The management of toxic waste has become an increasingly global business. The global generation of toxic waste is around 440 million tons, and an estimated 10 percent of that waste makes its way across international boundaries.1 Industries that generate toxic wastes are many, ranging from chemicals to electronics and from plastics to metal plating. Such toxic wastes have adverse affects on the natural environment and have been linked with various health problems, from immune and reproductive disorders to respiratory and other illnesses. The environmental and health concerns related to toxic waste makes decisions about where to dispose of it highly political. Though they are politically charged, toxic wastes seem to move with relative ease from one country to another, albeit subject to certain rules. The international trade in hazardous wastes
is governed by various national and international regulations, such as the Basel Convention, which aim to ensure that the wastes are dealt with in an environmentally sound manner. In this paper, I argue that although global regulations seek to prevent adverse environmental outcomes, the result is not always environmentally benign. There are several key weaknesses, or 'cracks' in existing agreements that allow the trade to continue, often in ways that are not the most environmentally sound. Before explaining these weaknesses, I first give an overview of the rise of the waste trade and the rules that have come about to govern it.