In line with the mandate set out in paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the Basel Convention, the Secretariat provides technical assistance to Parties in order to assist them in building their capacity to fulfil their obligations in protecting human health and the environment from hazardous and other wastes, including plastic waste.
Decision BC-14/18 on technical assistance, adopted by the Conference of the Parties (COP) in May 2019, requested the Secretariat, subject to the availability of resources, to continue to implement the technical assistance plan for the period 2018-2021 in cooperation with relevant actors. The COP also welcomed the extensive work that the regional and coordinating centres have already done on the impact of plastic waste, including marine plastic litter and microplastics, and measures for prevention and environmentally sound management, and invited them to continue their activities.
The Secretariat provides technical assistance for the environmentally sound management of plastic waste, control of the transboundary movement of plastic waste, and prevention and minimization of the generation of plastic waste among others through various projects and the organization of capacity-building workshops.