Consequences of recent e-waste amendments at the Basel Convention for the OECD Decision on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations The fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (COP) adopted amendments to their waste lists, further restricting transboundary movements of electrical and electronic waste. This follows amendments made in relation to plastic wastes at the [fourteenth] meeting of the COP in May 2019. Normally, amendments to the Annexes of the Basel Convention are automatically incorporated into the Appendices of the OECD Decision on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations [OECD/LEGAL/0266], unless an objection is made. On 16 August 2022, the OECD Secretariat received an objection to the automatic incorporation of the recent amendments to the Basel Convention in relation to e-waste into the OECD Decision. A process is currently underway to work towards an alternative proposal on how to control transboundary movements of e-wastes under the OECD Decision. This process is to be completed before the Basel amendments become effective on 1 January 2025. The outcome will be shared via this website, in addition to being reflected in the instrument itself once effective.

 

WHAT'S NEW

• Updated OECD Database on Transboundary Movement of Waste (as of 22 December 2022)

Amendments to appendices 3 and 4 of the OECD Council Decision, relating to plastic wastes

• Information about controls for transboundary movements of non-hazardous plastic waste (as of 7 February 2022): Press release | Technical explanation | Text modifications

OECD CONTROL SYSTEM FOR WASTE RECOVERY

Established by the OECD Council Decision [OECD/LEGAL/0266], the OECD Control System for waste recovery aims at facilitating trade of recyclables in an environmentally sound and economically efficient manner by using a simplified procedure as well as a risk-based approach to assess the necessary level of control for materials. Wastes exported outside the OECD area, whether for recovery or final disposal, do not benefit from this simplified control procedure.

The OECD Control System is based on two types of control procedures:

1. Green Control Procedure: for wastes presenting low risk for human health and the environment and, therefore, are not subject to any other controls than those normally applied in commercial transactions

2. Amber Control Procedure: for wastes presenting sufficient risk to justify their control.

Wastes subject to these control procedures are listed in Appendices 3 and 4 to the OECD Council Decision: the Green and Amber lists of wastes. The controls of waste shipments are carried out by national competent authorities and Customs Offices as appropriate, through the use of notification and movement documents. The latest text modifications to Appendices 3 and 4 of the OECD Council Decision came into effect on 1^st of January 2021.

Since March 1992, transboundary movements of wastes destined for recovery operations between member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have been supervised and controlled under a specific intra-OECD Control System.

GUIDANCE MANUAL

OECD DATABASE ON TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS OF WASTE destined for recovery operations

The database includes relevant information to complete the forms for notification and movement documents required by national competent authorities; and is updated by the OECD. The database contains information divided into two parts:

(i) contact details of competent authorities and pre-consented recovery facilities

(ii) pre-consented waste details which include the waste name and code, the type of recovery operation applied, the type of technology used, the validity of the pre-consent and the quantity of waste concerned. 

Further reading

• OECD work on resource productivity and waste