Development of Technical Guidelines on e-waste

The technical guidelines on transboundary movements of electrical and electronic waste and used electrical and electronic equipment, in particular regarding the distinction between waste and non waste under the Basel Convention, was adopted, on an interim basis, at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties by decision BC-12/5. 

Work following COP-13

At its thirteenth meeting, by its decision BC-13/5, the Conference of the Parties (COP), established an Expert Working Group to undertake further work on the technical guidelines adopted on an interim basis at COP-12. And the government of China has offered to lead the referred work.

Please find here the list of members to the Expert Working Group on the e-waste technical guidelines.

In paragraph 11 of the same decision, the COP, requested the Secretariat to develop, as appropriate, and in consultation with the lead country, a revised questionnaire based upon paragraph 3 of decisions OEWG-10/5, and send it out to Parties and others by 30 September 2017. Parties and others were invited to provide responses to the questionnaire to the Secretariat by 30 November 2017.

All Focal Points to the Basel Convention were informed about the access to the revised online questionnaire.

Stakeholders, other than Parties, were invited to use the following link to provide answers to the revised online questionnaire: Revised questionnaire on the experiences of parties and others in the implementation of the Technical guidelines on transboundary movements of electronic and electrical waste and used electrical and electronic equipment, in particular regarding the distinction between waste and non-waste under the Basel Convention.

Following BC-13/5 decision, paragraph 3, Parties and others were invited to provide comments on different aspects related to the development of the technical guidelines, to the Secretariat, by 30 October 2017. Please find below the comments provided. 

The Expert Working Group on the e-waste technical guidelines had their first face-to-face meeting in Beijing, China, on 25-26 January, 2018.

The Expert Working Group on the e-waste technical guidelines will have their second face-to-face meeting from 17 to 19 April 2018, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Comments or queries should be sent to Ms. Carla Valle-Klann, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (Email: carla.valle@brsmeas.org, Tel: +41 22 917 86 86). 

The Conference of the Parties at its twelfth meeting invited parties and others to use the technical guidelines, which were adopted on an interim basis, and to submit, not later than two months before the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties, through the Secretariat, comments on their experience in so doing, and to provide comments on the issues mentioned in paragraph 5 of decision BC-12/5, to the Secretariat five months before the opening of the tenth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group for consideration at its meeting.

Comments received from Parties and others on the issues mentioned in paragraph 5 of decision BC-12/5 are listed in a table below.

Information transmitted by Parties on any conditions applicable in relation to used equipment that should normally be considered waste or non-waste (paragraph 8 of decision BC-12/5) is available here.