Glossary of terms relevant to discussion of mercury storage and disposal

Mercury Storage and Disposal LAC Two Countries Project

Gustavo Solórzano Ochoa, Consultant

Montevideo, Uruguay 28-29 June 2011

Background • Discussions during INC-1 meeting • Open Ended Working Group and others• Regional UNEP Groups PNUMA (Asia Pacific & GRULAC)

for Mercury StorageReported

• Confusion over terms used related to storage and disposal of elemental mercury and mercury-containing waste etc.

• Terminology used and understood differently among participants.

• Related studies/documents prepared on UNEP’s Global Mercury Partnership framework.

In order to assist discussions within the Partnership on Supply and Storage, the document

Glossary of terms relevant to discussion of mercury storage and disposal

has been elaborated with UNEP support. Important terms are presented in a ‘Question and Answer’ format to provide a basic overview of the various terms used.

The contents in the document are not intended to pre-empt any discussions or decisions at upcoming mercury INC sessions, but may serve as a basis for starting discussions.

Objective

What’s included

• Presents general descriptions of important terms

• Lists relevant definitions from chemical and waste conventions, mainly Basel Convention where available and applicable

• Provides background information on complex terms and issues

• Groups synonymous terms

Term(s) Definition

Commodity mercury

Elemental mercury which meets the specifications or quality parameters for use in a product or process. It is normally produced and stored for the purpose of later sale for use in products or processes.

Excess or surplus mercury

Is the amount of national (regional) mercury supply that exceeds national (regional) demand for use in products and processes. It may be newly produced from mining/metal ores processing, available from industries that have converted from mercury-using processes, or recovered from products at the end of life

Waste

Trash, rubbish, litter, or any material that is unwanted or unusable.“Wastes” are substances or objects which are disposed of or are intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of national law (BC Article 2-1)

Definitions

DefinitionsTerm(s) Definition

Hazardous wastes

Those characterized by chemical and physical properties such as, but not limited to, human and ecotoxicity, flammability or corrosiveness.

a) Wastes that belong to any category contained in Annex I , unless they do not possess any of the characteristics contained in Annex III (BC);

b) Wastes that are not covered under paragraph (a) but are defined as, or are considered to be, hazardous wastes by the domestic legislation of the Party of export, import or transit (BC Article 1-1).

Mercury waste

May be categorized in three principal groups:

A. Elemental mercury waste (liquid)

B.Waste containing mercury (mainly sludge-like or solid)

C.Wastes contaminated with mercury (from industrial processes)

Term(s) Definition

Waste management in general

The collection, transport and disposal of hazardous wastes or other wastes, including after-care of disposal sites (BC Article 2-2)

Removal from the market

Means that through the utilization of policy or regulatory tool or a related measure, mercury is not allowed to be sold, used or reused and instead is placed into storage or otherwise disposed of so that it cannot be traded on the open market

Storage of wasteStorage covers:1. Storage of waste pending a (final) disposal operation (like landfilling)2. Accumulation of material intended for recycling and recovery

Temporary storage of mercury waste

Normally, it refers to a storage understood as a temporary activity, restricted to a certain period (months up to a few years according to national law).

Definitions

Term(s) Definition

Permanent or underground storage of mercury waste

Typically associated with underground storage (disposal) of waste in mines. It describes the operation of placing special containers with waste in an ordered manner in open cavities of former underground mines (at several 100 m depth).

Relates to disposal of waste, not to storage of commodity mercury; it is considered as a final, irreversible, disposal operation.

When full, the facility can be sealed so that the waste is isolated permanently from the biosphere.

Storage of commodity mercury and mercury added products

All operations and processes that are necessary to hold and control stocks of mercury commodities and products during their life-cycle, along the chain of distribution (producer, wholesale dealer, retailer, end-user) for later sale or use.

Definitions

Term(s) Definition

Long-term man-agement and storage (of ele-mental mercury)

US concept of storing elemental mercury currently for a very long period (up to 40 years or more) in order to reduce its market availability. This operation takes place in warehouses, thus it is often referred to as ‘above-ground storage’ or ‘surface storage’.

Above ground storage facility

Above ground facility is a specially designed and operated above ground warehouse where temporary storage of waste, commodity mercury or mercury-added products takes place

Disposal

Discarding a material or waste so that this is not used in its initial form any longer; relates only to waste, not commodities/products.

The term ‘final disposal’ is sometimes used to describe disposal operations that lead to a final placement of waste in a waste disposal facility, like a specially engineered landfill/underground mine.

Means any operation specified in Annex IV of the Basel Convention (BC Article 2-4)

Definitions

Term(s) Definition

Specially

engineered

landfill

Sites selected for their containment properties, these being

natural, augmented by, or provided directly by liners; the

overall engineering being such as to ensure as far as possible

the isolation of wastes from the environment. Such landfills are

considered a final resort, only to be used after every effort has

been made to reduce, mitigate or eliminate the hazards posed

by such wastes

Retrieval of

waste

Recovery of waste from a waste disposal or storage site in order

to extract and use its valuable components.

Definitions

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