3 EU countries seek rule change to stop hazardous textile waste exports

By Marianne Gros | 03/25/2024 01:38 PM EDT

The EU should also be required to obtain the informed consent of developing countries to continue to export nonhazardous textile waste, the environment ministers of Denmark, France and Sweden argue.

The environment ministers of Denmark, France and Sweden today called on the European Commission to request a change to international rules on waste exports to stop the bloc from exporting hazardous textile waste to developing countries.

At today’s Environmental Council, the three ministers asked the Commission to put forward a draft Council decision that would allow the EU to make a formal request to change the Basel Convention, an international treaty that governs the shipments of hazardous waste across borders.

The ministers say the treaty should be tweaked to state that the EU cannot export hazardous textile waste to developing countries. The EU should also be required to obtain the informed consent of developing countries to continue to export nonhazardous textile waste, they argue.

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“The current practice and level of textile waste exports are not sustainable. The member states of EU need to take responsibility, show leadership and introduce clear and effective global restrictions to tackle this pollution,” the three environment ministers wrote in an op-ed published today.

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