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) resumed on Wednesday, 5 September 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. The OEWG met in contact groups throughout the day.In the morning, the Technical Matters Contact Group focused on drafting terms of reference for the proposed new partnership on plastic waste and a decision on marine plastic litter and microplastics. At midday the Group shifted to work on finalizing decision texts on wastes containing nanomaterials and on the technical guidelines regarding transboundary movements of e-waste. The Strategic Matters Contact Group gathered comments to send to the Expert Working Group on environmentally sound management (ESM) regarding the guidances on how to address ESM in the informal sector, and on extended producer responsibility and financing systems for ESM. Participants also finalized a draft decision on the follow-up to the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE).During lunch, two side events were held, one on Global Recycling Day, the other on how to accelerate effective implementation of the Bamako Convention.The Legal Matters Contact Group met in the afternoon to discuss the submission by Canada and Chile on providing further legal clarity, and the European Union proposal regarding the Basel Convention’s Committee for Promoting Implementation and Compliance (ICC). They also gathered comments, to be forwarded to the ICC, on guidance on: transboundary movements as they apply to transit States; insurance, bond and guarantee; improving national reporting by Parties to the Basel Convention; and developing national legal frameworks to implement the Basel Convention.In the late afternoon a side event was held on developing country and NGO perspectives regarding the impacts of the Norwegian proposal to reclassify plastic wastes under the Convention Annexes.In the evening the Technical Matters Contact Group reconvened to continue deliberations on plastic wastes.
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.
