The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal

In recent years, the amount of hazardous wastes shipped across national borders has increased substantially. As the generation of wastes in industrialized countries has increased dramatically in the past decades and disposal facilities, especially landfill space, have become more scarce and therefore more expensive, there is a growing tendency to export hazardous wastes, especially to less industrialized countries. Disposal costs in a developing country are often only a fraction of the equivalent costs in the industrialized world, and most developing countries do not have the necessary legal and institutional frame-work to effectively control and prevent the dumping of hazardous wastes in their territories. They also lack the technical capacity to dispose of such wastes in a way that does not harm the environment and human health. As a result, hazardous wastes are often deposited illegally and without technical precautions.