National Reporting

Data visualization tool puts hazardous waste data at your fingertips

Data visualization tool puts hazardous waste data at your fingertips

Data visualization tool puts hazardous waste data at your fingertips

Data visualization tool puts hazardous waste data at your fingertips

This data visualization tool was created to show, in an interactive way, data provided by the Parties to the Basel Convention on generation and transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and other wastes. It contains data for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The tool is fully compatible with Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. The Secretariat is working to make it also compatible with other browsers.
There is a video tutorial available in case you need help to understand how the tool works.

View interactive tool

Should you come across any issue or erroneous data while using this site, please report it to: sbc_natrep@unep.org

Disclaimer: This tool and data is based on information transmitted in reports transmitted by Parties to the Basel Convention. The data provides an indication of trends and activities but must be carefully interpreted.

Acknowledgement: we would like to thank the United Nations Office at Geneva – Information and Communication Technology Service (UNOG-ICTS) for their collaboration in the development of this tool.

Waste without frontiers

Waste without frontiers

Waste without frontiers

Waste without frontiers

The reported data on transboundary movements provide a rather good picture of the amounts of hazardous and other wastes generated and subject to transboundary movements globally. The following analysis shows that there has been progress on a number of issues addressed by the Convention, in particular in relation to the following points:

  • Transboundary movements are increasing, but the vast majority of hazardous and other wastes is still treated within the country of origin and if waste is exported it stays, in most cases, within the same geographical region - in line with the principle of reducing to a minimum transboundary movements;
  • Most of the waste that is moved across borders is moved for operations to recover, recycle, reclaim, make direct re-use or alternative use of the wastes concerned. From the information available, it appears that presently only high income member states of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (hereafter ‘OECD countries’) allow significant amounts of hazardous and other wastes to be imported for final disposal. It therefore may be assumed that these Parties would only accept such imports if they could treat these wastes in an environmentally sound manner;
  • Imports of hazardous wastes by developing countries and countries with economies in transition are decreasing and exports from those countries to developed countries, where it is assumed these wastes can be treated in an environmentally sound manner, are increasing. Even though the ban on export of hazardous wastes from developed countries to developing countries adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention has not yet entered into force, such transboundary movements are already decreasing. The trends observed may, at least partly, be caused by underreporting by Parties.
  • There is no evidence that significant amounts of hazardous wastes are being transferred from richer countries to poorer countries.

There are also areas where further progress may be needed:

  • Continuous efforts should be made to encourage Parties to transmit their national reports to the Secretariat and to improve the quality and comparability of data in such reports;
  • The quantitative information presently received about transboundary movements is satisfactory, but more information is needed about the generation of hazardous wastes and the quality of treatment in the states of import, to be able to assess if the goal of environmentally sound management of wastes is being achieved.
  • More information on illegal movements should be made available and analyzed more systematically to detect areas of implementation of the Convention where further improvement could be made.
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Guidance

Guidance on national reporting

Following its seventh session, the Implementation and Compliance Committee has adopted the “Guidance Document on Improving National Reporting” aimed at assisting national technical officials with the preparation of the national reports that are to be submitted annually to the Secretariat of the Basel Convention.

This document is also available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Adoption of the revised questionnaire and manual

The Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting (December 2002) adopted a revised questionnaire on “transmission of information” and its manual, prepared by the Secretariat with the assistance from the Government of Finland and in consultation with Parties.

The manual, which is intended to assist Parties in completing the questionnaire, is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Click here to access the blank revised questionnaire as adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting.

Benchmark report aimed at facilitating reporting under paragraph 3 of Article 13 of the Basel Convention

As part of its 2009-2011 work programme, the Implementation and Compliance Committee of the Basel Convention developed a "benchmark report” aimed at facilitating reporting under the Basel Convention. The purpose of the "benchmark report" is to demonstrate what a national report submitted in accordance with Article 13, paragraph 3, might ideally look like, and to give some advice on what to avoid when preparing the national report. The "benchmark report" complements the Guidance Document on Improving National Reporting by Parties to the Basel Convention and other materials developed to assist Parties implement and comply with their national reporting obligation. The "benchmark report" was submitted to the consideration of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention during its tenth meeting (COP-10, 17-21 October 2011). COP-10 took note of the “benchmark report” and encouraged Parties to use it (Decision BC-10/11).