New Delhi, Dec 07: An international conference, to be held in Geneva from December 9 to 13, will discuss ways to handle hazardous wastes and take up the first ever initiative on disposal of e-wastes.
The sixth meeting of the conference of parties (COP6) to Basel convention of the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal will "consider a strategic plan running through the year 2010 aimed at accelerating concrete action to protect human health and the environment from hazardous wastes," a UN release said here today. At the conference nine leading mobile phone manufacturers will form a partnership with the Basel convention for environmentally sound management of end-of-life mobile phones to handle e-wastes, the release said adding communications, information and entertainment revolution of the past two decades has led to a dramatic increase in electronic and electrical wastes.

The conference also expects to adopt technical guidelines on the disposal and recycling of lead-acid batteries, plastic wastes, biomedical and healthcare wastes and obsolete ships.
"With some 150 million tonnes of hazardous wastes produced every year, the industrial world needs to accelerate its investments in cleaner production technologies and processes that can reduce wastes," Klaus Toepfer, executive director, United Nations environment programme was quoted as saying by the release.
“Governments and industry must work together to improve recycling systems and treatment plants and poorer countries an communities must not be forced to shoulder the burdens of our industrial economy by being on receiving end of hazardous wastes they did not create,” he added.

Bureau Report