187 Countries Have Agreed On Restrictions Of Global Plastic Waste Trade, But The U.S. Is Not One Of Them

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A treaty was made in the Basel Convention for the regulation of the movement of hazardous materials between one country to another. This is in lieu to the world’s massive problem of the ongoing effects of plastic pollution that is increasing daily. 

The governments of 187 countries all agreed to the pact of curbing the world’s plastic waste crisis during the UN-back convention held in Geneva, Switzerland, but the United States was not included as one of the only two countries that did not ratify the agreement. 


Close to 1 million people took part in signing a global petition to urge their local governments to to take part in the Basel Convention in order to prevent western countries from “dumping millions of tonnes of plastic waste on developing countries instead of recycling it.”

Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) conventions, said in a statement: “Plastic waste is acknowledged as one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues, and the fact that this week close to 1 million people around the world signed a petition urging Basel Convention Parties to take action here in Geneva at the COPs is a sign that public awareness and desire for action is high.”

According to WWF, the treaty states that receiving countries of contaminated plastic waste will have to give prior consent before having the trash traded to their borders. Even though the United States chose not to participate in this decision, the ruling will still apply to them when they try and trade plastic waste with these 187 other countries. 

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The US has been sending most of its plastic waste to China and Malaysia, although recently, they have been facing problems as these two countries have been facing crackdowns due to the massive amounts of plastics overflowing their borders. In the last year, other Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand and India have also taken further action to restrict plastic waste trade which in turn, leaves all plastic trash in US ports, awaiting the next country that will accept their waste. 


The WWF said that this new international move is “a highly welcome step towards redressing this imbalance and restoring a measure of accountability to the global plastic waste management system.”

Studies have found that an approximation of 100 million tons of plastic has been thrown in the oceans, and 90% of this waste comes from land-based resources.

Von Hernandez, global coordinator of Break Free from Plastic said that “Countries at the receiving end of mixed and unsorted plastic waste from foreign sources now have the right to refuse these problematic shipments, in turn compelling source countries to ensure exports of clean, recyclable plastics only. Recycling will not be enough, however. Ultimately, production of plastics has to be significantly curtailed to effectively resolve the plastic pollution crisis.”

 

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