ULABS in MERCOSUR Countries

This project, funded by the Pure Earth Strategic Policy fund, builds on previous work initiated by GAHP  to tackle the problem of lead pollution and the informal management of ULABs in the Latin American region.

ULABs are considered hazardous waste, however, due to regulatory barriers around the transboundary movement of hazardous waste, some countries are not able to transport their ULABs to the closest recycling centers located in the region.  This has led to the growing informal management and illegal trafficking of ULABS through the different MERCOSUR countries, in spite of the existence of formal recycling infrastructure.  Accurately quantifying the disease-burden of lead, especially for children, in the region remains a challenge, however it is evident that a significant portion can undoubtedly be attributed to environmental pollution stemming from the informal handling of ULABs.

The objective of this project is to reduce the informal management of ULABs by using locally available capacity.  GAHP will be leading multi-sectoral dialogues with stakeholders in the public private sector to work towards developing solutions to achieve this goal.