Environmental Management: Principles and practice

Illicit dumping and export of waste and pollution
Illegal waste disposal is a problem. Within most countries fly-tipping poses health
threats, and damages the landscape and wildlife. It is one of the most widespread
means of sidestepping the polluter-pays principle. Fly-tipping may be by
householders, traders or manufacturers, or by a dishonest contractor whom a client
has paid for proper disposal. The solution is surveillance and checking waste for
clues to its origin, then enforcement of severe penalties.
Transporting waste or a pollutant does not solve the problem of disposal, it
merely shifts it. As pollution controls are tightened in developed countries there is a

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temptation for the export of hazardous substances to where regulations, labour costs
and public resistance are more favourable. There are two ways of doing this: (1) a
factory can be relocated in a developing country, or a subsidiary company can be
established; (2) waste or pollutants can be shipped for ‘disposal’. If hazardous
processes are transferred to a less developed country, employees and local people
may not appreciate the risks, or may be forced by circumstances to accept them in
return for employment.
Companies may make inadequate declarations about the materials they are
using for fear of regulations or loss of trade secrets (Ives, 1985:76). There is a need
for better labelling of materials, inspection of sites and carriers, so that all involved
know what is present, whether there is risk, and what safety measures are needed.
Efforts have been made to improve controls on the export of hazardous waste.
The EEC introduced regulations in 1988 which, like similar legislation in the USA,
aimed at improving access to information so that monitoring cargoes would be easier
for governments and NGOs. The Basle Convention, which came into force in 1993
(amended 1995), is intended to regulate international trade in hazardous waste and
especially to ensure that hazard is not exported to developing countries. Unfortunately,
although it was signed by 105 countries, it has gaps, and a number of European and
other developed countries did not ratify the convention.