Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the banning of exports and the safe storage of metallic mercury COM(2006) 636 final — 2006/0206 (COD)
Date: 2007-04-25
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: ESC opinion, EU environmental policy, export restriction, mercury, metal pollution, pollution control measures, storage

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Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a regulation of the
European Parliament and the Council on the banning of exports and the safe storage of metallic
mercury

COM(2006) 636 final — 2006/0206 (COD)

(2007/C 168/09)

On 15 November 2006 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee,
under Articles 133 and 175(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 21 March 2007. The rapporteur was
Mr Osborn.

At its 435th plenary session, held on 25 and 26 April 2007 (meeting of 25 April 2007), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 126 votes and 4 abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

2. Background to the opinion

1.1
The Committee supports the European Union's active
engagement with international efforts to restrict the production,
and use of mercury throughout the world and to ensure safe
methods of storage and disposal. Towards this end, it is impor-
tant that Europe sets a good example in its own handling of the
mercury problem within the Union, and to support better
control measures throughout the world.

2.1 Mercury is a natural component of the earth, with an
average abundance of approximately 0.05 mg/kg in the Earth's
crust, with significant local variations. Mercury is also present at
very low levels throughout the biosphere.
Its absorption by
plants may also account for the presence of mercury within
fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

1.2
The Committee therefore supports the general objective
of the specific Commission proposal in the current proposed
Regulation to ban the export of mercury from Europe and to
require the safe storage of surplus mercury within Europe. The
EESC believes that banning the export of metallic mercury from
Europe and requiring that it be safely stored pending disposal is
particularly relevant and timely in current circumstances as the
mercury based chlor-alkali process is now being phased out in
Europe.

1.3
Looking ahead, the Committee urges the Commission to
implement the other elements of its mercury strategy as soon as
possible, and to develop measures to further reduce the use of
mercury in processes and products within Europe, and to ensure
that mercury in waste streams is disposed of safely.

1.4
The Committee believes that the legal ban should come
into effect at as early a date as is reasonably possible, and that
until that time the Commission and the firms concerned should
be encouraged to do whatever they can to reduce exports to a
minimum.

2.2
Environmental mercury levels have increased consider-
ably since the on-set of the industrial age. The burning of fossil
In addition
fuels releases significant quantities of mercury.
mercury is extracted from minerals (principally cinnabar) and is
used in a variety of industrial applications. Mercury from indus-
trial processes and from waste products also diffuses into the
environment. Past practices have left a legacy of mercury in
landfills, mine tailings, contaminated industrial sites, soils and
sediments. Even regions with no significant mercury releases,
such as the Arctic, are affected due to the transcontinental and
global transport of mercury.

2.3
Once released, mercury persists in the environment
where it circulates between air, water, sediments, soil and biota
in various forms. Its form can change (primarily by microbial
metabolism) to methylmercury, which has the capacity to collect
in organisms (bioaccumulate) and to concentrate up food
chains (biomagnify), especially in the aquatic food chain (fish
and marine mammals). Methylmercury is therefore the form of
greatest concern. Nearly all of the mercury in fish is methylmer-
cury.

the

storage

supports

The Committee

arrangements
1.5
proposed by the Commission in this Regulation as being the
best available for
the present. Safety assessments must be
carried out by the competent authorities of any proposed
storage facilities, and they should provide for regular monitoring
of the sites once they are in operation. The Committee urges the
Commission to seek reports from Member States about progress
concerning this issue, and further measures must be proposed if
storage arrangements prove unsatisfactory.

the globe at

2.4 Mercury is now present in various environmental media
levels that
and food (especially fish) all over
adversely affect humans and wildlife.
the
world,
including parts of Europe, significant numbers of the
human population are exposed to mercury significantly above
safe levels. There is widespread international agreement that
releases of mercury to the environment should be minimised
and phased out wherever possible, and as quickly as possible.

In some parts of

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2.5
Despite a decline in global mercury consumption (global
demand is less than half of 1980 levels) and low prices, produc-
tion of mercury from mining is still occurring in a number of
countries around the world. In Europe, primary production has
now ceased, but mercury is still
isolated as a by-product of
other extractive processes.

Large quantities of mercury are also coming onto the
2.6
global market as a result of the conversion or shutdown of
chlor-alkali
facilities in Europe that have used the mercury
process. This residual mercury is typically sold at a low price to
Miñas de Almadén in Spain, which then sells it to countries
around the world.

2.7
Despite best efforts, neither Euro Chlor nor Almadén can
ensure that the mercury exported from the EU under this agree-
ment will not contribute to further global pollution because of
loss of control once it leaves Almadén's facilities. It could thus
encourage greater use of mercury in unregulated processes and
products in other countries and to greater quantities of mercury
contaminated waste or emissions. It is therefore desirable that
influx of surplus mercury from discontinued
this substantial
mercury based chlor-alkali processes be prevented from coming
onto the global market.

3. Summary of the Commission's proposal

On 28 January 2005,

3.1
the Commission adopted the
Communication to the Council and the European Parliament on
a Community Strategy Concerning Mercury (COM(2005) 20
final). The Strategy proposed twenty actions addressing all
aspects of the mercury life cycle. Two of the actions proposed
by the Strategy concern exports and storage of mercury.

The Commission's Proposal

3.2
for a regulation on the
banning of exports and the safe storage of metallic mercury
now takes these actions forward. The Proposal aims at banning
the export of metallic mercury from the Community as well as
at ensuring that this mercury does not re-enter the market and
is safely stored, in line with actions 5 and 9 identified in the
Community Strategy Concerning Mercury. The fundamental
purpose is to limit further additions to the ‘global pool’ of
mercury already released.

3.3
The proposed Regulation would ban mercury exports
from the EU from 1 July 2011. From the same date, mercury
no longer used in the chlor-alkali industry as well as mercury
gained from the purification of natural gas or production of
non-ferrous metals would have to be safely stored.

3.4
The Commission has consulted widely on its proposal
and MAYASA, the Spanish government and the European chlor-
industry — the stakeholders most directly affected —
alkali
have agreed to the ban from the date proposed. The Commis-
sion has taken note that CEFIC, the European chemical industry
organisation, has given a voluntary commitment to ensure safe
storage of mercury from the chlor-alkali industry from 1 July
2011.

4. General comments

The Committee strongly supports

4.1
the objective of
making Europe a leader in global efforts to reduce releases and

emissions of mercury to the environment by restricting produc-
tion and consumption of mercury, and encouraging substitution
by other safer materials, processes and products. The Committee
believes that the REACH Regulation would facilitate such endea-
vours.

4.2
The Committee is glad to note that the mining and
extraction of mercury from mercury bearing ores has now
ceased within the European Union. The Committee considers
that the Commission should continue to keep this matter under
review and to stand ready to impose a ban if there were ever
any prospect of resumption of such extraction of mercury
within Europe for commercial reasons. The EESC also recom-
mends the Commission to consider further measures to discou-
rage the production of mercury as a by-product from the extrac-
tion of other minerals, and to ensure the safe storage and
disposal of surplus mercury.

Looking outside Europe,

4.3
the Committee supports the
European Union's active engagement with international efforts
to restrict the production, and use of mercury throughout the
world and to ensure safe methods of storage and disposal.
Towards this end,
that Europe sets a good
example in its own handling of the mercury problem within the
Union, and supports better control measures throughout the
world.

is important

it

4.4
In this context, banning the export of metallic mercury
from Europe and requiring that it be safely stored pending
disposal is one useful step. It is particularly relevant and timely
in current circumstances when the phasing out of the mercury
based chlor-alkali process in Europe might otherwise have
released large quantities of surplus mercury onto the word
market. The Committee therefore supports the general objective
of the specific Commission proposal in the current proposed
Regulation to ban the export of mercury from Europe and to
require the safe storage of surplus mercury within Europe.

This cannot however be the end of

the story. The
4.5
Committee looks to the Commission to undertake further work
with a view to developing measures to further reduce the use of
mercury in processes and products within Europe, and to ensure
that mercury in waste streams is disposed of safely. The EESC
also urges the Commission to consider further what steps can
be taken internationally to promote better management of
mercury throughout the world,
including the negotiation of
appropriate measures of cooperation to support the transfer of
mercury-substituting technologies and mercury capture and
storage solutions, and possibly an international agreement on
the management and control of mercury.

5. Specific comments

The Committee notes that the present proposal applies
5.1
only to the export of metallic mercury (Article 1). The EESC
believes that it is urgent to give further consideration to the
possibility of extending the ban to mercury compounds and
mercury-containing products as provided by Article 5. It would
be desirable to specify a timetable for this review. Further
measures should also be considered to require the replacement
of mercury with less toxic or polluting materials in products
and processes within the Union.

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effective

in 2011. The Parliament

The Commission originally proposed that the ban should
5.2
become
recommended
bringing this forward to 2010. The NGOs continue to press for
the ban to become effective at an earlier date. The Committee
believes that the legal ban should come into effect at as early a
date as is reasonably possible, and that until that time the
Commission and the firms concerned should be encouraged to
do whatever they can to reduce exports to a minimum.

(Article 2)

The Commission proposes

5.3
that mercury
arising from discontinued chlor-alkali processes, mercury gained
from cleaning of natural gas, and mercury gained from non-
ferrous mining and smelting operations should be stored safely.
Article 3 specifies storage either in an underground salt mine or
in a facility specially designed for the temporary storage of
metallic mercury. Such facilities must demonstrate prescribed
safety and management practices. It should be the responsibility
of a member state to establish such facilities, or, to join other
MS with more favourable conditions to do this. Together with
the export ban, these provisions are intended to ensure that
these surplus quantities of mercury from major
industrial
processes are removed altogether from the market and are held
in a safe way.

The Committee supports these storage arrangements as
5.4
being the best available for
the present. The Committee
considers it very important that EIA and the safety assessments
to be carried out by the competent authorities of any proposed
storage facilities be conducted thoroughly and rigorously, and
that they should provide for regular monitoring of the sites
once they are in operation. The Committee urges the Commis-
sion to seek reports from Member States about progress
concerning this issue, and to stand ready to propose further
measures if storage arrangements prove unsatisfactory.

5.5
It is important that the operators that have used the
mercury should bear the cost of storing it in a safe way. The
Committee notes that the storage arrangements for the surplus
mercury arising from the discontinuation of
the chlor-alkali
processes are to be implemented in consultation and agreement
with relevant industrial firms, and that Eurochlor are developing

Brussels, 25 April 2007.

storage

a voluntary agreement in parallel with the Regulation commit-
ting their members
facilities. The
to using safe
Committee welcomes this initiative by a responsible industry
grouping. Provided that these arrangements embrace all the rele-
vant firms and can be made secure in a transparent way that
can be monitored, the Committee agrees that this will be the
best way to secure effective implementation. The Committee
recommends that the Commission should explore the possibility
industrial
of reaching similar agreements with other major
producers of metallic mercury such as the power industry and
the non-ferrous mining and smelting industry.

The Committee emphasises that monitoring and enforce-
5.6
ment of the new arrangements will be particularly important.
Requiring mercury to be stored and disposed will in effect turn
mercury from being an asset that can be marketed into a liabi-
lity that will impose costs on its holders. In such circumstances
there will be temptations for unscrupulous operators to try to
avoid channelling the mercury to proper disposal routes, and to
divert it towards illegal
landfills. Rigorous record-keeping and
oversight will be necessary in order to avoid such untoward
outcomes.

The Committee urges

the Commission to consider
5.7
further action to implement other elements of
the mercury
strategy as soon as possible. In particular the EESC regards it as
to encourage the phasing out of mercury from
important
lighting products, from jewellery, from dentistry and cosmetic
products as soon as possible, and to accelerate measures to
reduce or eliminate mercury emissions from large combustion
plants, from crematoria and from other significant sources of
mercury air pollution. Further measures may also be needed to
ensure that when significant quantities of mercury are found to
be present in other waste streams these are captured for storage
or disposal rather than left to diffuse and pollute the wider
environment. All such further measures should of course be
fully evaluated in terms of the extent of the contribution of the
activity concerned to the global mercury problem, and to the
costs and impacts of the proposed solutions.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS