Planet in Peril: An Atlas of Current Threats to People and the Environment

Planet in peril Waste, recyclers and recycled

Promoting growth based on intensive productivity and consumption has major disadvantages, one of the most serious being the huge volume of waste produced and the problem of its disposal. Statistics fail to convey the full measure of the problem, particularly for industrial waste, now a commodity for international trade transported long distances around the world.

(Mer du japon)

COREE DU NORD

Pekin

South

Pyongyang

Bichkek KIRGHIZSTAN

Tachkent

Douchanbe TADJIKISTAN

JAPAN

Taizhu

Kaboul

CACHEMIRE

Shanghai

AFGHANISTAN

Islamabad

(Japan)

I n d u s

BHOUTAN

Guiyu

Pacific Ocean

Kao-hsiung

Sher Shah

Ahmedabad Alang

LAOS

From Golf

From North America

Golfe du Bengale

Rangoon

THAÏLANDE

Paracel

Manila

CAMBODGE

Madras

Sea of Oman

SRI LANKA Indian Ocean

From Europe

180 sites

MALAYSIE

Jakar

retired cargo ships

electronic waste

retired cargo ships electronic waste

know supposed

Main flows

Main transit ports

AUSTRALIA

Sources: Basel Action Network (BAN); Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition; Toxics Link India, SCOPE (Pakistan); Greenpeace; International Labour Organisation (ILO); International Maritime Organization (IMO). Les déchets électroniques et les cargos empoisonnent l’Asie

0

1 000

2 000 km

The mountain of waste resulting from mass production and consumption is growing increasingly cumbersome for our urban societies. Not only are their populations growing fast and consu- mingmore, but the average service life of frequently “over-packaged” consu- mer goods is decreasing. Modern pro- ducts contain an increasing number of materials that are difficult to break down, in particular certain plastics. As fewer resources are available for waste management than for the production of consumer goods, it will be an uphill struggle to slow the accumulation of waste, particularly in view of the rate at which some densely populated Asian countries are growing. As for the import and export of

waste, the first big surprise is how difficult it is to collate data. The Basel Convention, started in 1989 under the aegis of the United Nations, is an intergovernmental body tasked with monitoring and regulating the pro- duction and cross-border movement of waste. It provides figures that are difficult to interpret. About 30 countries have so far refused to ratify the convention and do not publish any statistics. More surpri- singly 110 of the 165 members states do not provide any data. Their number includes Norway, despite it boasting a highly progressive environmental policy. The lack of statistics is due to the complexity of the procedures for submitting figures and disparities

between the assessment methods used by various countries. However even incomplete data reveals several interesting points. The volume of waste in transit has substan- tially increased. For the 50 countries filing data the amount has increased from 2m tonnes in 1993 to 8.5m ton- nes in 2001. Trade between countries belonging to the Organisation for Eco- nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD) accounted for three-quarters of the total. Almost all the waste was classified as “hazardous”, a tricky term in itself, as even apparently harmless waste may generate risks if improperly managed. During the 1980s environmental standards became much stricter in

26 I L’A TLAS DU M ONDE DIPLOMATIQUE