Technical guidelines for the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of elemental mercury and wastes containing or contaminated with mercury

By decision BC-12/4, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Basel Convention adopted the technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with mercury or mercury compounds.

At its fourteenth meeting by decision BC-14/8, the COP decided to update the technical guidelines on mercury wastes.

Work following COP-14

In the paragraph 2 of the decision BC-14/8, the COP invited Parties to consider serving as lead countries in the updating of the technical guidelines on mercury wastes and to inform the Secretariat of their willingness to do so by 31 August 2019.

In the paragraphs 3 and 4 of the same decision, the COP decided to establish a small intersessional working group (SIWG), operating by electronic means, to assist in the updating the technical guideline on mercury wastes and invited Parties and others to nominate experts to participate in the SIWG, and to inform the Secretariat of their nominations by 31 August 2019.

In the paragraphs 5 of the same decision, the COP requested the lead country or countries or, if there is no lead country, the Secretariat, subject to the availability of resources and in consultation with the SIWG, to prepare a draft of the updated technical guidelines on mercury wastes for consideration by the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention at its twelfth meeting. The Government of Japan has agreed to act as lead country for this work.

The draft updated technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with mercury or mercury compounds, which were prepared in consultation with the small intersessional working group and presented for consideration by OEWG during the online segment of its 12th meeting (1 and 3 September 2020), are set out in document UNEP/CHW/OEWG.12/INF/13.

Comments received from Parties and observers on UNEP/CHW/OEWG.12/INF/13 are available here {link to new page “comments on UNEP/CHW/OEWG.12/INF/13 (May 2020).

A communication was sent by the Secretariat on behalf of the SIWG to invite Parties and observers to provide additional information to assist the SIWG in updating the guidelines. The information received is available here.

At its first meeting held in December 2021, the SIWG agreed on draft updated technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of wastes consisting of, containing or contaminated with mercury or mercury compounds. Parties and observers were invited to provided comments on the draft following the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (online segment, 26-30 July 2021). Comments received are available here

Comments or queries should be sent to Ms. Melisa Lim, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (Email: melisa.lim@brsmeas.org).