Basel Convention
International treaty on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal
In 1989, the Basel Convention on the “Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal” was adopted to protect people and the environment from the negative effects of the inappropriate management of hazardous wastes worldwide. It is the most comprehensive global treaty dealing with hazardous waste materials throughout their lifecycles, from production and transport to final use and disposal.
Background and history of the Basel Convention
In the 1970s and 1980s exports of toxic wastes and criminal disposal methods made headlines worldwide. Deposits of toxic wastes, which were imported from abroad, were discovered in Africa, Eastern Europe and other developing countries.
A key incident was the odyssey of 42 steel drums with highly toxic dioxin waste originating from the Seveso incident in Italy in 1976, which were found in the backyard of a butcher’s in Northern France in 1983, and finally eliminated in a high temperature incineration plant in Basel/Switzerland.
In June 1987, based on a joint proposal by Switzerland and Hungary, the Governing Council of UNEP mandated the Executive Director to convene a working group with the task of elaborating a global convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes, drawing on the previous work undertaken by UNEP and other national, regional and international bodies.
As a result, the Basel Convention was adopted on 22 March 1989 in Basel, Switzerland. The Convention entered into force in 1992 and today there are more than 180 Parties to the Convention.
The Basel Convention has the following key objectives:
- To reduce transboundary movements of hazardous wastes to a minimum consistent with their environmentally sound management
- To dispose of hazardous wastes as closely as possible to their source of generation
- To minimize the generation of hazardous wastes in terms of quantity and hazardousness
- To prohibit an export of hazardous waste to developing countries that do not have suitable disposal technologies
For example, the Basel Convention regulates the management of the following (hazardous) wastes:
- Biomedical and healthcare wastes
- Used oils
- Used lead acid batteries
- POPs Persistent Organic Pollutants
- PCBs Polychlorinated Biphenyls
- Wastes containing mercury or Asbestos
- Wastes from the dismantling of ships
- Electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) such as mobile phones and computers
- Wastes containing nanomaterials
- Plastic waste
In many countries in transition as well as in developing countries, there is still a lack of knowledge and infrastructure, for example:
- Missing technical know-how and financial support
- Missing facilities for the environmentally sound treatment and disposal of wastes
- Insufficient control our supervision
These problems need to be addressed to ensure the implementation of the Basel Convention.
Support by know-how and technology transfer
The Basel Convention benefits from a network of 14 Regional and Coordinating Centres for Capacity Building and Technology Transfer (BCRCs).
These centres provide training and technology transfer to local stakeholders, for example customs officers or waste specialists. The centres advise companies on technical or legal questions.
The Basel Convention Secretariat in Geneva assists and supports the Regional Coordinating Centres in their work.
Some general obligations of the Basel Convention
- Parties shall prohibit or shall not permit the export of hazardous wastes and other wastes if the State of import does not consent in writing to the specific import
- Parties shall not permit hazardous wastes or other wastes to be exported to a non-Party or to be imported from a non-Party
- Parties agree not to allow the export of hazardous wastes or other wastes for disposal with the area south of 60° South latitude, whether or not such wastes are subject to transboundary movement
- Parties that intend to export hazardous or other waste shall ensure that the waste will be managed in an environmentally sound manner at the place of its destination
- Parties shall require that hazardous wastes and other wastes that are being transported to another country to be properly packaged, labelled and transported in conformity with generally accepted and recognised international rules and standards
- Parties shall require that hazardous wastes or other wastes be accompanied by a movement document from the point at which the transboundary movement commences to the point of disposal
