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The Basel Convention, US politics, and the emergence of non-state e-waste recycling certification

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  • Stefan Renckens

Abstract

While many authors have argued that domestic regulatory gaps as well as a lack of international cooperation can at least partly explain the emergence of non-state regulation, this article will focus on an underexplored pathway of emergence linking international, domestic, and non-state regulation. I will argue that even in the presence of a widely supported international agreement, a non-ratifying country can provide the setting for the emergence of non-state certification programs. This will happen when significant domestic legislation on the topics covered by the agreement is absent, and non-state actors are able to act as institutional entrepreneurs with an interest in implementing key elements of this agreement. By tracing the development of certification programs for the electronic waste (e-waste) recycling industry, I will show why the US, more than other countries, provided an enabling environment for the emergence of non-state e-waste recycling certification. The US’s failure to ratify the Basel Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and an overall lack of domestic legislation on e-waste exports created regulatory gaps that non-state actors were able to fill. The main global watchdog of the Convention—the US-based Basel Action Network—used certification as a forum-shifting strategy to implement key parts of the Convention in the US. Finally, the article will also show that conflicting interests and divergent perspectives on the legitimacy of the Convention and its rules have led to the development of a competing industry-supported certification program. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

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  • Stefan Renckens, 2015. "The Basel Convention, US politics, and the emergence of non-state e-waste recycling certification," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 141-158, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:15:y:2015:i:2:p:141-158
    DOI: 10.1007/s10784-013-9220-7
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    1. Luc Fransen & Jelmer Schalk & Marcel Kok & Vivek Voora & Jason Potts & Max Joosten & Philip Schleifer & Graeme Auld, 2018. "Biodiversity Protection through Networks of Voluntary Sustainability Standard Organizations?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, November.
    2. M. Pilar Latorre & Margarita Martinez-Nuñez & Carmen Callao, 2021. "Modelling and analysing the relationship between innovation and the European Regulations on hazardous waste shipments," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 575-594, December.
    3. Caleb Gallemore, 2017. "Transaction costs in the evolution of transnational polycentric governance," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 639-654, October.
    4. Joshua Philipp Elsässer & Thomas Hickmann & Sikina Jinnah & Sebastian Oberthür & Thijs Graaf, 2022. "Institutional interplay in global environmental governance: lessons learned and future research," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 373-391, June.

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