RES 143 Draft 01 2020-2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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JMgV^Ui h,��, �•J i COUNTY OF HAWAII _• STATE OF HAWAII re'OF N► RESOLUTION NO. 143 21 A RESOLUTION URGING THE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT TO ENSURE THAT DESTINATIONS TO WHICH THE COUNTY OF HAWAII TRANSPORTS ITS RECYCLABLE WASTE FOR OUT- OF-STATE PROCESSING ABIDE BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS OUTLINED BY THE BASEL CONVENTION. WHEREAS, in 2019, the State of Hawaii exported 5,250 tons of plastic, 4,250 tons of aluminum, and 16,050 tons of glass and bi-metal for recycling; and WHEREAS, Hawaii collection companies export the State's recyclable waste to various locations around the world based on factors such as transport costs, pre- existing contracts, and prevailing prices; and WHEREAS, in countries where much of the exported recyclable waste from Hawaii is sent, end -of -life processing is often conducted through procedures that harm human and environmental health; and WHEREAS, to help protect human and environmental health against adverse impacts from the management of hazardous and other wastes, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, commonly referred to as the Basel Convention, was adopted as a multilateral agreement through the United Nations Environmental Program in 1989 and came into force in 1992; and WHEREAS, the Basel Convention, of which the United States of America is a signatory, has been described as the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous wastes, with 179 parties and 53 signatories worldwide; and WHEREAS, effective January 1, 2021, the Basel Convention was amended to require trade controls for all mixed plastic waste not destined for environmentally -sound recycling; and WHEREAS, on April 20, 2021, the Hawaii State legislature adopted House Concurrent Resolution 27, SD 1, urging the State Department of Health — Environmental Management Division to ensure that destinations to which the State's recyclable waste is transported for out- of-state processing abide by the environmental standards as outlined by the Basel Convention ("Exhibit A") while simultaneously urging the counties to ensure the same; and WHEREAS, the County of Hawaii Department of Environmental Management oversees waste disposal and recycling for the County; now, therefore,