Often these treatment processes simply move pollutants around, creating hazardous residues that require disposal.
Pollution prevention is based on a simple but powerful idea.
It makes more sense to stop or minimize the production of waste than to develop treatment and disposal technologies to manage it. Pollution prevention strategies focus on changing existing processes and replacing hazardous chemicals with alternatives to reduce and eliminate the discharge of toxics and waste to the environment. Its primary mission is to protect the environment. A two-year pilot program targeting Mercury , Lead, Dioxins, PCB's and HCB was funded in 1996 by the Great Lake Protection Fund, The Great Lakes National Program office and The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There is no treatment method that can completely remove mercury from the wastewater.