Draft proposed structure
(Version 1 - 12 September 2009)
20011-2020 STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BASEL CONVENTION
VISION
Sharing the responsibility of ensuring that human health and the environment are protected from hazardous and other waste and that resources originating from this waste are used soundly to sustain the livelihood of present and future generations.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE
The principles guiding the implementation of the Strategic Plan are inspired by and based on the Environmentally Sound Management principles adopted by the Conference of Parties with emphasis on the waste management hierarchy, the sustainable use of resources, the reduction of hazardous waste and other waste going to landfills, the polluter pays principle, product stewardship and the precautionary principle.The four policy direction adopted by the Conference of Parties through the Strategic Plan, namely, waste minimization, integrated waste management, life-cycle approach and regional approach guide the work to fulfill the objectives of the Strategic Plan..
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE
Developing, enhancing and promoting universal principles and norms in order to meet the current, future or emerging challenges in reducing the impacts of hazardous waste and other waste on human health and the environment, and encouraging public and private stakeholders to share their knowledge and experience in transforming waste into resources in a way to sustain the livelihood of people.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Diversion of hazardous waste and other problematic waste away from landfills
Separating hazardous waste streams from non-hazardous waste streams
Promoting the environmentally sound collection, treatment, transport, recycling, reuse or recovery and disposal of hazardous waste and other waste
Reducing emissions of mercury, dioxins, furans, ozone and heavy metals
Reducing or avoiding harmful chemicals in products and substances
Improving the information base essential to comply with the provisions of the Convention, toimprove control and prevent or combat illegal traffic
STRATEGIC ACTION
The Strategic Plan is implemented in a two-phase approach. The first five years are dedicated to make a critical difference and quantum leap in the environmentally sound management of key waste domains that have a direct bearing on other global environmental issues and development needs. At mid-course, Parties will evaluate the results and decide on future steps to meet the agreed 2020 objectives.
The strategic actions are composed of a series of specific action dedicated to waste streams of global significance, the focal areas, and seven strategic chapters that encompass the intrinsic fundamentals of the Convention and its outreach activities.
A workable and easy-to-run system for monitoring and evaluating the development, progression and outcome of the Strategic Plan is called for. Such system could be built within the framework of the Convention and could become inherent to its operation; it would constitute the basis upon which to measure effectiveness in implementation. As part of the possible development of such operational system, a set of highly visible indicators could be selected to facilitate monitoring and evaluation.
Focal areas
The focal areas concerns those waste streams and waste management operations, identified as requiring priority attention in the 2002-2010 Strategic Plan, for which further and continuing action is required to meet the goals of environmentally sound management. It also brings attention to the emerging issue of nanotechnologies and nanoparticles. The measures described below require cooperation with the other waste and chemicals conventions and programmes, with the United Nations bodies, other intergovernmental organisations, governments, non-governmental organisations, industry and business, academia or municipalities. These measures pervade through the entire 2011-2020 Strategic Plan and should enhance and support the action proposed under the seven strategic chapters.
Down stream measures:
Elimination of the obsolete stocks of pesticides and engagement of preventative measures to avoid further accumulation
Elimination and destruction of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in transformers
Achieving the sound and safe recycling of lead-acid batteries to recover lead
Mitigation measures
Progressive reduction of emissions of mercury, dioxins, furans, tropospheric ozone and heavy metals in conjunction with international measures taken to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)
Solid waste management
Progressive segregation, separate collection and storage of hazardous from non-hazardous waste to ensure their proper management, collection of methane gas as energy source and for improving sound recycling
Progressive diversion of problematic waste away from landfills to reduce toxic leachates, greenhouse gas emissions and provide incentives for waste minimisation
Post consumer goods and end-of-life equipment
Development of concrete projects to improve the transparency, traceability, predictability and certainty in the international flow of used or end-of-life electronics, especially personal computers
Up-stream measures
Development of strategic and operational partnerships with public and private stakeholders to accelerate the avoidance of harmful chemicals in products or substances and to boost green chemistry
Emerging issues
Undertaking of an analysis of the potential impacts of nanotechnologies and nanoparticles in the life-cycle of materials to anticipate possible problems with disposal
Strategic chapters
Seven strategic chapters organise the implementation of the Strategic Plan and represent specific targets for resource mobilization:
Chapter 1: ENFORCEMENT, CONTROL OF TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS, COMPLIANCE, FIGHT AGAINST AND PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL TRAFFIC
Chapter 2: WASTE MINIMIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
Chapter 3: THE WASTE-CHEMICALS NEXUS
Chapter 4: FROM WASTE TO RESOURCES
Chapter 5: WASTE, HEALTH AND LIVELIHOOD
Chapter 6: WASTE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Chapter 7; SUPPORTING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND COUNTRIES WITH ECONOMIES IN TRANSITION
Each of the first six strategic chapters identifies a series of specific objectives to realize or advance with during the 10 year period of the Strategic Plan. These six strategic chapters are mutually supportive and interact with each others. Advances in one chapter would have the potential to stimulate progress in other chapters or could be unfolded to enhance action in other relevant and interconnected environmental and developmental domains. The seventh strategic chapter highlights possible avenues to respond to the needs of developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
The objectives described in the respective strategic chapters are meant to support, complement, enhance, strengthen or facilitate those activities carried out by Parties, the Secretariat and others which are required for the effective implementation of the Convention. The objectives are providing direction for action.
The actions identified under the strategic chapters 1 to 6 are of generic nature. Appropriate operational partnerships combined with resource mobilisation plans as well as specific projects will be considered to put into effect the series of action described under the relevant strategic chapter. The set of action described in this section is in addition to existing, ongoing or planned activities carried out by Parties, the Secretariat and the Regional and Coordinating Centres in accordance with the decisions of the Conference of Parties and its subsidiary bodies.
The action embodied in the Strategic Plan are conceived in such a way as to enlarge and deepen current and planned work under the Convention and to prepare the ground for enabling action to meet future challenges and emerging issues.
The indicators referred to under the strategic chapters 1 to 6 should help Parties to review the implementation of the Strategic Plan and to keep track of environmental progress. They remain generic and each Party can develop or use more specific indicators that would correspond to its own needs. At present, Parties have not developed common methodologies and measurement systems for indicators to be retained as part of the implementation of the Basel Convention.
The indicators could also serve the purpose of disseminating information and enhancing communication with stakeholders and the public. OECD and the European Union have developed sets of comprehensive indicators.
Each strategic chapter is presented on a separate page (pages 5 to 11).
Chapter 1: ENFORCEMENT, CONTROL OF TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS, COMPLIANCE, FIGHT AGAINST AND PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL TRAFFIC
Objective:to create the worldwide conditions for providing information understandable by all Parties to determine, in a common way, the environmentally sound justification for transboundary movements of hazardous and other waste with a view to ensuring that such movements across borders are driven by lack of capacity in exporting countries or better treatment in importing countries or are part of legitimate recycling trade and, as a consequence, to be in a better position to identify and prevent illegal traffic.
Action
Strengthen cooperation between the States of export and the State of import to (a) target illegal traffic in hazardous and other waste, (b) to share shipment information and improve data collection and reliability, (c) to cooperate on enforcement, (d) to promote awareness and (e) to identify, at the regional, inter-countries or global level, components of an Action Plan to facilitate compliance and enforcement (eg. examination of the fate of exported waste, effectiveness of regulatory controls over export, import control capacity, options to strengthen export regulations and enforcement at the import side, review waste management practices, monitoring of trade that concerns recycling and recyclables and supply chains).
Improve waste management policy through generating reliable, qualitative and quantitative information and data regarding export, import and generation using existing comprehensive lists of waste developed by the Basel Convention, OECD and the European Union (European Waste List). Undertake work to mirror the different categories of waste in these comprehensive lists to be able to build an internationally understandable data reporting framework.
Mobilise the network of regional and coordinating centres to provide training courses regarding enforcement, especially customs requirements, in cooperation with UNEP Green Customs Initiative, the World Customs Orga nisation (WCO), the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), the Seaport Environmental Security Network (SESN), Interpol, the European Environment Agency, IMPEL/TFS programmes in Europe, Africa and Asia and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Undertake an analysis of the effects of the liberalisation of trade in remanufactured, refurbished or repaired goods on the effectiveness of the Basel Convention control system. For this purpose cooperation especially with WTO, UNCTAD, UNEP, OECD, the G8/3R initiative and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is promoted.
Pursue efforts to identify and inscribe hazardous waste in the WCO Harmonised System
Indicators
Number of training courses on enforcement carried out by the regional and coordinating centres, and number of participants
Number of illegal shipments of hazardous waste uncovered and penalised
Identification of specific hazardous waste in the WCO Harmonised System
Quantitative reliable data on export, import and generation of hazardous waste
Chapter 2: WASTE MINIMIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
Objective: to illustrate concretely the potential for minimising the generation of hazardous and other waste through technological advances in key areas for the implementation of the Convention.
Action
Organise the regional network dedicated to servicing the Basel Convention around strategical objectives to cover the technology dimension relevant to the instrument with a view to phasing out a number of polluting processes necessary for reducing waste arising with particular emphasis on the use of environmentally sound technologies reducing emissions of mercury, dioxins, furans, tropospheric ozone and heavy metals. As a side-effect of pollution stabilization or mitigation, there may be an increase in the disposal of obsolete or inefficient electrical and other equipment, like transformers, generators and other power supply machinery which would need to be properly managed..
Undertake a review of the current state of the best available technologies or practices and best available recovery/recycling technologies as a base upon which to develop a coherent, informed and practical approach to the issue of prevention, avoidance, treatment and destruction technologies with emphasis on the petrochemical, agro-food, pulp and paper, cement and chemical industry as well as regarding incineration.
Launch a mid- to long-term programme to optimise the potential for waste and hazardous waste minimisation in selected industrial areas like pulp and paper, textile, cement industry, chemical industry, petrochemical industry or agro-food industry. Develop a methodology presenting the parameters that would be considered useful in promoting waste and hazardous waste minimisation as part of the global Basel Convention programme. This could entail, for instance, the nurturing of cooperative links between two Parties, a Party that possesses a technology or know-how applied to a specific waste stream or industrial process and another Party that is in demand for such technology or know-how; the terms of cooperation being subject to a bilateral agreement or arrangement between States or between private entrepreneurs. A prospective paper could be prepared providing an outlook of where are the possibilities and how to make the most of these possibilities. Once a successful scheme would have been put in place, others could follow using this demonstration as guidance for action. The Basel and Stockholm Conventions regional networks could be solicited to facilitate this process and to transpose successful experiences at the regional level in cooperation with the UNIDO/UNEP national cleaner production centres.
Indicators
Number of bilateral, regional or multilateral partnership operations to deploy ecotechnologies
Number of regional programmes dedicated to the technology dimension of waste and hazardous waste minimisation
Programmes underway to promote waste and hazardous waste minimisation in selected industrial sectors
Chapter 3: THE WASTE-CHEMICALS NEXUS
Objective:to reduce the harmful effects of chemicals and waste globally through the elimination of unsound practices that cause health hazards and environmental damages and the avoidance of toxic or problematic chemicals in products or substances
Action
Design and develop a global programme of enhanced cooperation between the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention together with UNEP, the Mercury convention and SAICM that would include the following pointers: (a) detection, prevention and monitoring of illegal traffic, (b) life-cycle management of materials, (c) awareness, training, capacity building, (d) identification and use of emerging or innovative sound technologies for the destruction of the hazardous contents of waste and chemicals, (e) use of economic instruments and environmental management systems, (f) joint regional delivery mechanisms, (g) improvement of scientific basis and its application in regard to the relationship between environment and health, (h) improvement of collection and exchange of information on exposure, generation, import/export, disposal or release of priority waste streams (chemical specific) considered problematic (eg. POPs, mercury, heavy metals), and (i) joint resource mobilization.
Promote the Basel Convention regional and coordinating centres as hubs or key delivery mechanism, in cooperation with the Stockholm Convention regional network, for the waste and chemicals conventions, protocols or programmes at the regional level to achieve economies of scale, to enhance capacity for resource mobilisation and to develop stronger technical capabilities for addressing the life-cycle management of chemical, including issues like enforcement and compliance. A coherent regional delivery mechanism will provide a single entry for donors to fund enabling activities of relevance to the implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions together with the Montreal Protocol on ozone depleting substances, the 1972 London Convention on the prevention of dumping at sea, the future Mercury convention and SAICM.
Carry out joint awareness, training and capacity building activities among the chemical and waste-related conventions, protocols and programmes to better prepare countries in managing such materials in an environmentally sound way and to elaborate cost-efficient methodologies or decision-making tools.
Promote the establishment of (a) a clearing house mechanism among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and with UNEP on best practices, (b) the development of a common (Conventions and UNEP) information and public awareness strategy and (c) the constitution of a shared (Conventions and UNEP) partnership forum.
Indicators
Clearing house is established
Sound waste, hazardous waste and chemicals policies are integrated at the national level
Basel and Stockholm Conventions regional and coordinating centres carry out joint projects and fund-raising activities
Global programme on the sound management of waste, hazardous waste and chemicals is launched and is operational
Chapter 4: FROM WASTE TO RESOURCES
Objective:to reduce the environmental footprint of waste management operations, including transboundary movements, through reviewing environmental impacts of trade in used and end-of-life electronics, energy efficiency solutions, reduction and reuse of equipment or products, community involvement in the provision of sound options for the introduction of new technologies, monitoring suppliers' environmental performance and providing decent jobs.
Action
Identify options for generating a worldwide level playing field through the design of environmental management tools considered useful to aim at constructing the required baseline conditions and safeguards for the environmentally sound management and trade of used or end-of-life electronics, including the control of export of hazardous electronic waste.
Undertake pilot activities to illustrate the contribution of the sound and safe management of used and end-of-life electronics to (a) reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, (b) to protecting biodiversity and (c) promoting a shift from waste to resources that supports energy efficiency and natural resources conservation through diverting the growing volumes of old electronics away from landfill and increasing their sound reuse, recycling , recovery, refurbishment, repair and remanufacturing.
Identify a set of optimal conditions, on a worldwide scale, for the sound development of global or regional markets for the recycling, recovery, refurbishment, remanucfacturing, repair, collection, storage transport or disposal of used and end-of-life electronics and recommend categories of ecotechnologies or processes and the role of supportive measures to deploy them.