Bill Text: HI HCR27 | 2021 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Urging The Department Of Health's 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.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-04-20 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HCR27 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-HCR27-Amended.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	27
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH'S 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.

 

 

     WHEREAS, prior to China's import ban on recyclable plastics in January 2018, seventy percent of the world's plastic waste was exported to China; and

 

     WHEREAS, since China's import ban on recyclable plastics, recyclable plastic waste shipments to Southeast Asian countries have increased exponentially; for example, exports of recycling from the United States to Thailand increased almost seven thousand percent in one year; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2019, Hawaii exported approximately 10,500,000 pounds of plastic, 8,500,000 pounds of aluminum, and 32,100,000 pounds of glass and bi-metal for recycling; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii collection companies choose where to send the State's recyclable waste based on factors including shipping costs, contracts, and the amount the buyer is willing to pay; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2019, Hawaii shipped its recyclable plastics, aluminum, glass, and bi-metal nationally to states including California, Georgia, Maryland, and Oregon, and internationally to China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea; and

 

     WHEREAS, much of the recyclable waste that is shipped to United States destinations from Hawaii is subsequently sent overseas for end-of-life processing; and

 

     WHEREAS, end-of-life processing for recyclable plastics and waste in many of the countries in which Hawaii's recyclable waste ultimately arrives are often handled in a manner that cause harm to human health and local environments; and

 

     WHEREAS, in response to public outcry in the 1980s following the discovery of deposits of toxic wastes imported from abroad in Africa and other parts of the developing world, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, commonly referred to as the Basel Convention, was adopted on March 22, 1989, and entered into force in 1992; and

 

     WHEREAS, the objective of the Basel Convention is to protect human health and the environment from the effects of hazardous wastes and other wastes; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Basel Convention is a multilateral environmental agreement under the auspices of the United Nations Environmental Program and was created to reduce the movement of hazardous and other wastes between nations, specifically with the intent of preventing transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States of America is a signatory to the Basel Convention but not a party; and

 

     WHEREAS, effective January l, 2021, the Basel Convention was amended to require trade controls for all mixed plastic waste not destined for environmentally—sound recycling; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Health oversees waste disposal and recycling in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, each county in the State handles its respective waste processing independent of the other counties; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health's Environmental Management Division is urged 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; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the counties are urged to ensure that destinations to which their respective county's recyclable waste is transported for out-of-state processing abide by the health and safety standards as outlined by the Basel Convention; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Health, and mayors of each county.

Report Title: 

Recyclable Waste; Out-of-State Processing; Environmental Standards; Basel Convention