Schedule and registration

Date and Time (Geneva time: UTC/GMT+1 hours)	Please register a few days in advance of the webinar. To register, please use the following link:
Thursday 19 December at 4 pm	Register

When you register, you will be given additional information regarding the system requirements and instructions on how to log in to the webinar.

Background

More than 60 types of metals and other materials are contained in waste computing equipment and more generally in E-waste. These are primary constituents such as steel, minor constituents such as silver, and micro or trace constituents such as gold. End-of-life computing equipment should be re-used, if possible. Otherwise it should be sent for material recovery and recycling at facilities that can recycle electronics in an environmentally sound manner. Only as a last resort it should be sent for final disposal.

The Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE) developed the “Guideline on Environmentally Sound Material Recovery and Recycling of End-of-Life Computing Equipment” that was adopted by the Basel Convention COP-11 in 2013.

The purpose of this guideline is to describe the chain of steps that should be taken in order to ensure environmentally sound management in material recovery facilities that recycle electronics, and to encourage operators at each step to know about, work with, and take their responsibility for human health, safety and the environment, so that the entire value chain works in both an economically and environmentally sustainable manner.

Objective

Present a private sector experience in Asia on how rare trace materials, like gold, or bulky like plastics, can be recovered and recycled from end-of-life computing equipment and more generally E-waste. This webinar will present an example of processes for material recovery and recycling complying with the PACE “Guideline”. 

Contents

1. Introduction – (5 min).
2. Presentations:

• PACE-Introduction - BRS Secretariat - (10 min.)

• E-waste Management in Taiwan – (20 min.)

3. Questions and Answers – (25 min.)

Target group

Basel Convention Focal Points, Basel Competent Authorities, Basel Convention Regional and Coordinating Centres, OEWG9 participants, Stockholm Convention focal points and points of contact, members of the POPRC, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), recyclers and their associations, government officials and regional/local authorities dealing with e-waste management and any other interested persons

 

Photographic exhibition, 2 to 14 December 2013 at Palais des Nations, Geneva

From the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

Come and learn from two different USA perspectives, one from the private sector and the other one from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) on how rare trace materials, like gold, or bulky like plastics, can be recovered and recycled from E-Waste. This webinar will present an example of processes for material recovery and recycling complying with the PACE “Guideline”.

 

Schedule and registration

Date and Time (Geneva time: UTC/GMT+1 hours)	Please register a few days in advance of the webinar. To register, please use the following link:
Thursday 5 December at 4 pm	Register

When you register, you will be given additional information regarding the system requirements and instructions on how to log in to the webinar.

Background

More than 60 types of metals and other materials are contained in waste computing equipment and more generally in E-waste. These are primary constituents such as steel, minor constituents such as silver, and micro or trace constituents such as gold. End-of-life computing equipment should be re-used, if possible. Otherwise it should be sent for material recovery and recycling at facilities that can recycle electronics in an environmentally sound manner. Only as a last resort it should be sent for final disposal.

The Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE) developed the “Guideline on Environmentally Sound Material Recovery and Recycling of End-of-Life Computing Equipment” that was adopted by the Basel Convention COP-11 in 2013.

The purpose of this guideline is to describe the chain of steps that should be taken in order to ensure environmentally sound management in material recovery facilities that recycle electronics, and to encourage operators at each step to know about, work with, and take their responsibility for human health, safety and the environment, so that the entire value chain works in both an economically and environmentally sustainable manner.

Objective

Present a private sector experience in Asia on how rare trace materials, like gold, or bulky like plastics, can be recovered and recycled from end-of-life computing equipment and more generally E-waste. This webinar will present an example of processes for material recovery and recycling complying with the PACE “Guideline”. 

Contents

1. Introduction – (5 min).
2. Presentations:

• PACE-Introduction - BRS Secretariat - (10 min.)

• An Overview of TES-AMM’s Material Recycling & Recovery Processes - TESS-AMM, Singapore – (20 min.)

3. Questions and Answers – (30 min.)

Target group

Basel Convention Focal Points, Basel Competent Authorities, Basel Convention Regional and Coordinating Centres, OEWG9 participants, Stockholm Convention focal points and points of contact, members of the POPRC, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), recyclers and their associations, government officials and regional/local authorities dealing with e-waste management and any other interested persons

 

The first meeting of the Environmental Network for Optimizing Regulatory Compliance on Illegal Traffic (ENFORCE) will be held in Bangkok, 18-19 November 2013.

 

The workshop for Central and South America on the prosecution of illegal traffic of hazardous wastes under the Basel Convention was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 28 to 29 August 2013.

The workshop provided training for prosecutors, law enforcement experts and lawyers, based on the Basel Convention's instruction manual on the prosecution of illegal traffic in hazardous wastes.  Prosecutors and legal officers from 13 countries attended the event, including officers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

They were joined by Experts from the European Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of environmental Law (IMPEL) Cluster Transfrontier shipment of waste (TFS) Environmental Prosecutors Network, Latin American Environmental Prosecutors Network (LAEPN), UNEP Regional Office for Latin American Countries (ROLAC), Interpol and the CITES Secretariat. 

The workshop was organized by the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions and the Basel Convention Regional Center – Argentina.

Among the challenges identified were weaknesses in the national legal and institutional frameworks, such as incomplete implementing legislation  – lack of a clear definition of the crime, of adequate penalties and of clear procedures. Participants felt that the various legal responses to illegal traffic  – administrative, civil, criminal, alternative dispute resolution, each have their own merit, however opinions diverged with respect to their respective effectiveness.  The need for clarity as to when a specific procedure may be initiated and on the relationship between the various procedures (parallel, successive, alternative) was also highlighted.

Participants underscored that cases of illegal traffic are complex and require substantial capacity: an improper investigation can mean that a case cannot ultimately be brought forward. Therefore, besides training, participants called for access to adequate resources, for instance laboratories to identify wastes, and access to technical knowledge.

Finally, cooperation at the national level was identified as a challenge and the establishment of interagency teams involving all relevant agencies was suggested.

Based on real cases, participants also explored the practical and legal challenges in preparing a case for prosecution in particular with respect to the distinction between waste and non-waste, and the need for developing a common understanding of this distinction. Issues of jurisdiction (which State prosecutes and for which offense?) were also discussed, as well as the challenges associated with the take back of illegal shipments.

A first workshop had been held in Bratislava in June 2012 for prosecutors from Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia countries.

The series of workshops are funded through the European Union under the Thematic Programme for Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources including Energy (ENRTP).

 

In the context of the ITU Green Standards Week, the UNEP Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions together with ITU, UNU, and CEDARE is organizing on 16 September 2013 a one-day Forum on Environmentally Sound Management of E-waste.

The Green Standards Week is organized by ITU from 16 to 20 September 2013 in Madrid, Spain.  Hosted by Telefónica, it will bring together leading specialists in the field, from top policy-makers to engineers, designers, planners, government officials, regulators, standards experts and others.

The main purpose of the E-waste Forum is to discuss the quantification and qualification of the e-waste challenge, the role of policies, standards and regulations and best practices for designing e-waste management systems.

Download the Green Standards Week brochure.

For further information, see: http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/Workshops-and-Seminars/gsw/201309/Pages/programme-16-Sep.aspx

 

This data visualization tool was created to show, in an interactive way, data provided by the Parties to the Basel Convention on generation and transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and other wastes. It contains data for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The tool is fully compatible with Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. The Secretariat is working to make it also compatible with other browsers.
There is a video tutorial available in case you need help to understand how the tool works.

View interactive tool

Should you come across any issue or erroneous data while using this site, please report it to: sbc_natrep@unep.org

Disclaimer: This tool and data is based on information transmitted in reports transmitted by Parties to the Basel Convention. The data provides an indication of trends and activities but must be carefully interpreted.

Acknowledgement: we would like to thank the United Nations Office at Geneva – Information and Communication Technology Service (UNOG-ICTS) for their collaboration in the development of this tool.