IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ieaple/v15y2015i2p141-158.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Basel Convention, US politics, and the emergence of non-state e-waste recycling certification

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Renckens

Abstract

While many authors have argued that domestic regulatory gaps as well as a lack of international cooperation can at least partly explain the emergence of non-state regulation, this article will focus on an underexplored pathway of emergence linking international, domestic, and non-state regulation. I will argue that even in the presence of a widely supported international agreement, a non-ratifying country can provide the setting for the emergence of non-state certification programs. This will happen when significant domestic legislation on the topics covered by the agreement is absent, and non-state actors are able to act as institutional entrepreneurs with an interest in implementing key elements of this agreement. By tracing the development of certification programs for the electronic waste (e-waste) recycling industry, I will show why the US, more than other countries, provided an enabling environment for the emergence of non-state e-waste recycling certification. The US’s failure to ratify the Basel Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and an overall lack of domestic legislation on e-waste exports created regulatory gaps that non-state actors were able to fill. The main global watchdog of the Convention—the US-based Basel Action Network—used certification as a forum-shifting strategy to implement key parts of the Convention in the US. Finally, the article will also show that conflicting interests and divergent perspectives on the legitimacy of the Convention and its rules have led to the development of a competing industry-supported certification program. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Renckens, 2015. "The Basel Convention, US politics, and the emergence of non-state e-waste recycling certification," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 141-158, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:15:y:2015:i:2:p:141-158
    DOI: 10.1007/s10784-013-9220-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10784-013-9220-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10784-013-9220-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Prakash,Aseem & Potoski,Matthew, 2006. "The Voluntary Environmentalists," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521860413.
    2. Prakash,Aseem & Potoski,Matthew, 2006. "The Voluntary Environmentalists," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521677721.
    3. Cerny, Philip G., 1995. "Globalization and the changing logic of collective action," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 595-625, October.
    4. Mayer, Frederick & Gereffi, Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 1-25, October.
    5. Alastair Iles, 2004. "Mapping Environmental Justice in Technology Flows: Computer Waste Impacts in Asia," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 4(4), pages 76-107, November.
    6. Fabrizio Cafaggi, 2011. "New Foundations of Transnational Private Regulation," EUI-RSCAS Working Papers 53, European University Institute (EUI), Robert Schuman Centre of Advanced Studies (RSCAS).
    7. Braithwaite,John & Drahos,Peter, 2000. "Global Business Regulation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521784993.
    8. Mayer Frederick & Gereffi Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luc Fransen & Jelmer Schalk & Marcel Kok & Vivek Voora & Jason Potts & Max Joosten & Philip Schleifer & Graeme Auld, 2018. "Biodiversity Protection through Networks of Voluntary Sustainability Standard Organizations?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, November.
    2. M. Pilar Latorre & Margarita Martinez-Nuñez & Carmen Callao, 2021. "Modelling and analysing the relationship between innovation and the European Regulations on hazardous waste shipments," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 575-594, December.
    3. Caleb Gallemore, 2017. "Transaction costs in the evolution of transnational polycentric governance," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 639-654, October.
    4. Joshua Philipp Elsässer & Thomas Hickmann & Sikina Jinnah & Sebastian Oberthür & Thijs Graaf, 2022. "Institutional interplay in global environmental governance: lessons learned and future research," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 373-391, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fuchs Doris & Kalfagianni Agni, 2010. "The Causes and Consequences of Private Food Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-36, October.
    2. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Global Private Politics: A Research Agenda," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, October.
    3. Irja Vormedal & Lars H. Gulbrandsen, 2020. "Business interests in salmon aquaculture certification: Competition or collective action?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(2), pages 328-343, April.
    4. Janina Grabs & Graeme Auld & Benjamin Cashore, 2021. "Private regulation, public policy, and the perils of adverse ontological selection," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1183-1208, October.
    5. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Private Regulation in the Global Economy: A (P)Review," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-40, October.
    6. Philip James & David Walters & Helen Sampson & Emma Wadsworth, 2015. "Protecting workers through supply chains: Lessons from two construction case studies," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 36(4), pages 727-747, November.
    7. Büthe Tim, 2010. "Engineering Uncontestedness? The Origins and Institutional Development of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-64, October.
    8. Kouretas, Georgios P. & Tsoumas, Chris, 2016. "Foreign bank presence and business regulations," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 104-116.
    9. Green Jessica F, 2010. "Private Standards in the Climate Regime: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-39, October.
    10. Christine Moser & Sina Leipold, 2021. "Toward “hardened” accountability? Analyzing the European Union's hybrid transnational governance in timber and biofuel supply chains," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 115-132, January.
    11. Gjølberg Maria, 2011. "Explaining Regulatory Preferences: CSR, Soft Law, or Hard Law? Insights from a Survey of Nordic Pioneers in CSR," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(2), pages 1-33, August.
    12. Christine Parker, 2013. "Twenty years of responsive regulation: An appreciation and appraisal," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 2-13, March.
    13. Auld Graeme & Cashore Benjamin & Balboa Cristina & Bozzi Laura & Renckens Stefan, 2010. "Can Technological Innovations Improve Private Regulation in the Global Economy?," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-42, October.
    14. Johannes Urpelainen, 2011. "Frontrunners and Laggards: The Strategy of Environmental Regulation under Uncertainty," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 50(3), pages 325-346, November.
    15. Francesca Colli & Johan Adriaensen, 2020. "Lobbying the state or the market? A framework to study civil society organizations’ strategic behavior," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 501-513, July.
    16. Jens Heidingsfelder & Markus Beckmann, 2020. "A governance puzzle to be solved? A systematic literature review of fragmented sustainability governance," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 70(3), pages 355-390, August.
    17. Oliver Westerwinter, 2021. "Transnational public-private governance initiatives in world politics: Introducing a new dataset," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 137-174, January.
    18. Helmerich, Nicole & Raj-Reichert, Gale & Zajak, Sabrina, 2021. "Exercising associational and networked power through the use of digital technology by workers in global value chains," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 142-166.
    19. Jorge A. Arevalo & Deepa Aravind, 2017. "Strategic Outcomes in Voluntary CSR: Reporting Economic and Reputational Benefits in Principles-Based Initiatives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 201-217, August.
    20. Bennett, Elizabeth A., 2017. "Who Governs Socially-Oriented Voluntary Sustainability Standards? Not the Producers of Certified Products," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 53-69.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:15:y:2015:i:2:p:141-158. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.