It would add plastic waste to Annex II, a list of wastes for “special consideration” under the Basel Convention that requires notification by exporting countries and consent by importing countries prior to export. As of June 24, Thailand had seized 30,000 container loads of plastic scrap at its ports and began imposing an import ban. “Southeast Asia is already being hit hard by a tsunami of plastic waste,” says Von Hernandez, global coordinator of the Break Free from Plastic movement. The Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, a trade organization representing the recycling industry, has voiced its concern regarding the proposals before the Basel Convention, saying they could reshape and harm the trade of plastic scrap. Both proposals will be forwarded to the 14th Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention for a decision in April 2019.

Source: Libya Today September 10, 2018 16:07 UTC