As a result, the well-being of the planet, and of humans, are reeling from this approach now. We'll assume that all chemicals can cause harm. Therefore we'll contain everything and discharge nothing. In sum, zero discharge. The Paris meeting in September was formally called the Ministerial Meeting of the Contracting Parties of the Oslo and Paris Conventions.
Halogens are a class of chemicals that includes chlorine, bromine, fluorine, and iodine.
In the context of the new Paris Convention, the important one is chlorine because many solvents, many pesticides, and many other industrial chemicals are chlorine-based. Historically in the U.S. we have been unable to adopt the zero discharge philosophy mainly because the traditional environmental movement has refused to endorse the idea. They say zero is scientifically unattainable, so we mustn't ask for it. This won't eliminate spills or leaks, but under a zero discharge philosophy spills and leaks will be recognized as aberrations and violations of policy intent, and, as such, they would be punished by fines to provide constant incentive for improvement. If the environmental movement won't demand zero discharge, no one will.