Discussions at the Upcoming Basel Convention Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) Present Potential New Challenges for U.S. Exporters of Certain Recycled Materials

The Basel Convention’s Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG-15) convenes this week in Geneva, Switzerland, where representatives from party governments, observers, and other international delegates will gather for a series of stock-taking meetings on efforts that could further restrict transboundary movement of certain recycled materials.

Adam Shaffer, ReMA’s Vice President of International Trade and Global Affairs, and Erin McCoy, International Trade Policy Analyst, are representing ReMA during the multi-day discussions as Observers to the Convention alongside a delegation of U.S. government officials and representatives from the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR). The U.S. government is not a party of the Convention, but because of the party/non-party trade ban, decisions made at Basel could have significant impacts on trade in recycled materials worldwide. The OEWG-15 will focus on certain issues that will come before the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Basel Convention, which will take place in April 2027 in Panama City, Panama.

“In our role as an observer, ReMA aims to make sure the parties understand the possible implications of some of the potential changes to the Basel Convention,” Shaffer said. “ReMA – and recyclers more broadly – should have a presence at the table for decisions that directly impact our industry’s competitiveness.”

There are three major areas of discussion that ReMA will engage on during the OEWG meetings: a proposal to further limit trade in recycled plastics, a proposal to include certain metallic compounds in the trade controls, and the development of a guidance document related to the implementation of the amendments that govern trade in end-of-life (ELV) electrical and electronic products.

Guidance Document on Implementation of Amendments Governing Trade of ELV Electronic Products

At the June 2022 Basel Convention Conference of Parties (COP-15), the parties to the Convention agreed to add new control measures governing the international trade of hazardous and non-hazardous “e-waste” and “e-scrap” materials. The E-Amendments went into force on January 1, 2025, and subject shipments to prior informed consent (PIC) notifications, where exporters must obtain written consent from the importing country’s government that it will legally accept that shipment.

There is an expert working group which has met several times over the last 18 months to try to delineate the scope of the E-Amendments, particularly which materials, such as certain non-ferrous metals, should fall outside the scope of the control procedures.

Why It Matters:

“Our concern is when nonelectronic products and materials are inadvertently brought into the scope of these control procedures,” Shaffer explained. “A year ago, a government decided that Zorba from shredded automotives should be brought into the control procedures and considered EOL electronics. That’s categorically false.”

According to ReMA’s ISRI Specifications, Zorba falls under nonferrous scrap and is therefore excluded from control procedures. But the government in question made this decision because the Zorba may contain shredded circuit boards or wires within the material.

“Each individual government can decide how it implements the E-amendments,” Shaffer said. “There are guidelines the convention is developing to try to help governments align when there are potential discrepancies. They’ve trying to give as much information and guidance to governments as they can, so we hopefully won’t see any non-electronic products looped in as end-of-life electronics.”

Metallic Compounds

The OEWG is also reviewing the work of an expert working group on potential changes to Annex I and Annex III. Annex I concerns the different categories of materials that fall under the control mechanisms and Annex III focuses on the types of characteristics that would constitute whether a material is hazardous or not and falls under the control procedures.

Why It Matters:

There has been a proposal from the European Union to include certain metallic compounds inside the scope of the agreement. These would include certain alloys and compounds for aluminum, nickel, zinc, and copper—materials that ReMA’s ISRI Specifications do not consider hazardous and therefore should not fall under the scope of the convention.

“The U.S. government and ReMA are paying attention to how this proposal is discussed at the meetings,” Shaffer said. “The U.S. government is hoping the OEWG will push for the removal of these proposals.”

Plastics Amendments

In January 2021, the Plastic Amendments to the Basel Convention took effect, classifying most recycled and recyclable plastic as subject to the control procedures. The Government of Norway’s recent proposal to the OEWG would start a conversation to review and potentially remove any Annex IX exemptions for anything plastic, which would be challenging for recyclers. Annex IX includes materials presumed not to be hazardous and not subject to PIC procedures.

Why It Matters:

“Anything added to the Basel Convention gets more complicated for the U.S. as a non-party,” Shaffer said. “Anything considered nonhazardous shouldn’t be part of the convention to begin with, but even if it is added it would subject the trade of these materials to the PIC procedure. While it’s likely that some of the plastic amendments may need to be tweaked, ReMA doesn’t believe that removing recyclable plastic from Annex IX from the exclusion list is the right answer.”

Next Steps:

Shaffer and McCoy will keep an eye on how these items in the OEWG work program may move forward and will update ReMA members accordingly in Detroit, MI, during the ReMA Summer 2026 Meeting.