Waste Crime - Waste Risks: Gaps in Meeting the Global Waste Challenge

tion or consumption chain. Waste with positive value, such as paper, plastic, and metal, can rejoin the value chain and serve as a resource for new products. When investigating waste crimes, it is necessary first to prove the status of the substance or object as waste before applying the laws and regulations that cover waste management and its transboundary movement. Even though the Basel Convention contains a definition of waste, there are various interpretations of the term and what exactly it covers. Unclear definitions or obligations may lead to both unintentional and intentional breaches of the legal framework dealing with waste management and trans- boundary movement. The problem is further compounded by a lack of harmonization between the codes of different countries, or by different requirements between countries with respect to the conditions under which a substance or object must be disposed of and thus considered a waste. To remedy this situation, the Indonesian-Swiss Country-Led Initiative was launched in 2011 to provide additional legal clarity with respect to certain terms used in the Conven- tion, such as clarifying the distinction between wastes and non-wastes (Basel Convention 2011). Another initiative developed within the framework of the Basel Convention and aimed at providing greater legal certainty is the develop- ment of technical guidelines on transboundary movements of electronic and electrical waste and used electrical and electronic equipment (Basel Convention 2010).

Article 2.1 of the Basel Convention defines wastes as substances or objects that are disposed of or are intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of national law. Other agreements, such as the Bamako Convention applying to the African Region and the Waigani Convention applying to the South Pacific Region, share the Basel Convention’s definition of waste (SREP 2014, Bamako Convention 1994). Not only do lack of clarity or differing understandings create challenges for the law enforcement community, but they might also be taken advantage of intentionally by organized criminal groups and individuals to export wastes in contra- vention of the applicable legal framework (EUROPOL 2015). In addition to defining waste, the Basel Convention defines two types of waste falling within its scope: “hazardous” wastes, based on their origin and/or composition and their characteristics; and “other wastes”, such as household waste and incinerator ash as listed in Annex II to the Convention. Hazardous wastes are defined in Annexes I, III, VIII, and IX of the Convention, bearing in mind that a Party has also the possibility to define additional wastes as “hazardous” under its national legislation. Throughout the years, some Parties to

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