You are here

Lebanon bans hazardous waste imports

Nuclear Monitor Issue: 
#467
28/02/1997
Article

(February 28, 1997) The Lebanese environment ministry adopted new legislation that bans the import of all hazardous wastes into Lebanon. The need for this new legislation was prompted by recent attempts to turn Lebanon into an international dumpsite, as shown by the recent illegal shipment of contaminated plastic waste from Germany.

(467.4645) WISE-Amsterdam - The 'ministerial decision' was passed by Lebanese Environment Minister Akram Shouhayeb on December 17, 1996. It became public and became effective in February 1977 when it was published in the Official Journal. The ministerial decision bans all waste imports for final disposal or for incineration and all hazardous waste imports bound for recycling. Traders must provide officials documents from the country of origin allowing the export of non- hazardous waste and proving that the wastes are not contaminated by any radioactive, chemical or biological substances.

As traders will also have to prove that the imported non-hazardous wastes are suitable for recycling and that the adequate recycling technologies are available in Lebanon, the import of wastes in the guise of recovery will also be outlawed.

The adoption of strong waste import legislation by Lebanon follows the adoption of similarly strict waste export legislation by the European Union. On January 20, 1997, the EU amended its waste shipment regulation 259/93 so that shipments of hazardous wastes for recovery to all non-OECD countries have to end by December 31, 1997.

With this new legislation in place, Lebanon has followed its commitments to the Basel Convention (the international convention on the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes), that Lebanon ratified last year. The international community and particularly the less industrialized world decided to put an end to the trend of using poor countries as a dumpsite for hazardous wastes from the rich countries. In September 1995, under the auspices of the United Nations Basel Convention, the member states decided to ban all hazardous waste exports from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries by January 1, 1998.

Source: Greenpeace press release, 12 February 1997

Contact: Fouad Hamdan, Lebanon Campaigner of Greenpeace Mediterranean, Beirut
Tel; +961 3 756429 or +961 1 785665;
E-mail: gp.med@cyberia.net.lb,
or: Luisa Colasimone, Greenpeace International Press Desk, Keizersgracht 174, 1016 DW Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Tel; +31 20 5249 546,