The global trade in waste profitably encompasses everything from household trash to industrial chemicals, yet is seldom addressed in business research. Its growth has been fostered by the increase of waste production, the more stringent environmental laws in the developed world, as well as the developing world's need for capital and its susceptibility to corruption. It is noteworthy that trading in toxic wastes has been quietly incorporated within bilateral free-trade pacts between developed and developing countries, in contravention of international banning treaties. Hence this presentation seeks to analyse the current export, transit, storage, recycling and disposal of select wastes particularly the directionality of the trade from the developed to the developing world. It argues that the local, regional and global consequences of jettisoning waste into the air, earth and water is insufficiently addressed by inter-governmental regulation and needs to be supplemented by corporate redesign of supply chains and global civil society engagement.

1. THE CYNICAL LOGISTICS
OF HAZARD:
WASTE EXPORT BY REGULATORY
SIDESTEP
Amos Owen Thomas
Stockholm University

2. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND
Hazardous wastes from developed to developing countries
 Adverse consequences for environment and health
Long history of dumping in sea, land and in air:
 Military and industrial surreptitious practices without legislation
International treaty against trade exists
 Basel Convention weak at enforcement; periodic news reports
Research by biological, health, environmental sciences:
 Ignored by management/business and social sciences
ABEM Conference: ‹#›© Amos Owen Thomas CYNICAL LOGISTCS / WASTE EXPORT

3. Global Illegal Waste Dumping Locations
Source: http://chartsbin.com/view/576

4. UNDERSTANDING THE
CHALLENGE
Increase of waste via stringent environmental laws
 Exploiting developing world’s need for capital:
o Corruption and ignorance of risk
Surreptitious inclusion in bilateral free-trade treaties
 Clauses imposed by industrialised on developing countries:
o Contradiction of global treaties signed with fanfare
Subtle jettisoning into air and water
 Transcontinental spread via pollution vs. local jurisdiction:
o Outsourcing of harm and blowback via weather patterns
ABEM Conference: ‹#›© Amos Owen Thomas CYNICAL LOGISTCS / WASTE EXPORT

5. Waste Generation Projections

6. PLACES AND TRACES
Africa
 Destination of toxic exports, often in rural/coastal villages:
o Bamako Convention precautionary principle of waste
production made redundant
Asia
 Economic benefits of recycling industry vs. health costs:
o Dioxin in women near municipal dumps India, Cambodia,
Philippines, etc.
Europe
 Mafia control of waste industry in southern countries:
o Dumping of municipal and industrial waste in Eastern Europe
and Africa
ABEM Conference: ‹#›© Amos Owen Thomas CYNICAL LOGISTCS / WASTE EXPORT

7. Major Waste Transit, Destinations and Types
Regions Proven Illegal Dumping Sites Likely Transit Ports Key Types of
Wastes
North America Mexico, USA Houston, New York, Long Beach
Europe UK, Spain, Italy, Poland Bergen, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Le
Havre, Marseille
South America Sao Paulo, Tubarao, Sao Sebastao
Africa Senegal, Ivory Coast, Nigeria,
S. Africa, Tanzania, Somalia
Richards Bay Scrapped Cars,
CFC Products,
Refrigerators
Middle East Iraq, Jordan
South Asia Pakistan, India
South East Asia Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam
Singapore Cable, Plastic,
Electronic Waste
North East Asia China, Hong Kong Guangzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo, Tianjin,
Kaoshung, Pusan. Nagoya, Yokohama
Oceania Port Hedland, Newcastle

8. FORMS AND REMEDIES
Municipal Waste
 Varying classification, valuation cost, delayed shipment:
o Source reduction, composting, landfills, greenhouse
emissions
Industrial Waste
 Sludges, slags, dusts, tailings from mining / manufacture:
o Trend towards further processing and materials recovery
Electronic Waste
 Consumer electronics disposal, export and recycling:
o Drop in recent decades in export to developing countries;
metals recovery
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©AmosOwenThomas
CYNICALLOGISTCS/WASTEEXPORT
ABEM Conference: ‹#›© Amos Owen Thomas CYNICAL LOGISTCS / WASTE EXPORT

9. Waste TradeAntecedents and Antidotes
LOCAL CATALYSTS
Poverty and Illiteracy
Land-Tenure Uncertainty
Institutional Lack
Civil Conflict
GLOBAL PRESSURES
Recycling Legislation
Consumption Culture
Environmental Concerns
Population Growth
CONSEQUENCES & ABATEMENT
Pollution & Contamination
Public Health
Ecology & Biodiversity
Water & Soil Degradation
STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS
Land-use Planning
Corporate Accountability
Education & Technology
Disposal & Recycling Monitoring
ABEM Conference: ‹#›© Amos Owen Thomas CYNICAL LOGISTCS / WASTE EXPORT

10. INTERVENTIONS ON WASTE
Regulatory Limitations
 Circumvention via false documents, repackaging,
smuggling:
o Global treaties but support needed for national prosecution
Corporate Re-Think
 Extended producer liability, shift responsibility to usiness:
o Re-processing closer to production; re-use/refurbishment in
developing world
Technological Innovation
 Multi-functionality, re-manufacturing, materials recovery:
o Overcoming waste as metals and rare earths grow scarce
ABEMConference:‹#›
©AmosOwenThomas
CYNICALLOGISTCS/WASTEEXPORT
ABEM Conference: ‹#›© Amos Owen Thomas CYNICAL LOGISTCS / WASTE EXPORT