Summary
The Eleventh Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (OEWG11) opened on Monday, 3 September 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. The opening session adopted the agenda, agreed on the organization of work, and heard welcoming statements from the OEWG11 Co-Chairs and the Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, Rolph Payet.The morning session dealt with a number of strategic and technical issues. On strategic matters, the OEWG adopted its first decision, asking the Secretariat to finalize work on information related to the indicators to be used for the final evaluation of the Basel Convention’s Strategic Framework (2012-2021). In other matters, the OEWG:
- set up a Strategic Matters Contact Group to further discuss a series of draft practical manuals and guidances on issues such as extended producer responsibility (EPR) and environmentally sound management (ESM) in the informal sector; and
- set up a Technical Matters Contact Group to further discuss draft technical guidelines (TGs) on ESM of wastes consisting of, containing, or contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs), a revised TG on transboundary movements of e-waste, and updated TGs on incineration on land and on specially engineered landfill.
During the lunch break two side events were held, one on marine plastic litter and microplastics in the context of a circular economy and the other on the work to review the Basel Convention annexes.In the afternoon session, the OEWG decided to consider during its next biennium (2020-2021) whether to update TGs on hazardous waste physio-chemical treatment and biological treatment. The OEWG also:
- asked the Technical Matters Contact Group to develop a list of nominations for types of wastes for which practical guidance on the development of inventories would be useful.
- discussed wastes containing nanomaterials and possible future Basel Convention work on the issue, and referred the matter to the Technical Matter Contact Group for further deliberation;
- considered the outcomes of the Partnership on Household Wastes and held an initial airing of views on the way forward for further developing partnerships; and
- discussed a draft decision on cooperation with the World Customs Organization on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.
In the evening delegates attended a reception hosted by the Government of Switzerland, followed by meetings of the Technical Matters and Strategic Matters Contact Groups.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web updates from OEWG11 and will publish a summary and analysis report which is available in HTML and PDF.
