EMB: Amendment to waste agreement beneficial to PH
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The country will benefit directly if it ratifies the Basel Ban Amendment, which prohibits the transfer of hazardous waste from developed countries to developing ones regardless of whether it is for recycling or for disposal, according to the chief of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).
“EMB has commissioned a cost-benefit study for the Philippines’ ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment. Although we are still finalizing [it], initial results show the overall beneficial impact of the ban amendment on the Philippines,” EMB Director Metodio Turbella said in a letter to Eileen Sison, president of EcoWaste Coalition.
Turbella said the “long-term financial, environmental and social benefits outweighed the short-term costs.”
EcoWaste had asked the EMB to adopt the Basel amendment at the 14th conference of parties in May.
Turbella said the EMB had officially notified the office of the United Nations and international organizations of the Department of Foreign Affairs on Oct. 9 last year that it was concurring with the proposed amendment.
“We believe that the proposed additional control or the prior informed consent procedure for the transboundary movements of scrap plastic is very timely and beneficial to the country,” Turbella said.
President Duterte would need to ratify the amendment and transmit it to the Senate for concurrence.
The Basel ban was adopted in 1995 by 95 countries. The amendment still requires the ratification of two more countries before it can be enforced.
Solid plastic waste
EcoWaste also demanded a ban on the importation of solid plastic waste materials and electronic assemblies and scraps.
Turbella said the order allowing the importation of scrap materials for recycling is being reviewed and revised.
Sison earlier informed Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu that garbage from Canada and South Korea had been directed here after China banned the entry of 32 categories of solid waste, including scrap materials as of January 2018.
Waste exports from South Korea rose from 4,398 to 11,588 tons in 2017, Sison said, citing that country’s customs service data.
Vietnam also stopped issuing plastic waste import licenses while Malaysia issued a permanent ban on the importation of plastic waste starting October 2018. —TONETTE OREJAS
