Photo by Alexandre Debiève on Unsplash (illustrative)
On 1 January 2025, amendments to the Basel Convention on hazardous waste took effect, closing a long-standing gap in how the world controls the trade in discarded electronics. Countries had agreed the change at a UN conference in June 2022.
Key facts
All electronic and electrical waste, hazardous or not, is now subject to the convention's prior informed consent procedure.
The change removed entries that had let e-waste classed as non-hazardous move without the prior informed consent procedure.
The amendments apply to every party that did not formally opt out within six months of 1 July 2024.
The world produced a record 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, and only 22.3% was documented as properly collected and recycled.
Why it matters
Discarded electronics from the United States and elsewhere have been smuggled into Southeast Asia for unlicensed recycling. Requiring consent for every shipment gives importing countries clear legal grounds to refuse it, and backs crackdowns such as Malaysia's 2026 ban on all e-waste imports.
Worth noting
The United States, a major exporter of e-waste, is not a party to the Basel Convention, so its shipments are not bound in the same way. Enforcement depends on customs checks, and mislabeled cargo still slips through.