Sims Recycling Solutions will host the next Basel Convention Environmentally Sound Management Expert Group meeting in San Francisco, Calif. on November 10-12, 2015. Experts representing Basel Parties attending the meeting include the U.S. government (a signatory but not a Party) and various representatives from academia, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. The group will meet to discuss measures, policies and programs to promote the environmentally sound management of hazardous waste in developing countries.
“We are honored and excited to host the Basel Convention Environmentally Sound Management Expert Group meeting this fall,” said Steve Skurnac, president of Sims Recycling Solutions. “As a global leader in IT asset disposition (ITAD) services it is important that we share best practices and help address challenges faced in developing regions around the world.”
This 34-person expert group was established under the Swiss-Indonesian country-led initiative regarding the Basel Ban Amendment and has been intermittently meeting since 2012. The major goal of this group is to assist developing countries, in a multidisciplinary fashion, with growing their capacity to manage Basel and other wastes in an environmentally sound manner.
Patricia Whiting, senior international policy analyst at Sims has participated in this group since inception. Sims’ participation affords the company the opportunity to contribute the perspective of a global recycler, shape outputs of the group and network with other participants.
So far, this group has developed concise and practical manuals and fact sheets. The five manuals cover general policies and legislation, permits and licenses, prevention, insurance and liability, and terminology. The fact sheet topics include electrical and electronic waste, end-of-life vehicles, healthcare waste, household waste, mercury waste, used lead-acid batteries, used oils, and used tires. Additionally, the group is sponsoring pilot projects on environmentally sound management in developing countries.
For more information about the Basel Convention’s Environmentally Sound Management Expert Group and the upcoming meeting contact Patricia Whiting at [email protected].