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



The European Union (EU) EU mercury legislation Mercury from chlor-alkali plants in

Europe Actions in the EU



European Union (1)



European Union (2)

EU Council(15 Member States)

European Parliament(370 million citizens)

Legislators

European Commission

Makes proposals and monitors implementation



EU mercury legislation (1)

Mercury is regulated in a number of areas and the use is restricted



EU mercury legislation (2)

Mercury strategy in the European Union?



?112

1

3

2

1

13 10

7

91

93

2

2 11 ?

?

European Chlor-alkali mercury (1)




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



Mercury cells in Europe

~15 000 tonnes Hg





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.



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”.



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



Other possible actions

Add metallic mercury to the list of certain hazardous chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure



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

mercury retirement in the european union petra hagström european commission

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