Canada hit for not backing ban on dumping wastes in poor countries
CHANGE.ORG
VANCOUVER—Canada is facing criticism from environmentalist groups for refusing to support a ban on the dumping of hazardous waste in developing countries.
The proposed amendment would strengthen an international treaty called the Basel Convention, which governs the global movement of hazardous waste. Environmentalists urged Canada to sign it.
Canada, a signatory since 1989, has come under fire in recent years for allegedly violating the treaty, according to The Star Toronto.
The amendment is supported by numerous signatories, including the European Union, but needs backing from two more. A spokesman for Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, said Canada withdrew its support for the Ban Amendment when it was expanded to prohibit the export of hazardous waste for “environmentally sound recycling and disposal.”
But critics said unlike industrialized countries developing countries are not yet in a position to soundly recycle plastics and other wastes.
A private Canadian company in 2013 and 2014 sent 103 containers supposedly of plastics for recycling to the Philippines, but they also contained waste like diapers, in violation of international law, environmentalists charged. After years of being asked to take back the rotting waste, Canada recently relented and agreed to pay the cost of reshipping to Vancouver, but has not punished the private company because it did not violate any Canadian laws at the time.
“Canada was just thumbing its nose at the convention for the past six years,” Kathleen Ruff, founder of the advocacy group RightOnCanada.ca, was quoted by The Star.
“Three words come to mind: Shame on us,” Jim Puckett, executive director of the Seattle-based Basel Action Network, stated in Geneva during a meeting between the parties to the Basel Convention according to The Star.
The Basel Convention requires its signatories to seek permission from other countries before exporting hazardous and household waste.
While the future of the Ban Amendment is uncertain, the parties to the Basel Convention, including Canada, recently agreed to extend the treaty to cover plastic waste.
