TY - JOUR
T1 - Illegal waste exports: misdescription at point of export
AU - Lowther, J
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Hazardous waste exports are, rightly, the subject of a
significant and complex legal regime operating at levels
from international through to domestic law. A murky
history of developed countries exporting waste to their
less developed counterparts prompted the development
and agreement of the Basel Convention on Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their
Disposal.1 This Convention has a broad constituency for
an international environmental law instrument, having
almost universal membership.2 Amendments and protocols
to enhance the basic obligations in the Convention have
been adopted, including the Liability Protocol and the Basel
Ban amendment, which applies in the main to countries
within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).3 The Basel Ban is incorporated
into the EU’s own measure, Regulation 1013/2, which
both implemented the basic Convention as well as
incorporating additional layers, such as the Basel Ban,
for the Member States to comply with.4 The detail of the
EU Regulation is replicated in UK law. At its heart, the
regime is about preventing hazardous waste shipments to
non-OECD countries for disposal, as well as and reuse and
recycling, unless the waste falls within certain categories.
For a long time, recyclables exempt from the prohibited
categories have been exported to countries in Africa,
South-east Asia, Latin America and, more recently, Turkey,
for processing.5 With depressing regularity, shipments
have been intercepted and/or returned from destination
countries having been mislabelled as recyclables when in
fact the materials were contaminated and/or effectively
destined for disposal in situations where that would be in
neither the interests of human health nor the environment.
The English courts have been involved in a number of cases
in recent years, determining the application of the
Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 (the TSF
Regulations), as the Environment Agency has been in the
vanguard of efforts to target waste export offences.6 The
significance of waste offence and impacts of improper
management or disposal this year became the subject of
a government task force, the Joint Unit for Waste Crime.7
While the principal focus is organised criminality, the
serious nature of waste crime is reflected in the statement
of its operational aims. It is against the backdrop of this
regulatory regime that the instant case was determined.
AB - Hazardous waste exports are, rightly, the subject of a
significant and complex legal regime operating at levels
from international through to domestic law. A murky
history of developed countries exporting waste to their
less developed counterparts prompted the development
and agreement of the Basel Convention on Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their
Disposal.1 This Convention has a broad constituency for
an international environmental law instrument, having
almost universal membership.2 Amendments and protocols
to enhance the basic obligations in the Convention have
been adopted, including the Liability Protocol and the Basel
Ban amendment, which applies in the main to countries
within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD).3 The Basel Ban is incorporated
into the EU’s own measure, Regulation 1013/2, which
both implemented the basic Convention as well as
incorporating additional layers, such as the Basel Ban,
for the Member States to comply with.4 The detail of the
EU Regulation is replicated in UK law. At its heart, the
regime is about preventing hazardous waste shipments to
non-OECD countries for disposal, as well as and reuse and
recycling, unless the waste falls within certain categories.
For a long time, recyclables exempt from the prohibited
categories have been exported to countries in Africa,
South-east Asia, Latin America and, more recently, Turkey,
for processing.5 With depressing regularity, shipments
have been intercepted and/or returned from destination
countries having been mislabelled as recyclables when in
fact the materials were contaminated and/or effectively
destined for disposal in situations where that would be in
neither the interests of human health nor the environment.
The English courts have been involved in a number of cases
in recent years, determining the application of the
Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007 (the TSF
Regulations), as the Environment Agency has been in the
vanguard of efforts to target waste export offences.6 The
significance of waste offence and impacts of improper
management or disposal this year became the subject of
a government task force, the Joint Unit for Waste Crime.7
While the principal focus is organised criminality, the
serious nature of waste crime is reflected in the statement
of its operational aims. It is against the backdrop of this
regulatory regime that the instant case was determined.
UR - https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/context/sc-research/article/1079/viewcontent/CaseComm2_Lowther_5pp.pdf
M3 - Article
SN - 1067-6058
VL - 31
JO - Environmental Law and Management
JF - Environmental Law and Management
IS - 6
ER -