Step E-Waste should appear to work within the framework of the UN Basel Convention

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Despite the impressive United Nations program to create global standards for the recycling of e-waste and the collection of useful and valuable components through the scheme: solve the problem of electronic waste (STEP), there are problems that can represent the program like a real UN. and an all-inclusive organization.

The STEP program is supposed to bring together public and private organizations, whereby companies will work with the United Nations, government, NGOs and academic institutions. And being a UN program, it would be reasonable and justifiable to think that it should have links with the Basel Action Network, other environmental organizations and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, a UN non-governmental organization that addresses all related issues. with toxic substances. Some environmental organizations think that despite STEP’s brilliant ideas, it is not all inclusive and transparent. The Basel Convention secretariat and the Basel Action Network have expressed concern that STEP appears to be advocating the export of hazardous e-waste to developing countries as a form of development, even though this is contrary to the obligations under existing international law.

Although it is increasingly difficult to know if all UN programs are really UN programs, the Step program seems to stand out more. Perhaps the Step e-waste program should develop links with the Basel Convention and open its doors to organizations that may differ from them. BAN stated that it had applied to participate in the STEP programs, being the first organization to question the issue of global dumping of e-waste and harmful management in developing countries. According to BAN, STEP refused to report e-waste trafficking and therefore STEP appears to have been designed to create a haven for those who wish to undermine the environmental justice principles of the Basel Convention and has avoided the involvement of those who use it. defend. Perhaps STEP is in a genuine and difficult dilemma as it grapples with the difficulty of handling vast and diverse voices in a seemingly highly controversial and divided program.

While nations and organizations have the right not to ratify a UN protocol or convention, it may not make much sense for the UN to have protocols, conventions, and programs that work against each other. Given that e-waste regulations were included in the Basel Convention, it would have been reasonable to have STEP as its program. Not surprisingly, most of the G8 members who recently met in Germany, having reached a compromise to replace the Kyoto protocol, insisted that it should be done within the framework of the UN. Perhaps business interest groups have more voice with the STEP e-waste program.

Thomas S. Bateman and Carl P Zeithaml of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in their book Management, Function and Strategy, wrote that some economists argue that it is the responsibility of management to maximize returns for shareholders … but others Economists argue that such a strategy serves immediate profit maximization for stock speculators and neglects serious investors who are with the company for the long term. Bateman and Zeithman added that for the later economist, attention to environmental issues improves the long-term viability of the organization because the goal is long-term wealth creation for the patient, serious investors in the company, not to mention the future state of our planet and the generations that inhabit it. But where is the STEP program? Due to competition, pressure, strong momentum, and the temptation to make quick profits, managers of both economic trends would often succumb to short-term pressure to make a profit and avoid spending on waste reduction and management, where the Potential payoff is in the future. And a cheap waste disposal opportunity may be more attractive.

As the main recipient of e-waste, all developing countries, along with NGOs expressing concern about them, should have been invited to become members of the STEP program. Perhaps the STEP program should help prepare the third world to successfully recycle e-waste in order to protect the environment and obtain economic and digital benefits. Without a doubt, STEP should appear, a body willing to solve the problems of electronic waste. But if first world countries find that recycling e-waste is time consuming and expensive, it would even be a lot for the third world. Although the STEP program requires manufacturers to work to design products that are easier to upgrade, their aspirations can become a mere public relations exercise. Not all e-businesses may implement them. An easily upgradeable machine would be the favorite of the third world and, as active members of the STEP program, the third world would promote the idea of ​​an upgradeable machine if it were part of the STEP program.

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