With funding support from Norway and Switzerland, the first meeting of the Household Waste Partnership Working Group meets in Port Louis from 14 to 17 May 2018 to start working towards a guidance document on environmentally sound management.

In 1995 the Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention selected Egypt as the site of a Sub-Regional Centre for Arabic-speaking countries initially of Africa but later in 2002 expanded to include Arab speaking countries of West Asia and the Centre renamed as the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Arab States for Training and Technology Transfer. Following the ratification of the Framework Agreement by the Egyptian Parliament in 2005, BCRC-Egypt was established within Cairo University, which is considered to be one of the most outstanding academic and research institutes in the region. Countries that are served by the Centre include: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

BCRC Egypt aims at becoming an effective and reliable partner in the region for environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes under the Basel Convention and to assist the Parties to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The Centre has focused its efforts on strengthening the regional cooperation of Arab states in hazardous waste management and trans-boundary control which should support compliance with the Basel Convention in the Arab states. In this regard, the centre has organized a large number of regional and national activities such as training, workshops, mainly with the funding provided by the Government of Finland and in collaboration with UNDP/Egypt in the following areas:

• Inventory of hazardous wastes and chemicals
• Globally Harmonized System (GHS) Codes on hazardous waste
• Customs and port officials on controlling illegal trade
• ESM of Asbestos wastes, POPs pesticides, PCBs and other POPs waste
• Hazardous waste management technologies and promoting technology transfer
• Occupational health and safety

The centre has also taken initiatives in establishing a reference accredited lab for POPs analysis, to provide the analysis service to the member states and is equipping itself with relevant testing and monitoring facilities.

BCRC Egypt has a very effective communication strategy and has been in communication with the Arab members through social media, such as Facebook (www.facebook.com/BCRCEgypt.OfficialPage), twitter (www.twitter.com/bcrcegypt) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/bcrcegypt). In addition to these, the Centre has also published from time to time a newsletter in Arabic language which summarized some of its activities.

For more information please contact to:

Prof. Mostafa Kamel
Director, BCRC Egypt
Tel: +20 (2) 35715115
E-mail: cairo@bcrc-egypt.com; kmostafa@sci.cu.edu.eg

In 2016, 44.7 million tons of e-waste were generated, of which only 20% were collected, in average, worldwide (UNU/ITU/ISWA, 2017).

The Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE) and the Mobile Phone Partnership (MMPI) have developed guidance documents to help Parties to the Basel Convention and other stakeholders to put in place solutions, which can provide opportunities for the Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) of e-waste.

Since 2012, the Basel Convention Secretariat and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have been cooperating to foster solutions for the ESM of e-waste. Among other things, the Secretariat has been contributing to the development of standards and policy recommendations that the ITU develops to support e-waste management towards a circular economy.

The present workshop, to be held on 23rd March 2018 in Geneva, will aim at introducing the standards and policy guidance available, and will provide Parties to the Basel Convention as well as Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) companies with an opportunity for sharing their experiences as to their implementation.

Details of the workshop can be found here.

Visit or follow the @brsmeas twitter account to view a series of powerful photos demonstrating the impacts of chemicals and waste on nature and wildlife.