The 12th Conference of the Parties (COP) for the Basel Convention, the 7th COP for the Rotterdam Convention and the 7th COP for the Stockholm Convention convened its first day on Monday, 4 May 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland. Representatives from IPEN Participating Organizations in 25 countries are attending the conference and participating in contact groups, side events, plenary interventions and more. For details about IPEN's work during the meeting, as well as relevant documents and positions, please see our COP7 page.
A new survey found toxic flame retardant chemicals from electronic waste are recycled into plastic children’s toys for sale in the European Union. Measurements of 21 toys purchased in six EU countries found that 43% of them contained significant levels of OctaBDE and/or DecaBDE. OctaBDE is listed in the Stockholm Convention for global elimination.