Draft proposed structure
(Version 1 - 12 September 2009)
20011-2020 STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BASEL CONVENTION
VISION
Sharing the responsibility of ensuring that human health and the environment are protected from
hazardous and other waste and that resources originating from this waste are used soundly to sustain
the livelihood of present and future generations.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE
The principles guiding the implementation of the Strategic Plan are inspired by and based on the
Environmentally Sound Management principles adopted by the Conference of Parties with
emphasis on the waste management hierarchy, the sustainable use of resources, the reduction of
hazardous waste and other waste going to landfills, the polluter pays principle, product stewardship
and the precautionary principle. The four policy direction adopted by the Conference of Parties
through the Strategic Plan, namely, waste minimization, integrated waste management, life-cycle
approach and regional approach guide the work to fulfill the objectives of the Strategic Plan..
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE
Developing, enhancing and promoting universal principles and norms in order to meet the current,
future or emerging challenges in reducing the impacts of hazardous waste and other waste on
human health and the environment, and encouraging public and private stakeholders to share their
knowledge and experience in transforming waste into resources in a way to sustain the livelihood of
people.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
 Diversion of hazardous waste and other problematic waste away from landfills
 Separating hazardous waste streams from non-hazardous waste streams
 Promoting the environmentally sound collection, treatment, transport, recycling, reuse or
recovery and disposal of hazardous waste and other waste
 Reducing emissions of mercury, dioxins, furans, ozone and heavy metals
 Reducing or avoiding harmful chemicals in products and substances
 Improving the information base essential to comply with the provisions of the Convention,
to improve control and prevent or combat illegal traffic
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STRATEGIC ACTION
The Strategic Plan is implemented in a two-phase approach. The first five years are dedicated to
make a critical difference and quantum leap in the environmentally sound management of key waste
domains that have a direct bearing on other global environmental issues and development needs. At
mid-course, Parties will evaluate the results and decide on future steps to meet the agreed 2020
objectives.
The strategic actions are composed of a series of specific action dedicated to waste streams of
global significance, the focal areas, and seven strategic chapters that encompass the intrinsic
fundamentals of the Convention and its outreach activities.
A workable and easy-to-run system for monitoring and evaluating the development, progression
and outcome of the Strategic Plan is called for. Such system could be built within the framework of
the Convention and could become inherent to its operation; it would constitute the basis upon which
to measure effectiveness in implementation. As part of the possible development of such
operational system, a set of highly visible indicators could be selected to facilitate monitoring and
evaluation.
Focal areas
The focal areas concerns those waste streams and waste management operations, identified as
requiring priority attention in the 2002-2010 Strategic Plan, for which further and continuing action
is required to meet the goals of environmentally sound management. It also brings attention to the
emerging issue of nanotechnologies and nanoparticles. The measures described below require
cooperation with the other waste and chemicals conventions and programmes, with the United
Nations bodies, other intergovernmental organisations, governments, non-governmental
organisations, industry and business, academia or municipalities. These measures pervade through
the entire 2011-2020 Strategic Plan and should enhance and support the action proposed under the
seven strategic chapters.
Down stream measures:
 Elimination of the obsolete stocks of pesticides and engagement of preventative measures to
avoid further accumulation
 Elimination and destruction of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in transformers
 Achieving the sound and safe recycling of lead-acid batteries to recover lead
Mitigation measures
 Progressive reduction of emissions of mercury, dioxins, furans, tropospheric ozone and
heavy metals in conjunction with international measures taken to reduce emissions of
carbon dioxide (CO2)
Solid waste management
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 Progressive segregation, separate collection and storage of hazardous from non-hazardous
waste to ensure their proper management, collection of methane gas as energy source and
for improving sound recycling
 Progressive diversion of problematic waste away from landfills to reduce toxic leachates,
greenhouse gas emissions and provide incentives for waste minimisation
Post consumer goods and end-of-life equipment
 Development of concrete projects to improve the transparency, traceability, predictability
and certainty in the international flow of used or end-of-life electronics, especially personal
computers
Up-stream measures
 Development of strategic and operational partnerships with public and private stakeholders
to accelerate the avoidance of harmful chemicals in products or substances and to boost
green chemistry
Emerging issues
 Undertaking of an analysis of the potential impacts of nanotechnologies and nanoparticles in
the life-cycle of materials to anticipate possible problems with disposal
Strategic chapters
Seven strategic chapters organise the implementation of the Strategic Plan and represent specific
targets for resource mobilization:
Chapter 1: ENFORCEMENT, CONTROL OF TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENTS,
COMPLIANCE, FIGHT AGAINST AND PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL TRAFFIC
Chapter 2: WASTE MINIMIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
Chapter 3: THE WASTE-CHEMICALS NEXUS
Chapter 4: FROM WASTE TO RESOURCES
Chapter 5: WASTE, HEALTH AND LIVELIHOOD
Chapter 6: WASTE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Chapter 7; SUPPORTING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND COUNTRIES WITH
ECONOMIES IN TRANSITION
Each of the first six strategic chapters identifies a series of specific objectives to realize or advance
with during the 10 year period of the Strategic Plan. These six strategic chapters are mutually
supportive and interact with each others. Advances in one chapter would have the potential to
stimulate progress in other chapters or could be unfolded to enhance action in other relevant and
interconnected environmental and developmental domains. The seventh strategic chapter highlights
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possible avenues to respond to the needs of developing countries and countries with economies in
transition.
The objectives described in the respective strategic chapters are meant to support, complement,
enhance, strengthen or facilitate those activities carried out by Parties, the Secretariat and others
which are required for the effective implementation of the Convention. The objectives are providing
direction for action.
The actions identified under the strategic chapters 1 to 6 are of generic nature. Appropriate
operational partnerships combined with resource mobilisation plans as well as specific projects will
be considered to put into effect the series of action described under the relevant strategic chapter.
The set of action described in this section is in addition to existing, ongoing or planned activities
carried out by Parties, the Secretariat and the Regional and Coordinating Centres in accordance with
the decisions of the Conference of Parties and its subsidiary bodies.
The action embodied in the Strategic Plan are conceived in such a way as to enlarge and deepen
current and planned work under the Convention and to prepare the ground for enabling action to
meet future challenges and emerging issues.
The indicators referred to under the strategic chapters 1 to 6 should help Parties to review the
implementation of the Strategic Plan and to keep track of environmental progress. They remain
generic and each Party can develop or use more specific indicators that would correspond to its own
needs. At present, Parties have not developed common methodologies and measurement systems
for indicators to be retained as part of the implementation of the Basel Convention.
The indicators could also serve the purpose of disseminating information and enhancing
communication with stakeholders and the public. OECD and the European Union have developed
sets of comprehensive indicators.
Each strategic chapter is presented on a separate page (pages 5 to 11).
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Chapter 1: ENFORCEMENT, CONTROL OF TRANSBOUNDARY
MOVEMENTS, COMPLIANCE, FIGHT AGAINST AND PREVENTION OF
ILLEGAL TRAFFIC
Objective: to create the worldwide conditions for providing information understandable by all
Parties to determine, in a common way, the environmentally sound justification for
transboundary movements of hazardous and other waste with a view to ensuring that such
movements across borders are driven by lack of capacity in exporting countries or better
treatment in importing countries or are part of legitimate recycling trade and, as a consequence,
to be in a better position to identify and prevent illegal traffic.
Action
 Strengthen cooperation between the States of export and the State of import to (a) target
illegal traffic in hazardous and other waste, (b) to share shipment information and improve
data collection and reliability, (c) to cooperate on enforcement, (d) to promote awareness
and (e) to identify, at the regional, inter-countries or global level, components of an Action
Plan to facilitate compliance and enforcement (eg. examination of the fate of exported
waste, effectiveness of regulatory controls over export, import control capacity, options to
strengthen export regulations and enforcement at the import side, review waste management
practices, monitoring of trade that concerns recycling and recyclables and supply chains).
 Improve waste management policy through generating reliable, qualitative and quantitative
information and data regarding export, import and generation using existing comprehensive
lists of waste developed by the Basel Convention, OECD and the European Union
(European Waste List). Undertake work to mirror the different categories of waste in these
comprehensive lists to be able to build an internationally understandable data reporting
framework.
 Mobilise the network of regional and coordinating centres to provide training courses
regarding enforcement, especially customs requirements, in cooperation with UNEP Green
Customs Initiative, the World Customs Orga nisation (WCO), the International Network for
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), the Seaport Environmental Security
Network (SESN), Interpol, the European Environment Agency, IMPEL/TFS programmes in
Europe, Africa and Asia and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW).
 Undertake an analysis of the effects of the liberalisation of trade in remanufactured,
refurbished or repaired goods on the effectiveness of the Basel Convention control system.
For this purpose cooperation especially with WTO, UNCTAD, UNEP, OECD, the G8/3R
initiative and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is promoted.
 Pursue efforts to identify and inscribe hazardous waste in the WCO Harmonised System
Indicators
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 Number of training courses on enforcement carried out by the regional and coordinating
centres, and number of participants
 Number of illegal shipments of hazardous waste uncovered and penalised
 Identification of specific hazardous waste in the WCO Harmonised System
 Quantitative reliable data on export, import and generation of hazardous waste
Chapter 2: WASTE MINIMIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
Objective: to illustrate concretely the potential for minimising the generation of hazardous and
other waste through technological advances in key areas for the implementation of the
Convention.
Action
 Organise the regional network dedicated to servicing the Basel Convention around
strategical objectives to cover the technology dimension relevant to the instrument with a
view to phasing out a number of polluting processes necessary for reducing waste arising
with particular emphasis on the use of environmentally sound technologies reducing
emissions of mercury, dioxins, furans, tropospheric ozone and heavy metals. As a sideeffect of pollution stabilization or mitigation, there may be an increase in the disposal of
obsolete or inefficient electrical and other equipment, like transformers, generators and other
power supply machinery which would need to be properly managed..
 Undertake a review of the current state of the best available technologies or practices and
best available recovery/recycling technologies as a base upon which to develop a coherent,
informed and practical approach to the issue of prevention, avoidance, treatment and
destruction technologies with emphasis on the petrochemical, agro-food, pulp and paper,
cement and chemical industry as well as regarding incineration.
 Launch a mid- to long-term programme to optimise the potential for waste and hazardous
waste minimisation in selected industrial areas like pulp and paper, textile, cement industry,
chemical industry, petrochemical industry or agro-food industry. Develop a methodology
presenting the parameters that would be considered useful in promoting waste and
hazardous waste minimisation as part of the global Basel Convention programme. This
could entail, for instance, the nurturing of cooperative links between two Parties, a Party that
possesses a technology or know-how applied to a specific waste stream or industrial process
and another Party that is in demand for such technology or know-how; the terms of
cooperation being subject to a bilateral agreement or arrangement between States or between
private entrepreneurs. A prospective paper could be prepared providing an outlook of where
are the possibilities and how to make the most of these possibilities. Once a successful
scheme would have been put in place, others could follow using this demonstration as
guidance for action. The Basel and Stockholm Conventions regional networks could be
solicited to facilitate this process and to transpose successful experiences at the regional
level in cooperation with the UNIDO/UNEP national cleaner production centres.
Indicators
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 Number of bilateral, regional or multilateral partnership operations to deploy
ecotechnologies
 Number of regional programmes dedicated to the technology dimension of waste and
hazardous waste minimisation
 Programmes underway to promote waste and hazardous waste minimisation in selected
industrial sectors
Chapter 3: THE WASTE-CHEMICALS NEXUS
Objective: to reduce the harmful effects of chemicals and waste globally through the elimination
of unsound practices that cause health hazards and environmental damages and the avoidance
of toxic or problematic chemicals in products or substances
Action
 Design and develop a global programme of enhanced cooperation between the Basel,
Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention together with UNEP, the Mercury convention and
SAICM that would include the following pointers: (a) detection, prevention and monitoring
of illegal traffic, (b) life-cycle management of materials, (c) awareness, training, capacity
building, (d) identification and use of emerging or innovative sound technologies for the
destruction of the hazardous contents of waste and chemicals, (e) use of economic
instruments and environmental management systems, (f) joint regional delivery
mechanisms, (g) improvement of scientific basis and its application in regard to the
relationship between environment and health, (h) improvement of collection and exchange
of information on exposure, generation, import/export, disposal or release of priority waste
streams (chemical specific) considered problematic (eg. POPs, mercury, heavy metals), and
(i) joint resource mobilization.
 Promote the Basel Convention regional and coordinating centres as hubs or key delivery
mechanism, in cooperation with the Stockholm Convention regional network, for the waste
and chemicals conventions, protocols or programmes at the regional level to achieve
economies of scale, to enhance capacity for resource mobilisation and to develop stronger
technical capabilities for addressing the life-cycle management of chemical, including issues
like enforcement and compliance. A coherent regional delivery mechanism will provide a
single entry for donors to fund enabling activities of relevance to the implementation of the
Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions together with the Montreal Protocol on ozone
depleting substances, the 1972 London Convention on the prevention of dumping at sea, the
future Mercury convention and SAICM.
 Carry out joint awareness, training and capacity building activities among the chemical and
waste-related conventions, protocols and programmes to better prepare countries in
managing such materials in an environmentally sound way and to elaborate cost-efficient
methodologies or decision-making tools.
 Promote the establishment of (a) a clearing house mechanism among the Basel, Rotterdam
and Stockholm Conventions and with UNEP on best practices, (b) the development of a
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common (Conventions and UNEP) information and public awareness strategy and (c) the
constitution of a shared (Conventions and UNEP) partnership forum.
Indicators
 Clearing house is established
 Sound waste, hazardous waste and chemicals policies are integrated at the national level
 Basel and Stockholm Conventions regional and coordinating centres carry out joint projects
and fund-raising activities
 Global programme on the sound management of waste, hazardous waste and chemicals is
launched and is operational
Chapter 4: FROM WASTE TO RESOURCES
Objective: to reduce the environmental footprint of waste management operations, including
transboundary movements, through reviewing environmental impacts of trade in used and endof-life electronics, energy efficiency solutions, reduction and reuse of equipment or products,
community involvement in the provision of sound options for the introduction of new
technologies, monitoring suppliers' environmental performance and providing decent jobs.
Action
 Identify options for generating a worldwide level playing field through the design of
environmental management tools considered useful to aim at constructing the required
baseline conditions and safeguards for the environmentally sound management and trade of
used or end-of-life electronics, including the control of export of hazardous electronic waste.
 Undertake pilot activities to illustrate the contribution of the sound and safe management of
used and end-of-life electronics to (a) reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, (b) to
protecting biodiversity and (c) promoting a shift from waste to resources that supports
energy efficiency and natural resources conservation through diverting the growing volumes
of old electronics away from landfill and increasing their sound reuse, recycling , recovery,
refurbishment, repair and remanufacturing.
 Identify a set of optimal conditions, on a worldwide scale, for the sound development of
global or regional markets for the recycling, recovery, refurbishment, remanucfacturing,
repair, collection, storage transport or disposal of used and end-of-life electronics and
recommend categories of ecotechnologies or processes and the role of supportive measures
to deploy them.
Indicators
 Environmental management systems are in place to support the environmentally sound
management of used and end-of-life electronics
 Hazardous components of old electronics are identified and controlled
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 Percentage of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the sound recycling of old
electronics
 Quantity of old electronics diverted away from landfills and soundly managed
Chapter 5: WASTE, HEALTH AND LIVELIHOOD
Objective: to reduce the impacts of the unsound management of hazardous waste and other waste
on people and nature and to promote the integration of the sound management of waste,
hazardous waste and chemicals into national development and poverty reduction plans as mean
to contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Action
 Develop an approach or methodology on how to raise the profile of hazardous waste and
other waste management in the national strategies aiming at sustainable development or
poverty reduction through demonstrating the contribution of the environmentally sound
management of waste, hazardous waste and chemicals to: (a) the reduction of greenhouse
gases, (b) of the proper recycling of metals and other waste as a direct contribution to
natural resource conservation, (c) the removal and destruction of obsolete stocks of
pesticides to allow farmers to have access to safe drinking water and food that is not
contaminated, (d) the sound recovery of lead from used lead-acid batteries to decrease lead
exposure, and (e) the stopping of the burning of old imported computers to protect urban
dwellers from toxic fumes containing mercury, dioxins or furans. Enhanced cooperation
among the waste and chemicals conventions and programmes is necessary as well as the
strengthening of cooperative links between the waste-chemicals cluster with climate change
programmes, development efforts or poverty reduction initiatives.
Indicators
 Percentage of greenhouse gas emissions reduced through sound collection, segregation,
transport, pre-treatment, landfilling, co-processing or incineration
 Percentage of recycling rate of metals, plastics, papers, cardboard, glass
 Quantity of obsolete stocks of pesticides destroyed in an environmentally sound way
 Quantity of used lead-acid batteries recovered in adequate facilities
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 Qualitative and quantitative reduction of toxic fumes (mercury, dioxins, furans, heavy
metals) generated by unsound management of used and end-of-life electronics
 Number of national policies integrating the sound management of waste, hazardous waste
and chemicals in development or poverty reduction plans.
Chapter 6: WASTE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Objective: to promote sustainable energy efficiency policy goals and to develop or expand public
policies, making use of market mechanisms and environmental management systems, to improve
the protection of the environment by achieving a combine reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions, especially carbon dioxide, together with the reduction of emissions of air pollutants,
especially tropospheric ozone, mercury, dioxins and furans.
Action
 Develop a strategy to promote: (a) industrial transition towards obtaining a reduction and
stabilization in several pollutants' emissions, in key industrial sectors that are heavily
dependant on fossil fuels and (b) market driven penetration of renewable energy sources,
cleaner or ecotechnologies that fosters energy efficiency improvement. To progress in that
direction, close cooperation should be established at the national level between those
responsible for waste management with those in charge of chemicals management, climate
change issues and industry. Internationally, closer working relationship should be
established among the waste and chemicals conventions and programme and between them
and the Climate Change Convention. Relevant industrial sectors would include: cement
industry, incineration facilities, electricity suppliers, oil and gas industry, transport,
information technology industry.
 Undertake a consultation on the possibilty to pilot innovations to trigger new or enhanced
international action for the sound management of chemicals and waste (and hazardous
waste) integrated into the climate change agenda such as:
 Assessment of ecosystem (environmental hazards) and social vulnerability to
pollution, emissions and climate change.
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Capacity, or lack of, of the key industrial sectors in integrating pollution control and
other mitigation measures like low carbon path and waste minimization.
Degree of penetration and deployment of ecotechnologies, cleaner production
processes or low carbon technologies.
Identification of adequate infrastructure and institutional (regulatory) set-up to
control chemicals and waste management, import or export.
The above targets should help in focusing where action is most needed, where it would be
possible to reinforce existing efforts and partnerships or where to use and stimulate local
experience. Several projects could be carried out to pilot action towards the testing of
innovative financial mechanisms to complement national and international funding and
ODA (necessary to assist developing countries and countries with economies in transition
to adapt to climate changes and to meet their obligations under the chemicals and waste
conventions) in specific target areas as referred to above.
Indicators
 Level of internalisation of the costs of the sound management of waste and hazardous waste
in the energy sector
 Percentage of urban population exposed to air pollutants (tropospheric ozone, ozone
precursors, mercury, lead, dioxins, furans, cadmium, particulate matter, etc.)
 Degree of penetration of ecotechnologies for waste minimisation in key industrial sectors
that are the main generators of greenhouse gas emissions
Chapter 7: SUPPORTING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND COUTRIES
WITH ECONOMIES IN TRANSITION
Developing countries and countries with economies in transition need assistance to implement the
actions referred to in the strategic chapters 1 to 6.
Million of people around the world risk their health daily by eating food grown using untreated
waste water, some of which may be contaminated with heavy metals and raw sewage or because
they are exposed to air pollution or soil contamination. Many rivers around the globe are polluted to
the brink of collapse because of pollution by untreated waste, agricultural run-off and industrial
discharge. The serious environmental problems affecting water, soil and air have negative effects on
food production, malnutrition, and health. Global warming, loss or changes in biodiversity or
desertification will amplify such negative effects on people with disastrous consequences on the
most vulnerable populations.
Few Governments have identified the management of hazardous and other waste in their
development plans or poverty reduction strategies with the effect that that bilateral flow of
assistance seldom addresses hazardous and other waste problems. An important step would be for
the Parties together with their partners to develop an approach or methodology on how to raise the
profile of waste and hazardous waste management in the national strategies aiming at sustainable
development. A similar exercise would be useful for harmful chemicals. Two categories of
measures are considered:
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 Mitigation – Reducing pollution and emissions in the near term by technical and operational
improvements and preparing and accelerating long-term step changes through the
stimulation of technological innovations and transfer. Financing innovations would help in
bringing forward the needed step changes.
 Adaptation – This is crucial for developing countries and countries with economies in
transition. While adaptation is a priority for the most vulnerable countries, these countries
should not be deprived from accessing ecotechnologies or benefit from technological
innovations. Adaptation finance could also be used to encourage developing and emerging
countries to incorporate mitigation policies or measures into their national development or
poverty reduction programmes.
Most of the greenhouse gas emission increase in developing or countries with economies in
transition, for instance, is likely to come from the exploitation and consumption of fossils fuels,
mainly coal, gas and petrol, which are the same sources generating harmful chemicals, waste and
hazardous waste. This would call for enhanced cooperation among those responsible for climate
change mitigation and adaptation with those in charge of chemicals and waste management. The
chemicals and waste global agenda has a central role to play in reducing the pollution burden on the
poor and other vulnerable people as a priority. In this situation, ODA and multilateral development
funding appears as the most important financial source to address these urgent problems.
In parallel, efforts should begin to plant seeds for the future. Sustainable alternatives to the most
polluting sectors could be envisaged either to replace the polluted sources or improve pollution
control and energy efficiency of existing industries. The chemicals and waste conventions and
programme can play their role. Through the development of guidelines, methodological tools,
training, awareness raising and partnerships, these bodies could help in creating the right conditions
for the development and access of cleaner production programmes, ecotechnologies, environmental
management systems or environmental education. This upstream approach should be coupled with
assistance to help developing and emerging countries to build their chemical control and waste and
hazardous waste management systems.
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