According to data provided by USA Trade Online, the US international free trade database, and launched today by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (Gaia), 44,173 tonnes of plastic waste transported from the US to 15 Latin American countries between January and August 2020. .
According to Gaia, Mexico, El Salvador and Ecuador are the countries at greatest risk of contamination by the material, as they are the main importers of plastic waste in the region.
Between January and August 2020 alone, Mexico received 32,650 tonnes of garbage, while El Salvador and Ecuador received 4,054 and 3,665 tonnes, respectively.
“Latin America is not a dump. We reject cross-border trade in plastic waste in regions of the Global South”, says Gaia at the top of his public statement, which is followed by about 70 organizations around the world.
These organizations include Acción Ecológica from Ecuador; Alianza Basura Cerro from Chile; Community research such as Nipe Fagio of Tanzania and various US organizations. European and Australian environmental organizations also signed the document.
“Organizations that follow this declaration reject and are aware of the danger of Latin America becoming an emerging destination for global plastic waste, as China banned such imports in 2018 to protect its region from pollution. was given”, the note highlighted.
Between January and August 2020, the US shipped at least 35 containers of plastic waste a day to Latin America, the report details, leading to a more than 100% increase in plastic waste exports from the US to some countries in the region. that year.
“Instead of implementing adequate measures to reduce waste internally, the United States is perpetuating waste colonialism, dumping this toxic pollution in other countries”, notes Break Free From Plastics, Melissa Condemned the American coordinator of the leadership.
“We are in solidarity with our Latin American partners and allies who demand that their national governments stop accepting waste imports,” he said.
According to Gaia, which is headquartered in California, plastic waste is currently traded through vague and generic tariff classifications, making it difficult to trace it back to its end use.
Globally, there is growing concern about shipping plastic waste to countries in Latin America, such as countries with weak laws and controls, such as the United States, the largest exporter of plastic waste and a non-signatory to the Basel Convention. , Southeast Asia and Africa”, concludes the manifesto. EFE
