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UNEP Global Mercury Partnership Newsletter

Bulletin 2 June 2010

MErcUrY INvENtorY toolkIt

Funded by the Government of Denmark, the Mercury Inventory Toolkit has recently been updated based on experiences in using it. The update includes: A revised and simplified version of the toolkit (Inventory level 1). New and simplified guidance is provided, as well as calculation spreadsheets and a reporting template. A revised Toolkit Reference Report, with newly developed default emission factors. A data gathering document developed by UNITAR. This update is now posted on our website in English.

SURPLUS MERCURY ESTIMATES

The following estimates are available for surplus mercury during the period 2010-50: EU: from various sources including 7,400 tonnes* from chlor-alkali plants USA: 5,600 metric tons already in long term storage; 900 total metric tons of mercury remaining 4 U.S. chlor-alkali facilities; 90 metric tons per year from recycled products and waste and decreasing over time; 100 metric tons per year from mercury by-product from gold mining. Eastern Europe & Central Asia (non-EU): 2,300-11,000 tonnes** (2011-2050) Asia Pacific: 5,500-7,500 tonnes** (2027-2050) Latin America and Caribbean: 2,000-8,000 tonnes** (2013-2050) * Source: GRS estimates ** Source: UNEP commissioned Assessment Reports on Mercury Excess Supply, 2010-2050

PARTNERS OF THE GLOBAL MERCURY PARTNERSHIP Governments Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Philippines, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, United States of America. INtERGovERNMENtAL oRGANIzAtIoNS Basel Convention, European Commission, United Nations Industrial Development organization (UNIDo), World Health organization (WHo). NoN GovERNMENtAL oRGANIzAtIoNS Asociacin Argentina de Mdicos por el Medio Ambiente (AAMMA), Association for Responsible Mining (ARM -Colombia), Artisanal Gold Council, Balifokus, Ban toxics, BioDiversity Research Institute, Blacksmith Institute, Centre pour lEnvironment et le Dvelopment RDC, Centre de Recherche et dEducation pour le Dveloppement (CREPD- Cameroon), Day Hospital Institute for Development and Rehabilitation (DHIDR Egypt), Earthworks, Environmental Health Council, Grupo Parques Nacionales Panama, Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), International PoPs Elimination Network (IPEN), International Society of Doctors for Environment (ISDE), Informer Sensibiliser Eduquer sur les Polluants organiques Persistants en Cote dIvore (ISE-PoPS-CI), International Union of Geosciences - International Commission on Geosciences for Environmental Management (IUGS-GEM), Kyrgyz Mining Association, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Pollution Control Association of Liberia (PCA), Pollution Probe, Pro-Biodiversity Conservationists in Uganda (PRoBICUo), Responsible Jewellery Council, the Money Stone, Uganda Network on toxic Free Malaria Control (UNEtMAC), World Chlorine Council, World Dental Federation, World Medical Association, zero Mercury Working Group, zo Environment Network. otHERS ARCADIS US Inc., Department of toxicology Faculty of Chemical Science and Pharmacy (USAC), Environmental visual Artists, Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, Geological Survey USA, Illinois Institute of technology Herek L. Clack, IEA-Clean Coal Centre, Institute for Combustion Science and Environmental technology at Western Kentucky University (ICSEt), Macquarie University, Mine Research, Niksa Energy Associates LLC, oIKoN-Institute for Applied Ecology, Peerless Green Initiatives, Sang-Joon Yoo, State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion-Huazhong University of Sciences and technology, transparence S.A., tsinghua University, tv theinland Immissionsschutz und Energiesysteme GmbH, vosteen Consulting GmbH. totAL: 69 Partners
(as of 1 June 2010)

UNEP PromotEs sUstaiNablE dEvEloPmENt by catalysiNg vital global actioNs aNd bUildiNg NatioNal caPacity for thE soUNd maNagEmENt of chEmicals throUgh iNformatioN ExchaNgE, traiNiNg, aNd caPacity bUildiNg. UNEP chEmicals ProvidEs sEcrEtariat sUPPort to thE UNEP global mErcUry PartNErshiP aNd thE NEgotiatioNs for thE global lEgally biNdiNg iNstrUmENt oN mErcUry. ENqUiriEs aNd Editorial corrEsPoNdENcE shoUld bE sENt to thE hEad, UNEP chEmicals. UNEP dtiE chEmicals braNch, mEtals tEam iNtErNatioNal ENviroNmENt hoUsE 11-13, chEmiN dEs aNmoNEs, ch-1219 chtElaiNE, gENEva, switzErlaNd PhoNE: (+41 22) 917 83 34 - fax (+41 22) 797 34 60 E-mail: mErcUry@UNEP.org wEb: www.chEm.UNEP.ch/mErcUry

HOW TO JOIN THE GLOBAL MERCURY PARTNERSHIP

To become a partner, interested entities or individuals should submit a letter to UNEP signifying their support for the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership and their commitment to achieving its goal. They should specify how they will contribute to meeting the goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership. Such letters should be submitted to: Head, UNEP Chemicals Branch, DTIE 11-13, Chemin des Anmones CH-1219 ChatelaineGeneva, Switzerland Fax:(+41 (22) 797 3460 E-mail:mercury@unep.ch In submitting this letter, UNEP asks partners to complete a registration form. Participation to the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership will be confirmed by UNEP through letter of confirmation. Your letter of support will be posted on the UNEP Chemicals Website. Further information on joining the partnership can be found: www.chem.unep.ch/MERCURY/Sector-Specific-Information/new_partnership.htm As of 1st June 2010, there are 69 partners.

UNEP dtiE chEmicals braNch chEmicals braNch, divisioN of tEchNology, iNdUstry aNd EcoNomics UNitEd NatioNs ENviroNmENt ProgrammE

GlobAl MErcUrY PArtNErshIP NEwslEttEr

NO 2 June 2010

A b oU t th E UNEP G lo bA l ME rc UrY PARTNERSHIP

The UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is a voluntary initiative where government, non-government, public and private entities have agreed to work together in a systematic way to achieve the goal of the Partnership. The overall goal is to protect human health and the global environment from the release of mercury and its compounds by minimizing and, where feasible, ultimately eliminating global anthropogenic mercury releases to air, water and land. The UNEP Global Mercury Partnership complements and supports the implementation of UNEP Governing Council Decision 25/5. The partnership areas spread across all major sectors of mercury related work. thEsE bEiNg:
ArtIsANAl ANd sMAll scAlE Gold MINING; coAl coMbUstIoN; MErcUrY IN ProdUcts; MErcUrY cEll chlor-AlkAlI ProdUctIoN; MErcUrY AIr trANsPort ANd fAtE rEsEArch; MErcUrY wAstE MANAGEMENt; MErcUrY sUPPlY ANd storAGE (NEw APrIl 2009).

The Partnership at INC1

The first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC1) will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, from 7-11 June 2010. A technical briefing will be held on Sunday 6 June 2010 from 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. The briefing will be conducted in English with interpretation into the official United Nations languages. Much of the information covered during the technical briefing reflects activities and information generated through the Global Mercury Partnership. This publication includes an insert that provide abstracts of the material to be presented at the technical briefing. The briefing will allow the opportunity to present information that may be relevant to the INC and build upon the information sessions held at the ad hoc open-ended working group (OEWG) meeting in Bangkok in October 2009. Summaries of OEWG discussions are included in INC document UNEP (DTIE)/Hg/INC.1/INF2. The topics to be covered at the technical briefing include: - Mercury in products and processes - Mercury storage & waste - Mercury and mining - Paragraph 29 study and mercury emissions from coal A number of other partnership related documents have been submitted to the INC for information. These include a report on activities within the Global Mercury Partnership, an announcement of a Global Forum on Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining and an update on activities related to mercury supply and the environmentally sound storage of mercury.

the second meeting of the Partnership Advisory Group (PAG) will take place in Geneva during the week of 20 September 2010. the PAG functions and responsibilities include: encouraging the work of the partnership areas, communicating overarching issues and lessons learnt and reporting on activities undertaken thus far. Meeting materials will be available on the UNEP website by 1 August 2010.

A new look for the website of the Global Mercury Partnership is being launched within the main UNEP website. Please visit http://www.unep.org/ and follow the Harmful Substances theme.

Mercury Awareness Raising Package now available in French and Spanish UNEP released an English version of the mercury awareness raising package in February 2009. It is now available in French and Spanish. This publication is intended to raise awareness amongst stakeholders of the effects of mercury on human health, wildlife and the environment and on relevant strategies to manage and control mercury. It is designed for the use of government officials, community leaders, and workers to provide information and raise awareness about mercury and the associated environment and health risks.
It is intended to help build public support and capacity to take preventive actions.
The document is available on-line at www.chem.unep.ch/mercury/awareness_raising_package/default.htm or contact mercury@unep.org to order hard copies of the document.

Business plans for the partnership areas are available at: WWW.UNEP.ORG/ HAzARDOUSSUBSTANCES

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UNEP Global Mercury Partnership Newsletter

No 2 June 2010

Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) - ASGM National Strategic Planning
A number of activities are underway to assist the identified gaps in technical, legal and institutional as- A regional awareness raising workshop was hosted strengthening of national level capacity to address pects of ASGM. The meetings report is available on the in Mali from 8-10 December 2010 funded by the U.S., ASGM and encourage the development of naUNEP website. Towards the end of 2010, all Finland and UNIDO. Workshop results are available on tional strategic plans. ASGM countries in the region will be invit- the UNEP website. Follow-up strategic planning activiMercury Watch is a ed to a conclusion meeting where the ties are under development. publicly available database The Strategic Approach to the two countries will present the plans A regional workshop will be held in Nigeria in dedicated to collecting, analyzing, International Chemicals Managethey have developed and lessons November 2010, funded by the U.S. The purpose is to and sharing information about mercury ment (SAICM) Quick Start Prolearned will be discussed. raise awareness about the health and environmental risks released to the environment with a focus gramme is funding two regional of ASGM and to begin the development of national on ASGM. The database is available strategic planning projects that are The Latin American SAICM Stra- strategic plans. at: http://www.mercurywatch. underway, one in Asia and the other tegic Planning Workshop will org/default.aspx in South America: take place in La Paz, Bolivia. The inception meeting for the Asia projGlobal Forum on ASGM November 2010 ect was held in the Philippines from 19-21 Participating counIt is widely recognized that ASGM is a complex global development issue - an informal January 2010. For this project, the Philippines tries include Peru and Bolivia economy - that presents challenges and development opportunities in many countries and and Cambodia are developing national ASGM strategic with possible participation from regions around the world. UNEP and its partners will convene a global forum on issues related to artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM) for policy and decision makers in plans. The meeting reviewed the current situation and Colombia and Ecuador.
November 2010. Details will be released by 1 August 2010. the objectives of the forum are to:

FAIRTRADE AND FAIRMINED GOLD STANDARDS

Review the ASGM issue and raise awareness; Provide an opportunity for exchange of experiences in addressing ASGM at the national level, including technical, social, legal and enforcement issues;

The Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO) and the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) have cre Strengthen the ASGM partnership. ated a historic partnership for gold from artisanal and small scale miners by launching Fairtrade For further information, please refer to INF document, UNEP (DtIE)/Hg/INC.1/INF11. and Fairmined gold standards. This is the first third party independent certification for gold to bring about social, environmental and economic benefits in ASGM communities. The certification will be communicated on products using both the Fairtrade and Fairmined marks. The overall objective of this standard is to promote the formalization of the ASGM sector, along with improved working conditions for producers, fairer market access, gender equality, progressive elimination of child labor in mining, benefits to local communities in mineral rich ecosystems, improved environmental management and improved governance to this sector. This year, pilot projects will be established in Africa and Asia. The brand will be initially launched in the United Kingdom and from there expand to other countries, aiming to capture 5% of the market over a 15 year period. More information on this standard can be found at: www.fairtrade.net/fileadmin/user_upload/content/2009/standards/documents/Gold_Standard_Mar2010_EN.pdf

Reduction of Mercury Releases from Coal Combustion

Under the coal partnership area, UNEP has initiated the project, Reducing Mercury Emissions from Coal Combustion in the Energy Sector. Activities will improve the knowledge of mercury emissions and its control from coal-fired power plants. China, Russia, South Africa and India are participating in this project. The project is funded by the EU.

Substantial information on the coal-fired power sector coal-fired boilers, and will contribute to the development of has been collected in Russia, China and South Africa. country-specific and global mercury emission inventories. A series of tests were recently completed to improve UNEP is also being supported by the U.S. Geological the knowledge of mercury emissions and Survey, which will analyze coal and fly ash control from coal-fired power plants in A guidance tool has been samples from the tested Russian and South Africa and Russia. UNEP was developed to help determine the South African power plants. This supported by the U.S. EPA, which best option to address mercury emisinformation will help inform the performed the measurements using work of the INC. sion reduction needs from coal fired power the EPAs Mercury Monitoring plants. The guidance is intended to support Toolkit, a portable sampling and plant managers and governments in their deciIn cooperation with the U.S. analysis system. The toolkit can sion making processes. The document will be fi- EPA, UNEP is supporting 2 prodirectly measure and analyze mernalized by the end of 2010 and is available for jects at two power plants in Ruscury emissions in flue gas (i.e., stack those that are interested. Please contact sia. These projects demonstrate emissions), and determine the mermercury@unep.org for copies of the how mercury capture could be imcury content in various types of coal and document. proved in coal-fired power plants in fly and bottom ash. This toolkit allows for a based on existing control technologies. rapid on-site analysis of mercury samples. The studies will provide information on mercury The data collected from the toolkit are being used to cal- control in plants, and could be applied to other countries culate mercury emission factors and mass balances from with similar technologies.

Photo/ USEPA

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UNEP Global Mercury Partnership Newsletter

No 2 June 2010

Mercury Containing Products

EFFICIENt LIGHtING FoR DEvELoPING AND EMERGING CoUNtRIES ( EN.LIGHtEN)
En.lighten is a UNEP initiative funded by the gEf Earth fund, osram gmbh, Philips lighting and the french Environment and Energy management agency (adEmE). the objectives are to coordinate efforts and strengthen capacities, and to accelerate global market transformation towards environmentally sustainable energy efficient lighting technologies. taking into account the mercury contents in compact fluorescent lights (cfls), the project will promote alternatives to cfls and strengthen capacities for addressing environmentally sound recycling and recovery of mercury in cfls. the UNEP mercury Programme is engaged in this initiative by providing technical assistance regarding mercury content in lamps and promoting alternatives to mercury containing cfls. the secretariat of the basel convention has also provided draft technical guidelines on the environmentally sound management of mercury containing waste, including cfls.

DENtAL AMALGAM PRoJECt

Dental amalgams contain about 50% mercury. Globally, around 300 metric tons of mercury are consumed annually for dental purposes. Although information on pathways and end-uses of dental mercury is limited, it is estimated that about two thirds of the mercury ends up in the environment. In November 2009, WHO conducted a consultation on future dental restorative materials, co-sponsored by UNEP. The aim was to provide a platform for sharing scientific information and country experiences about the use of alternative restorative materials and to raise awareness of the mercury negotiation process. Priority actions included: the promotion of a preventative model and alternatives to amalgam, the consideration of mercury releases throughout the life cycle of dental amalgam and awareness raising of the global mercury issue. WHO is considering the development of global guidelines. The next WHO-UNEP Experts Consultation will be scheduled in the coming months.

Photo/J.Barbeito

The Global Market Transformation for Efficient Lighting Project consists of three main operational components: For further information contact mercury@unep.org a global stakeholder forum composed of governments, professional associations, utilities, private manufacturers, international organizations, research organizations, civil society and other concerned groups A Centre of Excellence on Efficient Lighting composed of top experts and organizations Support for the implementation of energy efficient lighting programmes in countries and regions the en.lighten initiative started in early 2010 and will be implemented over 4 years. a global multi-stakeholder workshop will take place in october 2010. more details: Gustavo Maez Gomis, Project Manager - E-mail: gustavo.manez@unep.org

mercury air transport and fate research Partnership area

This partnership area provides valuable contributions to several international frameworks. For example, it contributed to the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollutants (TF HTAP), which is part of the UNECE-LRTAP convention. TF HTAP is developing a mercury assessment report, which will be made available in its final draft in July 2010. The partnership also contributed to the development of a five-year research project called Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS), which is part of the EU 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development. GMOS aims to support the development of a legally binding instrument on mercury by monitoring mercury levels in the environment. The project was approved for funding and will likely start on 1 November 2010.

Mercury Supply and Storage

This new partnership area was established at the first meeting of the Global Mercury Partnership Advisory Group held in April 2009. The next steps are: to encourage further progress on regional storage projects to promote funding opportunities, develop a business plan, and seek new partners, including a government partner to serve as lead or co-lead. Funded by the Government of Norway, UNEP Chemicals has initiated regional storage projects in the Asia Pacific, Latin American and Caribbean regions, to assess mercury surplus and to consider options available for long term storage of mercury in these regions. The Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Mercury Storage Project Regional Consultation meeting took place in Panama City, Panama from 14-15 April 2010. This meeting provided a platform for presenting and Update on activities related to mercury supply and the envidiscussing the draft, Options Analysis for the Safe Long Term ronmentally sound storage of mercury is available to the INC Storage of Mercury in the LAC Region prepared by the Labo- as UNEP (DTIE)/Hg/INC.1/INF 10. ratorio Tecnolgico del Uruguay (LATU).

the assessment report for Excess mercury supply in Eastern Europe and central asia (EEca), 2010-2050 is now available. Noting the urgency to address storage capacities in EEca, a mercury storage project similar to those in asia and the lac is being planned in this region. funding for the proposed project is still being sourced.

The second face-to-face meeting of the waste partnership area was hosted by the Government of Japan and took place in Tokyo on 9-10 March 2010. The updated business plan and the draft BAT/ BEP Guidelines will be available soon. The meeting report and all presentations are available at: www.chem.unep.ch/mercury/Sector-Specific-Information/Waste_management(4).htm