Trash Trade and Environmental Regulations: An Assessment

Following China's decision to ban trash import in 2018, some countries in Southeast Asia are at the forefront of banning and imposing stringent measures to crackdown trash trade. The new trend in trash trade regulations had further impacted weaker countries and made a haven for dumping waste unless they adopt a uniform mechanism to regulate or completely ban trash trade within the region. This study aimed to analyze the recent response of some developing countries to the trash trade and how likely this response impact other countries in the same region, taking into account the impact of the trash trade on the environment and health and waste handling capacity. This study adopted doctrinal analysis that combined descriptive and analytical approaches to analyze trash trade and regulation impacts in developing countries and arrived at a need for a holistic approach and national waste management policy to encourage the recycling industry in trash receiving states. This study found that although developing countries had a perfect set of rules and norms regarding sustainable waste management and protecting illicit trash trade, most of them had shortages due to internal and external factors. Solid waste management in developing and least developed countries was a never-ending problem due to the low technological requirements and economic investments.


I. INTRODUCTION
International trade in industrial waste has grown faster than total trade-8.8 percent vs. 7.0 percent, respectively, per year on average between 2002 and 2019). 1 The European Union (EU) and North America are the world's main waste exporters, 2 while the EU and Asia are the biggest importers. 3 The global annual waste trade grew rapidly from 1993 and continued to grow exponentially in 2016. In 1993, the waste trade grew by 723%, while in 2016, it grew by 817%. 4 Not all waste moves from developed to developing regions "in a linear way," as waste trade clusters depend on commercial routes, reverse logistics, geographic proximity or trade agreements. 5 Overall, unethical transboundary movements of wastes and their disposal drive developing countries into a more vulnerable position in responding to environmental crises. 6 Some developing countries have taken measures to crackdown trash trade due to the quality of recyclate wastes export, managing and handling waste, lack of modern technology, and public pressure. For instance, in 2018, China declared a total ban on importing nonindustrial plastic waste. The following the China ban, like Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand are at the forefront of banning and imposing stringent measures to crackdown trash trade. It poses a more significant challenge for other developing countries in the same region countries in handling trash trade and provide potential recommendations to the policymakers and the source countries' responsibilities in adhering to the international environmental norms. It ensures a robust national policy on waste management to regulate the recycling industry. Otherwise, it prohibits the importation of trash.
This study aimed to analyze the recent response of some developing countries to the trash trade and how likely this response impact other countries in the same region. For this study, first, this study analyzes the impact of the transboundary movement in developing countries. Second, it analyzes the impact of trash trade under the environmental justice system and inter, and intragenerational perspectives. Third, the study emphasizes the international instruments and regional instruments relevant to developing countries' transboundary movement and the applicability and scope of such instruments. Finally, it proposes some recommendations for developing countries to adapt to manage trash within their territory.

II. METHODS
This study was a doctrinal analysis that included descriptive and analytical approaches. Data were collected mainly on primary and secondary resources, including international and regional instruments on transboundary movements on trash, were analyzed. These data supported the study that analyzed international instruments to revisit the provisions related to developing countries on trash trade, and the developed countries support establishing best practice approaches to minimize the harms during the transboundary movement of trash.

III. TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT OF TRASH AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The Economists of International Trade Waste claim that the last two decades show an unprecedented scale of hazardous and non-hazardous trade waste. 11 According to Greenpeace, 'between 2016 and 2018, the ASEAN region saw plastic waste imports grow by a staggering 171% … this equivalent to around 423,544 20-foot shipping containers.' It amounted to nearly two billion tons of waste dumped globally every year. 12 The mounting transboundary solid waste causes severe impacts on the environment and health. Environmentalists argue that the collecting and disposing of a large volume of garbage creates now and future generations risks. For instance, new generation risks are immediate, such as nuisance risks-fire, odor, and vermin. Simultaneously, the second-generation problems, such as leachate, should be understood from the negative impacts of landfills. 13 Leaking the toxic substance contaminates gradually into the ground that remains in our environment with the possibility of entering the food chain, including riverbanks. Long-term exposure to shredded plastics, which result from burning plastics, contains heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, which cause damage to the brain, nervous system (lead), and kidneys, lungs, and bones (cadmium). 14 Low quality plastics exports and the lack of modern technology to handle recycling in developing countries also lead to improper waste storage and treatment systems; this dramatically impacts health and the environment due to new chemicals. 15 The developing countries face numerous challenges on non-recyclable or low-quality plastics and scrap materials as secondary raw materials. Under recyclable plastics, other rubbish, including body parts and nonrecyclable trash, is being exported into developing countries. Some South and East Asian Countries have become cautious about the importation of waste after China's decision. Malaysia's, 21 the Philippines's 22 , and Sri Lanka's 23 recent action to repatriate the waste shipment to source countries such as the USA, Canada, and the UK is a prime example. Furthermore, Malaysia and Vietnam ceased issuing new permits or licenses for the importation of plastic waste. This alarms neighboring countries as some countries within the region bring more stringent mechanisms to counter waste management. The rest of the weaker countries become more hotspots for the waste dump. The regional or sub-regional legal agency should adapt to govern plastics and plastic products, regulate trash trade, and curb illegal importations.
Generally, developing countries use improper disposal of waste to cause further significant long-term consequences. For instance, disposal into the air through the burning of garbage is ordinary in some developing countries, nevertheless causing a severe impact on health and the environment. Illegal waste management collecting centers and dumping and using waste for recycling purposes cause a significant effect on society's well-being. Moreover, the ghost containers found in the ports of developing countries carry with post-consumer household waste such as used mattresses and carpets, plastic, and polythene scraps without the required prior permission as Articles 6 of the Basel Convention mandates. 24 21  Increasingly, hazardous wastes exports are not only being disguised by waste traders but are also being exported openly for 'further use' such as 'waste to energy or 'recycling operations.' 25 By the early 1990s, some 90% of all hazardous waste exports to less-industrialized countries were headed for further use. 26 For example, many waste trading firms have offered power plants to developing countries, including Sierra Leone, Belize, Angola, and Egypt, amongst many others, if they would in return accept hazardous waste as fuel to run the plant. The incineration of toxic waste, however, often creates even more dangerous toxins than the hazardous waste in its original form. 27 Other recycling processes in underdeveloped countries have also been found to be harmful to both human health and the environment. 28 The Thor Chemicals mercury recycling factory in South Africa, which processes mercury waste supplied from Europe and North America, is one well-known example. Several employees at this plant have died as a result of mercury poisoning, while others have been permanently crippled. High quantities of mercury from the facility have also found their way into a nearby river, which the locals use for cooking and washing. 29 China's import, and subsequent ban of trash trade, is based on commercial interest and the country's competitive advantage. It raises the question of what competitive advantage and technological advances other developing countries have to process the trash? The trash trade will not benefit unless it is regulated in an isolated area to promote recycling industries. However, it is doubtful how far these industries will succeed due to low-level law enforcement and the lack of modern technology and know-how. For instance, the waste hierarchy or the 4R concepts adopt to manage solid waste locally and globally, in the priority order -prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling, another recovery [i.e., energy recovery; and disposal]. 30 In reality, some scholars argue that the waste hierarchy is far from absolute. It has many theoretical difficulties in applying to different places, different scales of operation, and different types of waste. 31 Although there are devastating reasons against trash trade in developing countries, researchers have discovered a potential bright side to this uneven trade as plastic waste may represent an economic boon for low-income countries. Bai et al. argue that "affluent countries outsource environmental burdens to developing countries. Another aspect of the tale is that plastic garbage could be used as a resource first, even if it ultimately adds to the environmental responsibilities of developing countries." 32 Lipman's study highlights the importance of the trash trade to developing countries as it creates jobs by establishing secondary raw materials-related industries and thereby improves the quality of life. 33 Further, the author quotes the importation of lead-acid batteries into India and the Philippines, which are required in their domestic sectors, such as batteries for automobiles, telecommunications, and computers. 34 However, developing countries are not suitable for the trash trade, given the below explanation. The lack of infrastructure facilities, deficiency of resources to dispose of the waste safely and realistically, and the nonexistence of advanced technology in handling toxic waste are some main reasons that play a significant role. Furthermore, the lack of law enforcement, the lower economic cost in the exportation of trash, the lack of public protests in the careless waste disposal, and the lack of international regulations in transboundary hazardous waste monitoring systems are also contributing factors for the exportation of trash into developing countries. 35 The poor become direct victims of massive environmental changes, including landfills. Shifting environmental burdens from one country to another violates environmental justice theory. It also leads to ecological outrages, such as air pollution, water pollution, an unhealthy environment, the spread of deadly diseases, stress, depression. Consequently, safeguarding the environment for the future becomes a great challenge for these countries. 36

IV. TRANSBOUNDARY MOVEMENT OF WASTE, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THEORY, AND INTER AND INTRA GENERATIONAL EQUITY
The environmental justice theory emphasizes the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and costs of people without any discrimination. 37 The 'environmental justice' is defined as follows: "Environmental justice is based on the principle that all have a right to be protected from environmental pollution and to live in and enjoy clean air. Environmental Justice is the equal protection and meaningful involvement of all people to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies and the equitable distribution of environmental benefits. This definition exposes the main three aspects of environmental justice. Firstly, the procedural justice aspects concentrate on meaningful involvement of all people. Secondly, substantive justice aspects focus on the right to live in and enjoy a clean and healthy environment. Finally, distributive justice aspects stress equitable distribution of environmental benefits. 39 These aspects of justice establish that a clean environment is an inherent right of the people. Upholding ecological justice in ecological management gives moral values of protecting the environment for present and future generations. Environmental justice identifies the unequal proportion of environmental risks, such as hazardous waste, dumps, unequal access to environmental goods (air and clean water), and less opportunity to participate in environmental decision-making. Poor people face more significant ecological risks and cannot control the environmental abuses imposed on them. 40 The transboundary movements of hazardous waste and other waste without proper guidance on how to adopt a waste hierarchy system in developing countries import waste at the expense of its citizens' health and environmental risk.
Trash trade and dumping waste in developing countries are not adequately regulated, as discussed above. For instance, wealthier countries use the vulnerable situation of the developing countries to dump trash without supporting recyclates in line with the waste hierarchy or 4R concept. Source countries should not encourage landfilling or incineration of such recyclates in receiving countries.
Strengthening the environmental standards and preventing pollution is one of the core elements of the concept of sustainable development and underpin aims of inter, intra-generational equity and environmental justice. International communities distinguish responsibilities on environmental management; thus, principles like common but differentiated responsibilities emerge to accept the unequal status of countries in defining the role to adopt environmental sustainability. The international community recognized that developing countries need support from developed countries to encourage environmental sustainability at the domestic level. In the trash trade, it is entirely different from other trade and investments. Some developing countries involve the trash trade to generate wealth either through reuse or disposal at the expense of environmental degradation. It involves complete trash, thus needing inordinate support from developed states or source countries to handle, reuse, and dispose of waste. Campbell rightly argues that countries that cannot meet the standard must either ban the import of the waste or rely on the principles for international cooperation and ask for assistance. Nevertheless, the exporting country maintains responsibility for the waste until it is completely disposed of. 41 Environmental justice theories underline the three basic requirements of sustainable development-fairness, justice, and equity among people. These theories admit the necessity to protect and promote the environment. It is the bounden duty and trusteeship of the people living on Earth to leave it to posterity in the same condition, if not better. The current generation is an inter-generational collective occupying the planet earth whose resources and nature are not exploited or ruined through government activities. Unregulated waste dumping systems in developing countries create longterm detrimental effects on the environment and thereby cause severe health issues and undermine the basic norms of environmental sustainability. Justice, equity, and fairness are interwoven and assist in satisfying the goals of present and unborn generations, making this environment more productive in terms of economic development and creating a meaningful distribution of wealth, health, and all other benefits.
Rich countries export trash into developing countries with no preventive measures to handle waste or no waste policy adopted by the import states. The recent waste shipment from the USA, UK, and Canada claimed nonrecyclable waste being exported. Shifting the burden into another jurisdiction is unacceptable and violates fairness, justice, and equity. Every aspect of the international community and government activities must comply with the environmental regulations and principles usually focus on intergenerational equity and intra-generational equity. 42 Hayward states that "securing environmental protection, equity in distribution and justice for future generations have been explicitly linked together in the idea of sustainability." 43 Adherence to domestic and international environmental law and regulations and sustainable development norms is imperative, emphasizing the significance of impact assessment procedures. It distinguishes waste and non-waste, adopting preventive safety measures, and treating and handling waste without profound impact on the environment and the surroundings. From environmental justice, managing sensitive environmental projects must ensure the principle of justice in every aspect of the process. To maintain justice, fairness, and equity, full disclosure of environmentrelated issues at the negotiation stage is required to combat environmental degradation and minimize the negative impacts to fulfill the collective responsibilities towards conserving the environment. 46 It allows contracting parties to undertake environmental mitigation according to their capabilities. Thus, Principle 24 of the Stockholm Declaration expresses this statement as; "International matters concerning the protection and improvement of the environment should be handled in a cooperative spirit by all countries, big or small, on an equal footing. Corporation through multilateral or bilateral arrangements or other appropriate means is essential to effectively control, prevent, reduce and eliminate adverse environmental effects resulting from activities conducted by all spheres, in such a way that due account is taken of the sovereignty and interests of all State." 47 (Emphasis added).
Nevertheless, the recent trash trade crisis reveals that rich countries export non-recyclable waste into developing countries. Allowing trash trade paves the way for the illegal importation of trade waste into developing countries.

A. The Basel Convention
The Basel Convention is one of the pioneer international instruments drafted to protect developing countries from exploitation by developed Convention recognizes the "state responsibility to handle hazardous waste movement and disposal is consistent with the protection of human health and the environment." Further, illustrate that the sovereign State has a right to ban the entry of foreign waste. As mentioned above, the developing countries have limited capabilities to manage variants of hazardous wastes exported into the nations.
The Basel Convention characterized plastic waste into several categories and regulated trash export. For instance, under the purview of the Basel Convention, if a 'plastic waste categorized under the waste requires special consideration,' then its export should be regulated. This Convention scrutinizes mechanisms to build capacity to properly manage plastic waste by providing a framework for knowledge sharing, promoting the proper management of waste, and including harmonization of technical standards. 50 Strict liability is one of the appropriate legal concepts that could apply to controlling the trash trade. Waste producers and exporters should be liable and accountable for the material they produce and export that does not meet the international standard when shipping to other countries. Article 9, if any party contravenes the provisions of Basel Convention and is subject to any prohibited activities listed in the condition which are considered 'illegal trafficking.' The prohibited activities are generally attempting to dump hazardous waste in the states concerned without any notice, prior approval, or approval obtained from falsification/misrepresentations/ fraud. 51 The Basel Convention enables the concerned country to report illegal trafficking by completing and transmitting trafficking, the waste in question will send back to the country of export, and it becomes impractical that the waste will dispose of as per the provisions of the Convention. 53 Widawsky analyzes how developing nations can improve the Basel Convention's ability to achieve environmental justice through enabling an innovative mechanism for the hazardous trash trade. The author claims as follows: "Nor do developing countries have the financial resources to place the issue of hazardous waste importation high on their priority lists. Therefore, the exportation of toxic waste to the Third World is thoroughly grounded in the existing global economic structure. Until this global economic inequity is resolved, wealth will continue to permit industrialized nations to proclaim." 54 The Conference of Parties (COP), as a governing body of the Basel Convention, made changes to the Convention on 1 January 2021. It adopted a control mechanism and a stricter approach to shipments of plastic scraps and waste intended for recycling or disposal internationally. 55 New categories of plastic waste subject to the Convention emerged based on the recent amendments to the annexes to the Convention. 56 Under this new amendment, most plastic scrap and waste, including hazardous and non-hazardous, are subject to Basel Convention, which should be bound to follow prior notice and consent requirements. 57 The new Basel-controlled non-hazardous plastic scrap and the waste listing includes the following; "The plastic scrap and waste that is contaminated (e.g., with food residue and/or other non-hazardous waste), mixed with other types of scrap and waste, containing halogenated polymers (e.g., PVC) and mixed plastic scrap and waste, except for shipments consisting of Howard advocates that the Basel Convention becomes an excellent platform for uniting more than hundreds of nations with diverse goals to reach an agreement on a contentious topic. 59 However, in reality, hazardous waste is still being transported both lawfully and unlawfully. 60 Article 04 of the Convention imposes general obligations for parties to the treaty.

B. Bamako Convention
The Basel Convention encourages parties to bring bilateral, multilateral, and regional agreements on hazardous waste. 61 Accordingly, in January 1991, in Bamako, the twelve member nations of the Organization of African Union signed a treaty called the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of the and drums in a small village in Southern Nigeria. It was claimed to be fertilizers to the farmer but caused severe health issues, including deaths through leaks in those containers and drums. Nearly 500 residents were evacuated, and people in the area remember the incident as "drums of death"-Koko. In Ivory Coast's Probo Koala case, in 2006, a Panamaregistered cargo ship hired by the commodities trading firm Trafigura spilled approximately 500 cubic meters of highly hazardous trash in Abidjan, killing 17 people and sickening tens of thousands more. 64 Both of these incidents highlight the failure of the Basel Convention in regulating hazardous exportation in developing countries. 65 Accordingly, the goals of the Convention are; to forbid the import of all kinds of hazardous; decrease and resist the transboundary movements of hazardous; to prohibit all hazardous waste disposal or combustion in the ocean and inland waterways; ensure the environmentally sound disposal of the waste; promote cleaner production over the pursuit of a permissible emissions approach and make the precautionary principle a reality. 66 The Bamako Convention sets a standard based on covering most of the categories of waste that the Basel Convention did not cover. It includes radioactive waste, any waste with a listed hazardous characteristic or a constituent as dangerous waste. 67 Moreover, waste consists of those severely restricted or subject to prohibitions. 68 For instance, Article 4(1) ensures the banning of all kinds of s hazardous waste imports, and Article 4(2) prohibits dumping hazardous wastes at sea and internal waters. 69 Further, waste generation in Africa carries some procedures to follow and rules to adhere to. The Bamako Convention mentioned those criteria in Article 4(3). Accordingly, each party shall ensure specific criteria such as waste generator should submit a report to the Secretariat to produce waste audit, impose liability, ensure adequate treatment and disposal facilities, prevent pollution, and safeguard human health and environment.
Furthermore, precautionary measure is significant to avoid harm. It involves, among other things, preventing the release of substances into the environment that may harm people or the environment without first obtaining scientific proof of such harm. It ensures that each stakeholder should make every effort to adopt and execute a proactive, preventative strategy to pollution.
The primary question that one could raise is whether the provisions provided by the Bamako Convention are effectively implemented. In February 2021, Abidjan, Ivorian Capital, declared that immediate steps and effective procedures would take at the national and regional levels to implement the Bamako Convention properly. Following determination was highlighted by His Excellency Anne Desire Oulotto, Minister of Sanitation, Environment and Sustainable Development of Cote d'Ivoire and President of the COP-2 of the Bamako Convention, as follows: "The Bamako Convention is an important instrument demonstrating Africans' will to protect their health and environment. It is an instrument that can help us have a Continent free of all forms of pollution. However, to achieve the objectives of the Convention, we need to double our efforts and continue to create more initiatives." 70

C. The Fourth Convention of Lome
In December 1989, the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) nations agreed to include a provision banning the export of all hazardous and radioactive waste from the European Countries to any ACP state and prohibiting the import by the ACP countries from any country into the fourth revision of the Lome Convention (Lome IV Promoting the socio-economic, cultural development of the ACP states is the ultimate objective of this Convention. In addition, it considers the establishment of "close cooperation in a spirit of complete equality and "just and equitable world economic order" by creating a model for relations between developing and developed countries. 73 The significant change adopted under Lome IV is banning toxic waste movements between ACPs and EC member states and the increased EDF funding for the decentralized cooperation and diversification of the economy. Article 5 of the Lome IV incorporated a human rights clause as a 'fundamental' part of cooperation. It shows the Convention's flexibility in incorporating human rights-a vital element of cooperation and considered it the first development agreement to incorporate a human rights clause. It outlines that any violation could lead to a partial or total suspension of development aid by the European Union after prior consultation of other ACP nations and the abusing party, by the gravity of the human rights clause.

D. The 1996 Protocol
The 1996  zero where practicable. They laid out steps to limit transboundary hazardous waste movements in the Mediterranean to safeguard the ecosystem. Additionally, they tried to eliminate such transport in the Mediterranean and restrict the shipment and transit of hazardous waste to emerging nations and parties that are not European Community member states and Monaco. 75 Article 6 of this Protocol mentioned a fundamental structure and procedure for the transboundary movement of wastes. Additionally, the same article dealt with the notification procedures considered based on the Basel Convention. Article 10 of this Protocol describes the role of parties in case they are opted to assist the developing countries. This particular article in assistance to developing countries says that, "While assisting to developing countries, the parties shall, directly or with the assistance of competent or other international organizations or bilaterally, cooperate in formulating and implementing programs of financial and technical assistance to developing countries for the implementation of this Protocol." 76

A. Waste Policy
A sound national-level waste policy is imperative to encourage trash trade for economic benefits. The goal of waste policy should be to reduce the negative impacts of waste creation and management on human health and the environment as much as possible. Primarily, waste policies should be concentrated more on reducing waste generation, reusing the waste generated, and recycling the waste. The waste policy should also strive to minimize resource consumption and promote implementing the waste hierarchy in practice. If all of these elements are scrutinized while drafting the waste policies, that will lead to a sustainable waste disposal policy. In addition, waste policies could also provide a complete guideline with a written procedure for collecting, storing, processing, and disposing of trash generated and, of course, trash traded for disposal. framework for collaborative, national action on waste management, recycling, and resource recovery. 84 Further, this 2018 National Policy of Australia represents new methods of thinking about rubbish as a resource and incorporates circular economy ideas into waste management to encourage better and more frequent use of our resources. The circular economy waste policies include improving recourse recovery, increasing recycled products, safeguarding human health, the environment, and the economy, and improving the information system. 85 However, the authorities must assess the success of waste management policies to determine whether the outcomes achieved match policy aims and identify impediments and develop implementation strategies.
There is a considerable difference between the effectiveness of policy implementation in developed and developing countries. Let us consider the policy outcome evaluation of a developing country. It has most probably failed to accomplish the policy targets for various reasons, such as lack of implementation strategies, poor infrastructure facilities in the landfills, failure of the municipal waste generation, inadequate systems for recyclability. Moreover, significantly deficient sanitary landfills do not cope with modern engineering as developed countries design and construct.
This study draws examples from two developing countries relevant to their waste management policies, structures, and functioning based on their available infrastructure and technology.
In 2010, Brazil designed a virtuous National Solid Waste Policy System (PNRS) based on its legislation and programs. This policy was based on the 'polluter pays principle, a central component of the law, and it also inserted reverse logistics. Exclusively it applies to "(a) pesticides, hazardous waste, and associated packaging; (b) batteries; (c) tires; (d) lubricating oils and their packaging; (e) fluorescent bulbs, sodium and mercury vapor bulbs, and mixed-light bulbs; and (f) electronic products and components." 86 It was a cross-cutting law intended to reduce the overall volume of garbage produced across the country and improve the long-term viability of solid waste management from the local to the national level. 87 In July 2019, at the 6th International Conference on Energy and Environment Research, it was discussed that although PNRS established a different set of rules and procedures regarding waste disposal, trash trade, recycling, and reusing, it has failed in its implementation phase. The evolution of solid urban waste management in Brazil was not successful for various reasons. The identified low evolution concerned four basic management processes: generation, collection, selective collection, and final disposal of waste. 88 We can depict that the implementation of the waste policy plays a crucial role in its successful application.
Sri Lanka, a developing country, is another appropriate example for its waste mismanagement and non-adaptation of proper mechanisms.

B. Common but Differentiated Responsibility
The principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR) results from the evolution of two concepts such as common concern and shared heritage of humankind. 93 The principle of CBDR is a result of the application of equity in international law and raising global awareness that developing countries have special needs, which must be taken into account when rules of international law are set, applied, and interpreted. 94 Equal obligations cannot impose on all countries the same way; they need to consider countries' capacity to fulfill obligations to protect the environment. The Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants refers directly to the common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities of developed and developing countries. 99 The Preamble of the above Convention directs the parties to the Convention as follows; Taking into account the circumstances and particular requirements of developing countries, in particular, the least developed among them, and countries with economies in transition, especially the need to strengthen their national capabilities for the management of chemicals, including through the transfer of technology, the provision of financial and technical assistance and the promotion of cooperation among the Parties, 100 All nations' policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD) initiatives should adhere to the CBDR concept to revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. 101 PCSD is a policy instrument and a method for integrating the economic, social, environmental, and governance elements of sustainable development at all domestic and international policy formulation levels. 102 The principle of CBDR favors the least advantaged States, which usually applies to developing States. In practice, the principle pursues by differentiated allocation of rights and obligations and redistribution of resources. 103 Overall, the concept of common but differentiated responsibility determines two legal consequences: it creates a dual standard 98 Basel Convention, supra note 48, arts., 10 and 11. 99 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)  Though it is well presented in legal instruments, the developed states failed to consider the different needs of developing states. The least developed countries are contributing to environmental degradation through mismanagement of hazardous waste. The European Environment Agency estimates that between 250,000 and 1.3 million tons of old electrical items are exported from the EU each year, primarily to West Africa and Asia. These commodities may then be processed in hazardous and inefficient ways, endangering local people's health and hurting the environment. 105 High-income or advanced developed countries can develop sound waste management systems as they have enough capacity. Also, they can provide technological support for developing states as well. Nevertheless, unfortunately, they tend to trade waste to countries with lower income, which contribute most of the pollution and environmental degradation, specifically at a national level first and to the entire globe in the long run. "Developed countries should collaborate closely with developing countries in the future to avert potential environmental harm, boost commerce, and avoid further misunderstanding. Countries unable to achieve the criteria must prohibit trash imports or rely on international cooperation principles and seek help. Nonetheless, the trash remains the responsibility of the exporting country until it is entirely disposed of." 106 Thus, it is the responsibility of trash exporting and importing countries to ensure that the after-importation process does not harm the environment as a precondition for importation.