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Environmental groups claim that new rules restricting plastic trade are being ignored

  • Publication Date | June 15, 2022
  • Document Type | Media Statement
  • Programmes | Pollution & Extractives
  • Issues | Pollution, Toxics, Waste
  • Tags | Basel Action Network, Basel Convention, Break Free From Plastics, Plastic Waste
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This is a press release by Break Free from Plastic which SAM is a part of

Governments urged to fully enforce the Basel Convention

Geneva, Switzerland – At the ongoing meeting of the Basel Convention, the Basel Action Network (BAN) and member organisations of the Break Free from Plastic movement (BFFP) presented evidence of continued plastic waste trade, exported primarily from the rich developed countries to weaker economies, and charged these exporting countries with failing to uphold the agreements to control plastic waste exports made at the Basel Convention in 2019, which came into force on January 1, 2021.

Among the 2021 trade data (Comtrade) findings presented by BAN and BFFP organizations:

• The European Union decided unilaterally to simply not enforce the Basel Rules for trade between member states. •
• Canada similarly decided to ignore the rules for their plastic waste trade with the US.
• Japan is the world’s leading exporter of plastic waste to weaker economies.
• The US is the second-largest exporting country and has recently begun dramatically increasing their exports to Mexico.
• The Netherlands has become a conduit for exporting European plastic waste to Asia.
• The UK is shifting its exports from Turkey to Asia via the Netherlands.
• The US and EU illegally exported approximately 20,500 containers of PVC plastic waste last year.

“A year after the Amendments, major exporting and importing countries like Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK are running away from the obligations they all agreed to undertake.  They are simply business as usual, only this time the trade is illegal,” said Jim Puckett, executive director of BAN. “We are seeing new schemes like refuse-derived fuel or solid recovered fuel exports that allow mixed plastic waste to still be traded despite the Amendments. We also see plastic mixed into waste paper exports. We call on Basel Parties to Member States to fully enforce the Plastic Waste Amendments and for countries to ratify the Basel Ban Amendment, which prohibits OECD countries from exporting hazardous waste.“

Representatives of South Africa, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand presented pictures and described in harrowing detail the dumping and burning of plastic wastes caused by so-called plastics recyclers operating in their territories.

“Communities in the Global South – Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, and Africa – are suffering from pollution caused by foreign plastic waste. The immediate remedy for so many of these situations is simply to uphold the law, and enforce it diligently,” said BFFP Asia-Pacific’s Waste Trade Project Coordinator, Pui Yi Wong.  “However, dramatically reducing plastic production and consumption is the ultimate answer to the plastic waste crisis.”

“It is interesting that India largely depends on informal waste pickers for domestic plastic waste collection, yet allows plastic waste imports,” said Chandramouli Venkatesan, Researcher, India. “Any ad hoc policies without further data, such as the traceability of imported plastic waste and local recycling capacity, will only add to the existing environmental and health problems in India. Export of waste, pretending everything is being recycled elsewhere, is perpetuating the oppression and suppression of voiceless communities.”

Malaysians protesting against a background of foreign plastic waste abandoned since 2018/2019 in the state of Selangor | Image: © SAM

Mageswari Sangaralingam, Senior Research Officer of Friends of the Earth Malaysia, explained, “Since 2018, there has been a decrease in plastic waste imports to Malaysia, but compliance with the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendment rules can only be ascertained if all plastic waste imports are screened by enforcement agencies. On the ground, we can see that the environmental injustice continues with illegal waste trade, false declarations, and plastic content in e-waste, paper waste, textile waste, or waste-derived fuels shipments. Malaysia is still dealing with legacy waste and microplastics from the waste dumped on us in the guise of recycling and trade.”

“Parties need to do more than just change their policies and adopt the Basel Amendments on plastic wastes trade,” said Yuyun Ismawati Drwiega, Senior Advisor and Co-Founder, Nexus for Health, Environment, and Development (Nexus3) Foundation, Indonesia. “All plastic waste and paper waste supply chains also need to change their practices – waste paper companies in Indonesia have private plastic landfills! Policies and regulations also need to tackle the legacy of imported plastic waste dumping sites. Our monitoring results have shown dioxins and new POPs present in food chains around imported waste dumping sites.”

“In the past few years, imports of plastic wastes in the forms of scraps, e-wastes, and others continue to cause pollution and damage Thailand’s circular economy,” said Punyathorn Jeungsmarn, Information and Communications Officer, Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH), Thailand. “Efforts to control imports are undermined by legal loopholes. International cooperation is needed to end plastic waste imports from richer countries, to control plastic pollution throughout its life cycle, and to move away from its use and production.”

Further, Dr. Leslie Adogame, Executive Director of Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev), Nigeria, added, “Despite Nigeria’s ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment, it is alarming and saddening to see that an OECD country (United States), who is a non-Party to the Convention, is using Nigeria, a Party, as a dumping ground for PVC plastic waste. Notably, the new listing Y48 (plastic waste that requires special consideration and prior informed consent) includes organohalogen polymers such as PVC.  As such, it is not legal for Nigeria to receive these PVC wastes from the United States.”

At the end of the side event, Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) Africa delivered a statement calling for the leaders of Africa to stop waste colonialism on behalf of 136 African civil society organisations.

Merrisa Naidoo, Plastic Campaigner, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)/Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) Africa, said, “Africa is not yet free from colonialism; it continues to manifest itself in the form of waste trade that allows for the importation of toxic and non-recyclable waste into the African continent, eroding away at the foundations of liberty and environmental justice.”

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Testimonials

Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
Chedo Anak NyuwenPersatuan Penduduk Sg Buri, Bakong, Marudi
My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
Chee Yoke Ling
Chee Yoke Lingstudent of SAM, Executive Director of Third World Network, SAM’s sister organisation

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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