EU Moves to Ban Certain Plastic Waste Exports to Poor Nations

The European Union plans to go further than an international treaty in restricting exports of plastic waste, potentially spelling problems for the bloc in dealing with hard-to-recycle material.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is calling for comments through July 22 on a draft law that would implement the latest updates to the United Nations Basel Convention.

Updates to the treaty—formally known as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal—were approved in May 2019. They require countries that export mixed or contaminated plastic waste to obtain prior informed consent from importing ...