Mercury Retirement in the European Union Petra Hagström European Commission
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Transcript of Mercury Retirement in the European Union Petra Hagström European Commission
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
Mercury Retirement
in the European Union
Petra Hagström
European CommissionEnvironment Directorate-General
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
The European Union (EU) EU mercury legislation Mercury from chlor-alkali plants in
Europe Actions in the EU
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
European Union (1)
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
European Union (2)
EU Council(15 Member States)
European Parliament(370 million citizens)
Legislators
European Commission
Makes proposals and monitors implementation
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
EU mercury legislation (1)
Mercury is regulated in a number of areas and the use is restricted
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
EU mercury legislation (2)
Mercury strategy in the European Union?
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
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European Chlor-alkali mercury (1)
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
European Chlor-alkali mercury (2)
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive requires installations to have permit conditions based on best available techniques (BAT) Mercury cells are not BAT
Oslo and Paris (OSPAR) Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. Decision 90/3 Recommends that the mercury-cell
process should be phased out by 2010
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
Mercury cells in Europe
~15 000 tonnes Hg
European Chlor-alkali mercury (3)
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
European Chlor-alkali mercury (4)
Industry solutionMinas de Almadén, the Spanish mercury mine, will buy the surplus mercury from the western European chlor-alkali plants and put it on the market instead of virgin mercury.
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
Actions in the EU (1)
Environment Council meeting 7 June 2001 concluded to call upon the Commission to
“clarify the legal situation regarding the conversion of the chlor-alkali industry, identify the possible consequences, for all parties concerned, for the use of mercury and report to the Council on the potential need for co-ordinated action in the European Union and the Accession Countries”.
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
Actions in the EU (2)
Commission report to the Council about mercury from chlor-alkali Presents the current situation Outlines options and consequences Notes that the mercury load on the
environment needs to be reduced Environmentally sound solution is
required
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
Other possible actions
Add metallic mercury to the list of certain hazardous chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure
European Commission - Environment Directorate-General
Breaking the Mercury Cycle, Boston, May 2, 2002
Mercury retirement in the EU
Legislation that restricts use and limit emissions
Mercury from decommissioned chlor-alkali plants is potentially a big problem
Awareness at political level of need to do something