Basel Convention - Mobile Phone Disposal

According to their web page:

The Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes. The Convention has 170 Parties and aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects resulting from the generation, management, trans-boundary movements and disposal of hazardous and other wastes. The Basel Convention came into force in 1992.

Specifically, this treaty was intended to limit hazardous waste movement from developed to less developed countries. While recognizing the financial opportunity for recycling in these nations, the environmental impact has been staggering for many. (Minimizing the amount of waste, its toxicity, and environmental reclamation is covered in this treaty. It does not address radioactive waste.) Legal enforcement of provisions is a major focus of the document.

Today, a 5-day meeting of over 1000 people from 170 stakeholder countries opened on the island of Bali. The ongoing topic is waste management and its impacts on the framework of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Of special interest in this summit, however, will be the dumping of electronic waste, particularly old mobile phones.

While we may argue about the greenhouse effect, the pollution of the earth is difficult to ignore. In this day of gadgets, we are reminded that their planned obsolescence makes disposal and ongoing, and growing issue.

In example, the plight of an area of the Canary Islands known as the Sea of Plastic was documented by PBS in a recent special.

For more information:

A site containing some great reference links is Green Customs.org.

The text of the Basel Convention document can be found here.