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 About 30 countries have so far refused to ratify the convention and do not publish any statistics.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
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