Malaysia says a ban on plastic waste imports from the United States will begin on Tuesday, July 1. That could create problems for California, which sends much of its plastic waste overseas.
The ban starts next week because the U.S. has failed to ratify the Basel Convention, Malaysia said. It’s one of only a few countries to do so.
The Basel Convention
The Basel Convention was signed in 1989 and ratified three years later. The treaty seeks to reduce the movement of hazardous waste between countries, especially when it goes from developed nations to developing ones.
The U.S. did sign the agreement but never ratified it, meaning it is not bound by the conditions laid out in it.
The U.S. State Department said America has not ratified the agreement “because it does not have sufficient domestic statutory authority to implement all of its provisions.”
2019 plastic waste amendments
The Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention adopted plastic waste amendments in 2019. These amendments added new controls on plastic waste exports.
This time, the U.S. reportedly refused to sign the amendments.
As Malaysia seeks to keep up with those amendments, the country will no longer accept any plastic scrap from countries that have not ratified the Basel Convention. They will continue to accept them from countries that ratified the treaty.
“We are ecstatic that this new law aims to stop much of the harmful plastic waste moving in containers each day from Los Angeles to Port Klang under the guise of recycling,” said Jim Puckett, founder and chief of strategic direction for the Basel Action Network (BAN).
“The ‘recycling’ is doing more harm than good, as only a fraction of the exports ever get recycled. The plastics that are not feasible to be recycled are often hazardous or contain microplastics, which are commonly dumped, burned or released into waterways. The export of plastic waste for recycling is a complete sham, and it is a relief that the U.S. contribution to this plastic waste shell game is increasingly outlawed.”
California’s waste issue
While some view the change as an environmental success, it will create real challenges for states like California.
According to Cal-Recycle, much of the state’s plastic waste is sent overseas every year. BAN said California shipped more than 10 million pounds of plastic to Malaysia just last year.
The Los Angeles Times reached out to some of the major ports along the California coast for their responses.
A Port of Los Angeles spokesperson said he was unaware of the ban, while Port of Long Beach officials did not respond.
A Port of Oakland spokesperson told the Times that the facility “hasn’t historically seen much volume in this commodity, so we don’t anticipate any impact from this change.”
