Shipping Plastic Scrap

RECYCLING IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

The recycling industry is essential for environmental protection, resource conservation and sustainability. TRANSFORMING OBSOLETE PRESERVING VALUABLE RESOURCES MATERIALS INTO NEW PRODUCTS Those scrap commodities reduce the need to U.S. recyclers transformed 138 million metric mine for ore, cut down trees for paper, extract tons of material from outdated or obsolete fossil fuels to produce plastic and otherwise products into valuable manufacturing inputs deplete our natural resources. in 2018. REPAIRING THE WORLD FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE Recycling reduces the amount of material The scrap commodities recycled annually save sent to landfills, preserving that land for the equivalent of nearly 400 million tons of better uses. carbon dioxide -- equal to the energy use of 48 million homes for one year.

Recycling Saves Energy and the Earth Saves the Energy Equivalent of (Gasoline) Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emission by

(CO2 Equivalent)

ONE CAR 450 GAL. 8,811 LBS.

ONE REFRIGERATOR 29 GAL. 566 LBS.

ONE COMPUTER & CRT MONITOR 21 GAL. 404 LBS.

ONE WASHING MACHINE 20 GAL. 397 LBS.

FOUR TIRES 17 GAL. 323 LBS.

ONE TELEVISION 4 GAL. 81 LBS.

10 LBS. OF ALUMINUM CANS 10 2 GAL. 40 LBS.

1 TON OF WATER BOTTLES 173 GAL. 3380 LBS.

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT US AT: WWW.ISRI.ORG/ESSENTIAL ShippingPublished October 2020Plastic Scrap In compliance with the Basel Convention Learn more at: www.isri.org

WHAT IS THE BASEL What You Need To Know CONVENTION? WHAT DOES “CONTROLLED” MEAN? The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary WHAT IS “PRIOR INFORMED CONSTENT”? Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal Products and materials that are regulated by the Basel is a legally-binding, international treaty that subjects Convention are “controlled” items. That includes all hazardous hazardous wastes or other wastes to a “prior informed products and materials and certain non-hazardous plastics as consent” (PIC) procedure before the material can be noted on page 2. shipped across national borders. The Convention seeks to: Article 6, paragraph 1 … states that “the State of export shall Control and ensure environmentally notify, or shall require the generator or exporter to notify, in sound management of primarily writing … [to] the State of [import] … of any proposed trans- hazardous wastes that cross borders boundary movement of hazardous wastes or other wastes.” Obtaining such “prior informed consent” from the receiving Prevent or control the export of country gives that country the right of refusal if proper recy- primarily hazardous wastes to count- cling or disposal operations do not exist. ries without the capacity to manage it in an environmentally sound manner DO I NEED TO OBTAIN Strengthen the capacity of countries “PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT”? (especially developing countries) to If you intend to ship plastic scrap that meets the classification soundly manage waste. outlined in Annex II of the convention, then you are required to obtain “prior informed consent” from the receiving country prior to shipment. WHAT IS CHANGING AND WHEN DOES THAT OCCUR? On January 1, 2021, the Basel Convention was amended to CAN I TRADE WITH create three categories of plastic waste and scrap: ALL COUNTRIES? • Hazardous plastics to be controlled (Annex VIII) The Convention prohibits Parties from exporting and • Non-hazardous plastics to be controlled (Annex II) importing controlled materials with non- Parties. The United States is not a party to the convention; thus, hazardous • Non-hazardous plastics not to be controlled (Annex IX) wastes and other wastes (including controlled non-hazard- Controlled plastics must obtain “prior informed consent” prior ous plastics) may not be imported or exported from the to shipping across a national border. United States. THE EXCEPTION: The Convention allows for special arrangements with non-Parties, and the United HOW DO I OBTAIN “PRIOR INFORMED States has agreements with Costa Rica, the Philippines and CONSENT”? Malaysia for imports only and an arrangement with Mexico for solid waste. A new agreement between the U.S. and 1. Exporter submits notice to exporting country government. Canada allows for open trade of all plastics between the 2. Exporting country government forwards notice to intended two countries. Although the Organization for Economic importing country government. Cooperation and Development (OECD)*, of which the U.S. 3. Importing country government reviews notice and consents, is a member, is a special arrangement that allows waste & objects, or conditionally consents to export notice and scrap trade within the block of countries, unfortunately, informs exporting country government. there was no consensus on plastics trade within the bloc. 4. Exporting country government informs exporter of decision. Therefore, traders may consult the OECD, national legisla- tions and the Basel Convention for trade rules. ISRI main- 5. If consent is received, exporter generally has approval to tains this information for members. export for one year under conditions of the consent and/or import permit. *OECD members: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, IMPORTANT: A transaction cannot take place until the consent is received. Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New The “Prior Informed Consent” request form is at http://www.basel.int/Portals/4/ Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Basel Convention/docs/techmatters/forms-notif-mov/vCOP8.pdf. Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States 1 RECYCLING IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Recycling Saves Energy and the Earth Saves the Energy Equivalent of (Gasoline) Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emission by

(CO2 Equivalent)

ONE CAR 450 GAL. 8,811 LBS.

ONE REFRIGERATOR 29 GAL. 566 LBS.

ONE COMPUTER & CRT MONITOR 21 GAL. 404 LBS.

ONE WASHING MACHINE 20 GAL. 397 LBS.

FOUR TIRES 17 GAL. 323 LBS.

ONE TELEVISION 4 GAL. 81 LBS.

10 LBS. OF ALUMINUM CANS 10 2 GAL. 40 LBS.

1 TON OF WATER BOTTLES 173 GAL. 3380 LBS.

TO LEARN MORE, VISIT US AT: WWW.ISRI.ORG/ESSENTIAL ShippingPublished Plastic October 2020 Scrap In compliance with the Basel Convention Learn more at: www.isri.org

Hazardous plastic waste – Annex VIII PLASTICS CONTROLLED BY THE BASEL CONVENTION Materials covered under Basel Annex II and Annex VIII are CONTROLLED by the Basel Convention. • Annex II covers NON-HAZARDOUS plastics, including most mixed plastic waste (with the exception of mixtures consisting of PE, PP, and PET) as well as plastics that are highly contaminated. • Annex VIII covers HAZARDOUS plastic waste containing or combined with hazardous constit- uents listed in Basel Annex I to the extent they exhibit hazardous characteristics listed in Basel Annex III. Mixed plastic waste – Annex II ALL PICTURES SHOWN ARE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSE ONLY. ACTUAL WASTE MAY VARY DUE TO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CONTAMINATION AND MIXTURE.

NON-HAZARDOUS PLASTICS Single Plastic Polymer - Annex IX NOT CONTROLLED BY THE BASEL CONVENTION Materials covered under Basel Annex IX are NOT CONTROLLED by the Basel Convention. • The materials covered must be “almost exclu sively”* consisting of a single non-halogenated polymer or resin. • Certain unmixed fluorinated polymers are allowed. • Plastic must be “almost free”* from any type of contamination as well as be destined for environmentally sound recycling. • Mixtures of PE, PP and PET are allowed if destined for “separate recycling.” *Technical guidelines to aid in the interpretation and determination of “almost exclusively” and “almost free” are still under development. Exporters are encouraged Allowed Mixture of PE, PP AND PET - Annex IX to ship material in compliance with ISRI Specifications ALL PICTURES SHOWN ARE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSE ONLY. and to follow national regulations regarding the export ACTUAL WASTE MAY VARY IN QUANTITY AND STATE. and import of recyclable plastics.