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Mercury Retirement in the European Union Petra Hagström European Commission

Mercury Retirement in the European Union Petra Hagström European Commission Environment 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). Legislators.

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Mercury Retirement in the European Union Petra Hagström European Commission

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  1. Mercury Retirement in the European Union Petra Hagström European Commission Environment Directorate-General

  2. The European Union (EU) • EU mercury legislation • Mercury from chlor-alkali plants in Europe • Actions in the EU

  3. European Union (1)

  4. European Union (2) Legislators EU Council(15 Member States) European Parliament (370 million citizens) European Commission Makes proposals and monitors implementation

  5. EU mercury legislation (1) • Mercury is regulated in a number of areas and the use is restricted

  6. EU mercury legislation (2) • Mercury strategy in the European Union?

  7. 1 2 3 1 2 3 10 2 2 1 1 7 3 1 1 ? ? 9 9 1 ? 1 European Chlor-alkali mercury (1)

  8. 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

  9. European Chlor-alkali mercury (3) Mercury cells in Europe ~15 000 tonnes Hg

  10. European Chlor-alkali mercury (4) • Industry solution Minas 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.

  11. 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”.

  12. 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

  13. Other possible actions • Add metallic mercury to the list of certain hazardous chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure

  14. 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

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