Mercury - Time to Act

MERCURY – TIME TO ACT

Mercury storage and disposal is a growing problem. The glob-

al trend towards phasing out products which contain mercu-

ry and processes which use it will soon generate an excess of

mercury if supplies remain at their current level. Environmen-

tally sound management of mercury waste will be a critical

issue for most countries. There are some good examples. But

in the Latin American and Caribbean region, mercury supply

may exceed demand by 2013. In 2012, UNEP helped Argen-

tina and Uruguay to find environmentally sound solutions for

the storage and disposal of excess mercury, including iden-

tifying existing hazardous waste facilities that could serve

as temporary storage and identifying relevant regulatory

frameworks. Both countries developed National Action Plans

for the environmentally sound management of mercury and

mercury wastes.

Mercury is widely used in compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)

and the demand for them is increasing in the quest for en-

ergy efficiency. According to the EU Directive 2002/95/EC

on the restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and

electronic equipment (RoHS Directive), mercury content in

CFLs not exceeding 5 mg per lamp is allowed. These lamps

reduce electricity consumption so that in countries that gen-

erate electricity largely from coal, there could be less electric-

ity required for lighting, thereby saving about 10 per cent of

emissions into the environment (EU, 2010). However, despite

continuing industry efforts to reduce the mercury content of

each CFL and proven recycling techniques allowing effective

recovery of mercury at the end of a lamp’s life cycle, the high

global demand for CFLs might present a challenge to achiev-

ing the goal of effective reduction of mercury use.

Mercury management options

Mercury input

Production

processes

Use of products

containing

mercury

Landfill

Industrial

waste storage

Recovery

(pre-treatment, thermal treatment, refinement)

Stabilisation

Solidification

Products

waste

Waste from

intentional use of

mercury in processes

Source: Adapted from UNEP 2011, Basel ConventionTechnical guidelines for the environmentally sound

management of wastes consisting of elemental mercury and wastes containing or contaminated with mercury

Hazardous waste

management facility

Permanent storage

Specially engineered landfill