The EU, which participated in the triple Conference of the Parties to the Basel (COP15), Rotterdam (COP10) and Stockholm (COP10) Conventions on Persistent Organic Pollutants (Geneva, 6-17 June 2022), welcomes important decisions taken on waste and chemicals management.
This includes an milestone decision under the Basel Convention to control the global trade of electronic waste and prevent its uncontrolled dumping, the European Commission said on Monday 20 June.
The EU has supported the work on plastic waste under the same convention and has successfully proposed that it should start developing global standards on the management of used tyres, a major source of microplastics.
The parties to the Stockholm Convention decided to include PFHxS - a member of the PFAS family of substances known as ‘evergreen chemicals’ - on the list of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which was taken up by the EU in the provisional interinstitutional agreement reached on 21 June on the update of the EU regulation transposing this UN convention (see other news).
On the basis of a text proposed by the EU, the parties to the Stockholm Convention also renewed calls for the elimination by 2025 of PCBs, chemicals widely found in old electrical equipment and used as oils.
The parties to the Basel Convention have adopted guidelines on the latest developments in the management of waste mercury, lead-acid batteries and waste containing persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
In addition, based on an EU proposal, this Convention will initiate work on the management of non-lead-acid batteries, including lithium batteries, which are of increasing importance in the EU’s efforts to achieve climate neutrality and digitalisation. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)