During this joint COP, which takes place every year, with more than 180 countries represented, the stakeholders discuss, debate and establish the regulatory texts at the international level for the management of hazardous waste and persistent organic pollutants.

Thanks to the invitation of Mrs. Rokhaya Ndiaye, Director of the Regional Centre of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions for French-speaking African countries (Crcbs-Af) based in Dakar, Be Energy was able to present its regeneration solutions for batteries and used oil during the regional meeting for Africa. Batteries and oils are indeed in the scope of the Basel Convention which regulates transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal. Many countries on the African continent have shown interest in these technologies, which address a major problem on their territory. The management of these wastes in most countries of the continent is indeed more or less the same as in Senegal: a predominance of informal and artisanal recycling, numerous illegal dumpings and lead recovery by Asian companies. This situation is harmful both for the environment and the health of the populations, but also for the independence of these countries which import their batteries and oils, and export them when they are used, losing their remaining value.

For Baye Salla Mar, head of communication of the Crcbs-Af, “Be Energy has innovative solutions to respond to a real problem in Africa, the environmentally sound management of hazardous waste”. He invites all the center focal points to support Be Energy. The assistance provided by the Crcbs-Af will be valuable to enable Be Energy to develop in Africa, by allowing coordination with the public authorities of each country to integrate regeneration into the current management of batteries and used oils. The FASEP Be Energy Regen System project in Senegal is the best example: the mobile demonstrator, equipped with battery and oil regenerators, will make the local population aware of this new technology. Similar initiatives are being studied in the countries where Be Energy is being set up, notably Morocco and Mauritania. And why not, in the end, the addition of regeneration to Annex IV.B of the official text of the Basel Convention, which lists the desirable alternatives to the elimination of hazardous waste.