Background:
Mercury is recognized as a global hazardous pollutant. Improper handling, collection, transportation or disposal of wastes consisting of elemental mercury and wastes containing or contaminated with mercury can lead to releases of mercury, as can some disposal technologies. Exposure to mercury – even small amounts – may cause serious health problems, and is a threat to the development of the child in utero and early in life. Ensuring an environmentally sound management (ESM), particularly of wastes consisting of elemental mercury and wastes containing mercury, is a common objective of both the Basel and the Minamata Conventions. The Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of elemental mercury and wastes containing or contaminated with mercury developed under the Basel Convention provides guidance for the ESM of mercury containing wastes.
Objective(s):
The capacity-building activities on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of elemental mercury and containing mercury aim at:
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Disseminating the technical guidelines;
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Sharing of experience and knowledge on waste minimization, recycling and final disposal of mercury containing wastes and;
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Increasing knowledge on policy tools for the environmentally sound management of mercury containing wastes.