Mercury Flows in Europe and the World: The Impact of Decommissioned Chlor-alkali Plants - Draft Final Report

The key objectives of this investigation were: to get as good a picture as possible of the current mercury flows in Europe and the world; and to get an idea of what impact the mercury obtained from decommissioned European mercury-based chlor-alkali plants might have on the world mercury market, and the resulting consequences in terms of mercury use patterns. This analysis is intended to support policy recommendations that will appear in the European Commission Mercury Strategy, which should also contain the main elements of a sustainability impact assessment (SIA), to be published in 2004 under the lead of the Commission’s Directorate General for Environment, DG Environment. The SIA needs to consider, among other things, such questions as whether there appears to be any increased environmental, health or other social risk due to the diffusion of mercury from decommissioned mercury cell chlor-alkali plants.