Imagine a beautiful garden; where the fruits and vegetables are ripe from receiving all the nutrients needed. Then one day, the leaves become dry and withered, the browning fruits fall to the ground. Now ask yourself: what is the very first thing to do in order to address how to protect the beautiful garden? Identify the cause!  

On our shared planet, we enjoy incredible landscapes, beautiful diverse cultures and precious ecosystems full of wildlife and animals. Around the globe, the negative impacts of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss are threatening the health of our air, seas, children and communities. In order to face these challenges, we are learning to Make Visible the Invisible.  

From 28 April to 1 May, global leaders met in Geneva for the 2025 triple BRS COPs to address hazardous chemicals and wastes, raising awareness and urgency to address hazardous wastes and chemicals that underpin global environmental and health challenges. In this convergence of the collective, MedWaves joined these discussions, continuing to play its part as one of the regional activity centres supporting the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), raising the regional experience to the global discussions to progress sustainability. MedWaves programming demonstrates how regional activities offer meaningful support to help reach global aspiration to manage chemicals and waste.

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When We Act Together, We Grow Together 

The triple COPs of BRS provide time for Parties to negotiate their conventions accordingly while examining vital cross-cutting issues. A key component to the process is the side events that take place throughout the two-week period. These sessions give voice to academia, NGOs, and various stakeholders to help inform decision making.  

It is critical that actual experiences on the ground are brought to the attention of global policymakers. MedWaves participated in an essential side event on 30 April: From hidden threats to visible actions: Addressing POPs and Nano/Microplastic Waste. 

This event faced one of the most challenging and ubiquitous pollutions of our lifetime: plastic. The BRS conventions, as legally binding frameworks, set out obligations that control transboundary movements of plastics and prevent, minimize, and ensure environmentally sound management of plastic waste and its associated hazardous chemicals. Specifically, the Basel Convention adopted the Plastic Waste Amendments as a mechanism for the global control of transboundary movements of plastic waste. The Stockholm Convention addresses the persistent organic pollutants, better known as POPs, found in plastics by preventing hazardous chemicals in plastics from entering the recycling stream and ensuring that recycled materials are safe. The Rotterdam Convention also plays a role supporting the exchange of information and prior informed consent procedures for hazardous chemicals, some of which may be used in plastics. 

The side event addressed the entire dimension of plastics, from prevention and pollution assessment through exploring case studies from the Mediterranean and Africa in three key sectors. The emphasis rests on how regional cooperation can be a key to unlock global challenges. The goal was that the side event could serve as a platform to share knowledge, promote circularity, and foster collaboration in addressing plastic pollution and POPs. 

SCRC Spain (Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity-building and the Transfer of Technology, Spain hosted by MedWaves, a UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production) presented two key projects: InPlastics and MedProgramme. These initiatives offer a Mediterranean perspective on plastic pollution in the Mediterranean Sea and insights into regional efforts to reduce waste. They also showcase how this pollution impacts the region in multiple ways.  

In addition, the side event featured a presentation exploring the global challenges of plastic pollution, focusing on monitoring POPs in plastic recycling, particularly in low- and middle-income countries before shifting the focus to activities in Africa. The Ghana project on managing Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) plastics and destroying POPs in cement kilns will be presented as the first initiative in Africa to sustainably address electronic waste plastics. This will be followed by discussions on the automotive industry, highlighting opportunities and challenges in sourcing recycled plastics from End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs), including the first project to do so on the continent.  

 “Ghana is just one example of a country where e-waste is not managed everywhere properly. And again, there might be technologies available, but not everyone in all countries can access it. So, it’s important to develop solutions that are locally feasible to apply. And for that, we need collaboration. We need to have discussions around how we treat our waste.” Dea Wehrli, Volutio 

BCRC Nigeria introduced the GEF/UNEP African Plastic Project, focusing on circular and POPs-free plastics in Africa. Zimbabwe, a co-host and participating country, will present a case study on plastics and POPs in construction, completing coverage of the three key sectors.   

“The slogan of the Conference of Parties is making visible the invisible. And normally you don’t see what kind of persistent organic pollutants are in plastics. We have a push for the next years to increase the circular economy, to increase plastic recycling.” Roland Weber, POPs Environmental Consulting, Germany .

This side event, along with the others and the BRS COPs negotiations, help bring attention to the need to implement sound management of hazardous chemicals and wastes. As shared by Jesús Maestro, director of MedWaves, “It’s very important to have conversations with all the different stakeholders because of course. It is very important for us to put everyone together, NGOs, civil society, scientists, to fight climate change and to create a better world for the present, for the future.” In order to best understand the challenges of toxic chemicals and waste, we can share our experiences and highlight the solutions.  Stay tuned with us as we continue to explore the Truth of Toxics!

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