provided for the shipments, with the court adjourning until 15 June, there is no evidence that the Italian national government has acted to remove the wastes as required. 

“Court squabbles between the Italian exporter, the insurance company and government authorities are entirely irrelevant to the obligation to repatriate,” said Sirine Rached of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. “The Italian national authorities must assume the immediate costs now, and remain at liberty to recover costs from the guilty parties later.”

“The postponed repatriation increases the risk of harm that Tunisians bear from these illegal shipments, as the toxic mix of Italian garbage continues to putrefy in the port of Sousse,” said Hamdi Châabane of Réseau Tunisie Verte (Green Tunisia Network). 

“We don’t understand why the Italian government sits on their hands in this case. And we cannot understand how the European Commission allows Italy to sit on their hands. The law is clear, the shipments were unlawful and Italy must bear initial responsibility,”  said Semia Gharbi of Réseau Tunisie Verte. 

Press contacts:

Berta Corredor, Zero Waste Europe

berta@zerowasteeurope.eu  | +32 478093622

Carissa Marnce, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives

carissa@no-burn.org | +27 76 934 6156 

Jim Puckett, Director, Basel Action Network

jpuckett@ban.org | +1 (206) 354-0391

Semia Gharbi, Réseau Tunisie Verte

semia.tgharbi@gmail.com | +216 98 997 350

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Demand for the EU and Italy to Ensure Wastes are Returned Immediately

Réseau Tunisie Verte – Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) – Basel Action Network (BAN) – Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) – European Environmental Bureau (EEB) – Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) – Greenpeace MENA – Rethink Plastic alliance (RPa) 

Brussels, March 3, 2021.  International, European, Italian and Tunisian environmental groups have joined in demanding the immediate return of 282 containers full of mixed municipal waste that were illegally exported from Italy’s Campania region to the Port of Sousse in Tunisia between May and July 2020. According to the environmental organizations, the exports violated European Union law, Tunisian law as well as international waste trade treaties — the Basel Convention, the Bamako Convention and the Izmir Protocol of the Barcelona Convention. A short report shows how weaknesses in EU regulations may have contributed to this waste being exported for disposal under the cover of recycling. Under the terms of international and EU laws, Italy should have returned the shipments many months ago.

Bales of Italian waste exported to Tunisia by Sviluppo Risorse Ambientali photographed during a visit by Tunisian legislators and journalists to the port of Sousse in December 2020 (Credits: Hamdi Chebaane).

Indeed, the Italian Administrative Region of Campania has already demanded that the exporting company Sviluppo Risorse Ambientali (SRA) return the waste at their own cost. SRA reportedly appealed this request to an administrative court in Naples and the court ruled it has no jurisdiction to counter the regional demand. Regardless, the responsibility to enforce the international rules lies ultimately with the Italian national government. 

“We fail to understand why Italy has not moved decisively to resolve this case and have these unwanted wastes returned,” said Ms. Semia Gharbi of Réseau Tunisie Verte, in Tunis. “We cannot wait indefinitely. We, therefore, call upon the European Commission to get involved and take the necessary actions to ensure that Italy fulfills its clear legal obligations. Tunisia is not Europe’s dumping ground!”

Tunisia is a Party to the Bamako Convention and the Izmir Protocol of the Barcelona Convention. Both of these agreements make it illegal for Tunisia to import wastes collected from households. At the same time, Italy’s obligations under the Basel Convention and the European Waste Shipment Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006) require them to not approve of any exports to countries that have banned the import of such wastes. Therefore, the shipments are considered as illegal traffic under the Basel Convention and the EU Waste Shipment Regulation that implements that treaty in the European Union. 

Illegal traffic under these rules is a criminal act. Shipments that are illegal due to the fault of the exporter, as is the case in this instance, must be taken back by the exporting state within 30 days from the time the exporting state was made aware of the illegal shipment, or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally sound manner under the direction of the exporting country.

“Italy was made aware of the illegal shipment by the Tunisian government on 9 December 2020,” said Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network (BAN). “They are therefore nearly two months overdue in acting as required by law.  This is unacceptable.  We call upon the European Commission to take the necessary action to ensure compliance.”

“Italy ought to take responsibility for preventing and managing its own municipal waste, rather than exporting its problems to Tunisia”, said Sirine Rached of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA). “Every additional day of delayed repatriation adds to this injustice”.

“This type of trade is immoral and environmentally destructive; it is not acceptable to import waste from Italy to Tunisia for landfilling. Landfilling of waste can generate toxic leaching and contribute to the degradation of human health and the environment,” added Mohammed Tazrout, campaigner for Greenpeace Middle-East and North Africa. 

“This is another striking example of a weakness in European legislation and enforcement causing ethical and environmental harm to others,” said Pierre Condamine, waste policy officer at Zero Waste Europe. “The first clear and immediate step is for Italy to repatriate the shipment. The following step should be to fix and properly enforce EU legislation to avoid doing any more harm.” 


NOTE: To read the short report, please visit this link.

END

Press contacts:

Jim Puckett, Executive Director

Basel Action Network

email: jpuckett@ban.org

phone: +1 (206) 652-5555

Semia Gharbi
Réseau Tunisie Verte
email: semia.tgharbi@gmail.com
phone: +216 98 997 350

Ana Oliveira
Zero Waste Europe
email: ana@zerowasteeurope.eu
phone: +32 (0) 485 986 111

28 October 2019 – Jakarta, Indonesia.  In what environmental watchdogs are calling a global pollution shell game, Indonesian officials have been caught approving re-exports of illegal U.S. waste shipments to other Asian countries instead of returning them to the U.S. as promised.  Instead of being returned to their senders, the waste containers have been diverted to India, Thailand, South Korea, and Vietnam.

“After promising that the illegal plastic waste imports would be returned to their countries of origin, our officials have instead, engaged in a global waste shell game, victimizing more countries with the unwanted, illegal and contaminated shipments,” said Yuyun Ismawati of the Indonesian NGO, Nexus3.  “Meanwhile the U.S. government and the original perpetrators of the illegal shipments are let off the hook.  The public has been lied to, the environment is further harmed, and the criminals go free.  It’s outrageous.”

The original U.S. waste shipments were imported by the Indonesian paper recycling companies PT Mega Surya Eratama and PT Surabaya Mekabox located in East Java.  Upon arrival they were deemed illegal by Indonesian authorities when they were found to contain large amounts of plastic and hazardous wastes mixed into what was supposed to be paper scrap.

In the Indonesian government press release issued on September 18, 2019, the government noted the hundreds of consignments of illegal waste imports and stated that the containers “will be reexported to their country of origin.”

The source and identification numbers of 70 of the seized containers were obtained by Nexus3 from a trusted source.  58 of these containers came from the U.S. with 25 of the containers shipped by the Cosco Shipping Line, 13 by the Maersk Shipping Line, and 20 more by the Hyundai Line.

The waste trade watchdog group Basel Action Network (BAN) then tracked the return pathways of the illicit containers.  BAN discovered that of the 58 containers that were meant to be returned to the U.S., 38 containers were diverted to India, three to South Korea, and one container each went to Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Canada.  Only 12 of the 58 were actually returned to the U.S. as promised by the government.

“It is an international norm that illegal waste exports are the responsibility of the state of export, in this case the United States, and the exporting state has the duty to reimport the wastes,” said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of Basel Action Network (BAN).  “In this way the exporters can be prosecuted for any illegality and the problem can actually be solved rather than simply passed on to other unsuspecting victim countries and communities.”

“In India, we thought we had banned the import of plastic wastes.  Now we see more coming in through a back door,” said Dharmesh Shah of GAIA in India.  “These shipments from Indonesia must be the subject of an international inquiry.”

It remains unknown whether the U.S. government was informed of the illegality of the exports to Indonesia, or whether the governments where the wastes actually ended up were notified and able to consent to their import.  It is further unknown whether the receiving facilities were even capable of environmentally sound management of the wastes.  If the experience in Indonesia is representative, much of the plastic waste which comes with the paper waste ends up being burned in waysides, creating highly toxic smoke and fumes.

“Unwanted plastic scrap imported by paper companies in East Java have routinely contributed to the environmental pollution in poor communities,” said Prigi Arisandi from Ecoton, Indonesia. “The same things will likely be repeated in other developing countries where the containers end up.” END

For more information, contact:

Jim Puckett, jpuckett@ban.org, +1 (206) 652-5555

Yuyun Ismawati, yuyun@balifokus.asia, +44 75 8376 8707

About Nexus3 Foundation Nexus for Health, Environment and Development Foundation (formerly known as BaliFokus Foundation) is working to safeguard the public, especially the vulnerable population, from health and the environmental impact of development, towards a just, toxic-free, and sustainable future.  www.balifokus.asia | www.nexus3foundation.org

About Basel Action Network (BAN) Founded in 1997, Basel Action Network is a 501(c)3 charitable organization of the United States, based in Seattle, WA. BAN is the world’s only organization focused on confronting the global environmental justice and economic inefficiency of toxic trade and its devastating impacts. Today, BAN serves as the information clearinghouse on the subject of waste trade for journalists, academics, and the general public. Through its investigations, BAN uncovered the tragedy of hazardous electronic waste dumping in developing countries. For more information, see www.BAN.org.

About the Global Alliance for Incineration Alternatives (GAIA) The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) is a global network of more than 800 grassroots groups, NGOs and individuals. We envision a just, zero waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped. We work to catalyze a global shift towards ecological and environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution. www.no-burn.org

About ECOTON ECOTON works towards the realisation of biodiversity sustainability and environmental functions for humans, through equitable and participatory river ecosystem and wetland management. www.ecoton.org

Indonesian Government Official Press Release

Report with Data and Photos on US Shipments to Indonesia and their Returns

MANILA, Philippines (August 15, 2019)—Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently announced that they will stop export of recyclable waste amid rising global plastic pollution concern and pushback from Asian countries who are at the receiving end of the waste trade.

Green groups in and around the region are wary of the pronouncement that can be used as an opening to push for waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration which the Australian government has been silently supporting.  They are also pushing the government to take back waste that were already shipped to Asian countries.

Jane Bremmer, Coordinator, Zero Waste Australia (National Toxics Network): “The Prime Minister’s announcement and Council of Australian Governments’ (COAG) support for a ban on waste exports should be cautiously welcomed and is long overdue following the embarrassing revelations of Australian illegal waste dumping in Southeast Asia. However, it seems certain that the announcement is designed to distract from a major government push to burn Australia’s waste in polluting incinerators: an industry it quietly supports. Waste-to-energy incineration has no place in a sustainable zero waste management and circular economy agenda. Burning finite resources in our residual waste stream—predominantly single-use, non-recyclable, fossil fuel-based plastic waste—is not only highly polluting but entrenches a linear economy, the very cause of global climate, pollution and health disasters and is the antithesis of a sustainable circular economy.”  Contact: Jane Bremmer, +(618) 0432 041 397; acejane@bigpond.com 

Enzo Favoino, Scientific Coordinator, Zero Waste Europe: “While we welcome Australia’s move to ban waste export, we are strongly against any plans by the federal government to use this to justify waste-to-energy incineration in the hope that it will power Australian homes. Burning plastics is one of the largest contributors to climate change, and energetic efficiencies of incinerators are appallingly low, let alone where heat finds little or no use. In Europe, a climate correction factor had to be adopted to artificially change calculation of energy efficiency and falsely show higher energy efficiency where heat is to no use, as it would be the case in most situations in Australia. However, Europe has disincentivized support to new incineration projects in the last few years, since reliance on incineration may be counterproductive for the ambitious recycling and reuse targets as defined in the Circular Economy Package. Most recently, a study in Nordic countries is showing that these countries are not on track to meet EU’s recycling target because of heavy reliance on incineration.  Australia should learn from the mistakes of Europe and not invest in incineration. Reusing and recycling saves remarkably more energy than what may be retrieved through incineration, and given the remarkably low energetic efficiency of incinerators, waste of energy is a more appropriate term to use than waste to energy.”  Contact: Enzo Favoino, +39 335 355446; enzo.favoino@zerowasteeurope.eu 

Beau Baconguis, Plastics Campaigner of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) Asia Pacific and Break Free From Plastic Asia Pacific coordinator: “There is a clear link between waste dumping by the Global North and the promotion of false solutions such as incineration to the waste problem in developing countries. Asia is now standing up against this injustice. Moreover, communities in our region, as well as in the global north, have demonstrated that the solution to the plastic waste problem is Zero Waste and that involves plastic waste reduction, alternative delivery systems, and ecological waste management programs. Governments need to listen more to its people rather than the profit-driven corporations peddling non-solutions.”  Contact: Beau Baconguis, +63 917 8715257, beau@no-burn.org 

Yuyun Ismawati, Alliance for Zero Waste Indonesia (AZWI) and co-founder & Senior Advisor of BaliFokus/Nexus3 Foundation: “We call for the Consulate General of Australia in Surabaya to apologize for saying that the Indonesian government approved Australia’s sending of nasty scrap. Our government never approved such importation. We also ask the Australian ports to improve and strengthen their monitoring and the work of the surveyors who confirm the impurities and content of “recyclables” inside containers that are sent out of Australia. Finally, we call on the exporting and importing companies to clean the messy dumpsites they have created in Indonesia and the rest of Asia. We also call for the Australian government to collaborate with the Indonesian government to use safe technology to treat historical plastic waste in dumpsites and avoid incineration.”  Contact: Yuyun Ismawati, +447583768707, yuyun@balifokus.asia

Mageswari Sangaralingam, Consumers Association of Penang (Malaysia): “The Malaysian government announced in May that it will send back Australian plastic waste because it was too contaminated to recycle or had been falsely labelled and smuggled in. Now that the Australian PM made pronouncement to stop waste export, the Australian government must take back waste that has already been shipped to Malaysia. We want the Australian government to clearly state their plans and timelines in cleaning up their mess (waste take back) and in stopping waste export. Further, in the future we want assurances that wastes are not relabelled and exported as commodities or fuel.”  Contact: Mageswari Sangaralingam, +60128782706, magesling@gmail.com

PRESS CONTACTS

Jed Alegado, Communications Officer, Break Free From Plastic, jed@breakfreefromplastic.org | +63 917-6070248

Sherma Benosa, Communications Officer, GAIA Asia Pacific, sherma@no-burn.org | +63 917-8157570

Sonia Astudillo, Communications Officer, GAIA Asia Pacific, sonia@no-burn.org | +63 917-5969286

Alliance for Zero Waste Indonesia (AZWI) is an alliance of organizations and concerned individuals, campaigning to promote a correct term of the Zero Waste approach to enforce the existing activities, programs and initiatives that have already implemented in many Indonesian cities considering waste management hierarchy concept, material life cycle, and circular economy. https://www.aliansizerowaste.id/

Nexus3 Foundation (formerly known as BaliFokus) is a non-governmental organization working to improve community’s capacity, quality of life and advocating a toxics-free environment together with all stakeholders in sustainable way. https://www.balifokus.asia/

Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) focuses on sustainable and ethical consumption and challenges current aggressive advertising industry that is unfettered and shapes people’s consumption to lifestyles and behavior that is unsustainable, unethical, and inequitable. https://consumer.org.my/

Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) is a worldwide alliance of more than 800 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 90 countries whose ultimate vision is a just, toxic-free world without incineration. www.no-burn.org

National Toxics Network is a community-based network working to ensure a toxic-free future for all. It is a national network giving a voice to community and environmental organizations across Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. https://ntn.org.au/

Zero Waste Europe is a fast-growing movement of communities, local leaders, businesses, experts, influencers, and other “change agents” working towards the vision of eliminating waste in our society.  https://zerowasteeurope.eu/

En el marco de las últimas noticias con respecto a la importación de plásticos en Ecuador por la investigación de The Guardian, la Red Basura Cero Ecuador manifiesta:

1) Ecuador enfrenta desde hace varias décadas, una profunda crisis en la Gestión Integral de Residuos Sólidos (GIRS) por lo que desde el año 2011, el movimiento ecologista ha venido exigiendo al gobierno central una declaratoria de emergencia sanitaria en este tema.

2) Mensualmente, en Ecuador, se generan 375.000 toneladas de Residuos Sólidos Urbanos (RSU), delas cuales, el 57% es orgánico y el porcentaje restante inorgánico. De la fracción inorgánica, el 25%corresponde a residuos plásticos. Del total de los residuos generados se entierran el 92% y únicamente se recupera entre un 6 y 8%. El 85% de los residuos recuperados son recolectados por recicladores de base que recogen no solamente plástico sino también cartón, papel, vidrio y chatarra a pie de vereda, en estaciones de transferencia y especialmente en vertederos a cielo abierto.

3) Dado a que no existen políticas de separación en fuente en la mayoría de ciudades del país,únicamente contamos con estimaciones de cuánto del material reciclable termina siendo enterrado.A esto se suma que tan solo el 26% de los residuos enterrados en el país, se disponen en rellenos sanitarios, el porcentaje restante se dispone en celdas emergentes, botaderos controlados o vertederos a cielo abierto. Estos sistemas además se ubican en comunidades rurales y empobrecidas.

4) Ecuador es signatario de tratados internacionales que prohíben y regulan movimientos transfronterizos de residuos, especialmente de la Convención de Basilea para desechos peligrosos y su eliminación. Sin embargo, la legislación vigente en materia ambiental, deja abierta la posibilidad de ingreso de residuos plásticos por considerarlos residuos no peligrosos.

5) La importación de residuos plásticos que ha alarmado al país no se está dando desde el Estado sino desde empresas privadas, especialmente de colchones y de fibras de plástico para la industria textil, así como también desde la industria cementera que incinera residuos para la utilización de su potencial calorífico.

6) Estas empresas se amparan en graves errores vigentes incluso en la última normativa legal aprobada (RCOA), que permite el co-procesamiento de residuos (que no es sino la forma elegante para referirse a la incineración de residuos con fines de recuperación energética) y las tecnologías de bajo-ciclaje o downcycling (que son ineficientes energéticamente y que tienen graves impactos ambientales, de salud y sociales, atentando contra el trabajo de los y las recicladores).

7) El problema central radica en la incapacidad del Estado (a través del órgano rector en materia ambiental, el Ministerio del Ambiente, MAE) de fiscalizar y regular a empresas que están importando residuos para atribuirse prácticas “ecoamigables” cuando de por sí, la importación de residuos plásticos, genera gases de efecto invernadero y redime a los generadores iniciales de esos residuos  de sus responsabilidades, constituyéndose en una expresión clarísima de racismo ambiental.

8) Frente al comunicado del MAE que ratifica su compromiso por una nueva política de GIRS orientada a proceso de economía circular, desde la Red Basura Cero Ecuador exhortamos a la máxima autoridad ambiental, a prohibir definitivamente el co-procesamiento (incineración de residuos) así como otras tecnologías de bajo-ciclaje que solamente aumentan la generación y la mercantilización de la basura, atentando además contra el trabajo de recicladores y recicladoras.

9) La importación de residuos no peligrosos por parte de entes privados no es un caso aislado en Ecuador, sino que sucede a nivel regional y global. Los movimientos ecologistas condenamos esta práctica e iniciaremos un proceso riguroso de investigación que permita identificar responsabilidades.

10) Finalmente creemos que se debe empezar a hablar de gobernanza de residuos sólidos como una estrategia de soberanía económico y política.

Suscriben: Acción Ecológica, PlastiCo Project, GAIA Latinoamérica, M esa de Ambiente y Animales del Cabildo Cívico de Quito.

Contactos: María Fernanda Solíz mariafernanda.soliz@uasb.edu.ec    0994235800

SUBIC, Philippines (May 30, 2019) — As the Philippines bid goodbye to the Canadian waste, six years after it was discovered in the country’s ports, environmental groups are calling on the government to ban all waste imports in the Philippines and ratify the Basel Ban Amendment. This follows the discovery of several other waste shipments to the Philippines from South Korea in 2018 and Australia and Hong Kong, which were divulged last week.

From 2013 to 2014, 103 shipping containers from Canada were intercepted in the Port of Manila containing mixed wastes,  including non-recyclable plastic, waste paper, household waste, electronic wastes, and used adult diapers. These materials are classified as hazardous, based on the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste and Control Act of 1990 (Republic Act 6969). Moreover, the importation of the shipment violates the Basel Convention, as the contents of the cargo vans were misdeclared as ‘recyclable’.

Photo during the press conference at Subic Bay in the Philippines where environment group bids goodbye to Canadian waste and calls on the government to to ban all waste imports in the Philippines and ratify the Basel Ban Amendment. Photo taken by Albertito Lozada (Greenpeace Ph) on 30 May at the Subic Bay International Container Port, Zambales, Olongapo City.

While the return of Canada’s waste is a positive development, only a little more than half (69 containers) of the original waste is being shipped back; 26 containers were already landfilled in the Philippines at the time when Canada disowned responsibility for the shipment; the other eight containers were also disposed of locally.

Aside from the controversial Canadian waste, shipments containing garbage from South Korea were discovered in October 2018. After campaigns from environmental groups in both the Philippines and South Korea, the Philippine government and its South Korean counterparts agreed to ship back part of the waste shipment in January 2019. The remaining 5,176.9 metric tonnes of waste are still in Misamis Oriental, awaiting repatriation.

In May 2019, the entry of wastes coming from Australia and Hong Kong in Mindanao Container Terminal became public.

Ever since China closed its doors to waste importation in January 2018, Southeast Asian countries have been the destination of waste exports from developed countries . A report from Greenpeace revealed that the majority of ‘mixed recyclable plastics’ previously destined to China are being redirected to countries in the region with weak environmental regulations. [1]

Local NGO groups, including Ecowaste Coalition, Greenpeace Philippines, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, BAN Toxics, and the global Break Free from Plastic movement, reiterated the call for the Philippine government to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment, which prohibits the import of all waste for any reason, including “recycling”.

The groups are also calling on the Philippine government to ban all waste shipments from entering the Philippines, and to stand up for Philippine sovereignty by telling developed countries that the Philippines is not a garbage dump.

The groups also launched an online petition [2] calling on President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a ban on the entry of wastes to the Philippines and to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment. Ecowaste Coalition called on all Filipinos to ‘raise the flag’ on social media to make a strong and collective stance against the entry of illegal waste shipment in the country. [3]

Notes to the editor:

[1] Data from global plastic waste trade 2016-2018 and the offshore impact of China’s foreign waste import ban. 

[2] Ban entry of foreign waste to the Philippines. 

[3] Ecowaste Coalition encourages Filipinos to raise the flag vs onslaught of foreign waste.

Media contacts:

Angelica Carballo Pago, Greenpeace Southeast Asia-Philippines
angelica.pago@greenpeace.org | (+63) 949 889 1332

Jed Alegado, Communications Officer, Break Free From Plastic
jed@breakfreefromplastic.org | +63 917-6070248

Thony Dizon, Ecowaste Coalition
thony.dizon24@yahoo.com | (+63) 917-8364725

Sonia Astudillo, Communications Officer, GAIA Asia Pacific
sonia@no-burn.org | +63 917-5969286

Dawn Po Quimque, BAN Toxics
dawn@bantoxics.org | (+63) 929 313 0488

STATEMENT FROM ORGANIZATIONS ON THE REPATRIATION OF THE CANADIAN WASTE

“Today marks a high point in our nation’s history as we get rid of the illegal waste shipments from Canada after six exasperating years of struggle for environmental justice and the rule of law.  As the 69 shipping containers set sail for home, we say with conviction that the Philippines is not the world’s dumpsite. We need to learn from this prolonged ordeal and make sure it is never repeated. Never again shall we allow other countries to trash our dignity, our people’s health and the environment.  

“This ordeal has taught us of the urgency of correcting outmoded regulations allowing waste imports into the country under the guise of recycling. We need to close this ghastly loophole that is facilitating illegal waste traffic and turning our country into a dumping ground for plastic, electronic and hazardous wastes, which should be safely recycled, treated or disposed of in the country where such wastes were generated.” – Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, Ecowaste Coalition

“Canada’s waste shipment to the Philippines has put in the spotlight how developed countries are exploiting weak national regulations and loopholes in international conventions in order to dump waste they can’t process in poor countries. The fact that it took five years before Canada acknowledged responsibility for the shipment underlines the helplessness of developed countries when governments of importing countries do not cooperate.

“Imposing a ban to close our doors to all waste shipments and ratifying the Basel Ban Amendment will send a strong message that the Philippines is not a dumping ground. However we also need to plug internal holes. The waste shipments that have been exposed in recent years are likely only the tip of the iceberg. It is highly probable that many more waste shipments have entered the country undetected, or under false declarations or questionable circumstances. Unless the holes in the system that allow this to happen–whether faulty regulations, inadequate monitoring, or corruption–are plugged, we will continue to be at the receiving end of waste shipments–and worse, unable to hold responsible countries and parties accountable.” – Lea Guerrero, Country Director, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines

“While this is a momentous moment for the Filipino people, still, the country faces a number of issues related to hazardous waste shipments. As long as there’s nothing that protects the developing countries in becoming a dumping ground for unwanted toxic waste and garbage, we remain vigilant, and will continue to call out the government for immediate actions.

“We appeal to President Duterte, to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment immediately. Put the responsibility of policing hazardous waste exporters to the country of export, such as Canada, Hong Kong, and Australia. We need to be smart in addressing the problem, and the Basel Ban Amendment is a valuable tool towards protecting a significant portion of the population who are at risk by toxic waste dumping.” – Reynaldo San Juan, Jr., Deputy Executive Director, BAN Toxics

“While we laud the move of the Canadian government in finally acting on their illegal waste shipments in the Philippines, we are also wary about the recent illegal waste shipments  from other developed countries to the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia. Asia is not the developed countries’ dumping ground! The Basel Convention mandates countries to deal with their plastic waste in their own backyards. Since the Basel Convention amendment takes effect next year, we are challenging governments in Asia to take immediate measures in safeguarding their territories.” – Jed Alegado, Communications Officer for Asia-Pacific, Break Free from Plastic

“We have nothing else to blame but DENR for enabling these countries to dump their waste in our ports. By drafting guidelines on waste incineration, other countries are now more attracted to have their garbage burnt in our country.” – Glenn Ymata, Senior Campaign Manager, No Burn Pilipinas!

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