Basel Convention

One of the legacies of the industrial revolution has been the production of large quantities of hazardous waste, which over the last century has presented a serious challenge for disposal. Moreover, tightening of environmental regulation in industrialized countries in the late 1970s and early 80s led to a dramatic increase in the cost of disposing of hazardous waste. Producers and traders started looking for cheaper ways to get rid of “toxic” waste, such as shipping it to developing countries and to eastern Europe, which lack the technical capability, knowledge, and/or regulatory framework to treat this waste in an environmentally safe manner. Poorer countries were likely to accept exported wastes because their high international debt loads and weak economies positioned them poorly to reject any income-generating ...