Policies & Legislation

Mercury and Product Stewardship

International Policies and Legislation

Canada British Columbia The public consultation period will extend through September 31, 2009. The draft plan for consultation - the BC Fluorecent Lamps Stewardhip Plan (PDF File, 380KB) - is now available and more information on the consultation process can be found on Product Care's website.

In August 2009, a draft stewardship plan for residential use fluorescent lamps was developed by Electrical Equipment Manufacturers Association of Canada (EEMAC), an industry council of Electro Federation of Canada. EEMAC appointed Product Care Association, as the program manager for the plan and consultation process.

In April, 2008, British Columbia expanded the number of regulated products included in its provincial Recycling Regulation to include fluorescent lamps and thermostats. The Recycling Regulation requires industry to collect and recycle any regulated products it manufactures or sells.

Ontario
The Minister of the Environment approved the Consolidated Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) Program Plan which takes effect on July 1, 2010. This extended producer responsibility plan requires the stewards (product producers) to bear the full costs of collection, transportation, recycling and/or disposal. All producers pay into the program based on fees set by Stewardship Ontario, the Industry Funding Organization, that will administer the plan.

"Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste" includes products such as fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent bulbs as well as fluorescent bulbs in display devices, laptop computers, scanners and photocopiers, mercury-containing thermostats, thermometers, barometers, and switches.

Mechanisms for collecting MHSW items include collection events, depots, return to retail programs and a toxic taxi that picks up materials from residents in intense urban settings. Participation by municipalities and private sector entitiesas collectors of these products is voluntary. Stewardship Ontario will offer a compensation package that is tailored to local circumstances to engage their participation as collectors. The compensation package would promote improvements and financially reward service providers for superior accessibility and performance.

On October 28, 2008, Stewardship Ontario conducted a public consultation session to discuss the integration of Phase 2 waste. The stakeholder meeting covered several issues such as the definitions of obligated material and steward, baseline data, key elements of the MHSW program and preparation strategies for manufacturers to meet their obligations. Material which was officially designated as Phase 2 waste includes fluorescent light bulbs and tubes, mercury-containing switches, thermostats, thermometers, barometers and other measuring devices containing mercury from residential generators and small quantity generators. Stewardship Ontario provides additional information about the public consultation and program development process.

In January 2007 the not-for-profit Recycling Council of Ontario launched a comprehensive stewardship program for fluorescent lamps and other lighting products within Canada. Manufacturers participating in Take Back the Light collect spent fluorescent lamps from their customers when delivering new lamps. Once the lamps are collected, the manufacturer will transport the lamps to a central storage location which will be collected by Aevitas Inc., a recycling company approved by the Recycling Council. For participants not using a Take Back the Light distributor, they can use their own transport operators to deliver to Aevitas, or Aevitas has a fleet of transport vehicles to pick-up fluorescent lamps. Manufacturers and buyers register individually in order to participate in Take Back the Light. Participants work together in order to negotiate the costs of collection and transportation included in the pick-ups. The program does not establish a collection fee at the point-of-sale for fluorescent lamps. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment funded the pilot project that originated this program. The Ministry does not currently provide funding, but continues to support the Take Back the Light website.

On December 11, 2006, Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) became another category of material regulated by WDO, leading to the development of a MHSW diversion program with the co-operation of Stewardship Ontario, the IFO which is required to assist with the program. On July 22, 2008, WDO expanded the MHSW diversion program to include Phase 2 and 3 waste which includes fluorescent light bulbs and tubes, switches, thermostats, thermometers, barometers and other measuring devices which contain mercury. The Minister issued a program request letter (PDF file, 39KB) and Addendum (PDF file, 73KB) requesting program proposals from WDO.

In June 2002, Ontario passed the Waste Diversion Act (PDF file, 83KB) creating Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO). WDO is a non-governmental organization including manufacturers, local officials, representatives from other non-governmental organizations and the Ministry of the Environment. WDO is responsible for developing, implementing and operating waste diversion programs for designated wastes. Once the Minister has designated a material through a regulation under the Waste Diversion Act, the Minister asks Waste Diversion Ontario, working co-operatively with stewards, to develop a diversion program.

European Union In September 2008, the European Union adopted legislation banning all exports of mercury from the European Union by March 2011. The legislation requires mercury that is no longer used in the chlor-alkali industry, the chemical industry sector responsible for chlorine and caustic soda production, or that is produced in certain other industrial operations, to be put into safe storage once the export ban takes effect in March 2011. Learn more from the September 2008 European Union Press Release.

Euro Chlor, a federation representing the European chlor-alkali manufacturing industry, has made a voluntary commitment to ensure safe storage of mercury from the industry and compliance with all relevant national and EU legislation. See the Euro Chlor press release and response to the adopted mercury export ban legislation.

In January 2005, the Commission launched the European Union Mercury Strategy, which consists of 20 measures to reduce mercury emissions, cut supply and demand and protect against exposure. Although the EU stopped all forms of mercury mining in 2001, it is the world’s biggest exporter, responsible for up to a quarter of the global mercury supply.

In November 2002, the European governments and European Parliament decided upon overarching legislation that pushed forward product stewardship and producer responsibility among member nations in the EU, including the Directive of the European Parliament and Council on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment. The RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC (PDF file, 114KB) mandates a phase-out of heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, lead, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants in electrical and electronic equipment put on the market starting July 1, 2006.

Norway On January 1, 2008, the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority banned the use of mercury in all products within the country. Manufacturers are prohibited from importing, exporting and selling products that contain mercury or mercury compounds.

The regulation includes mercury being used to remove organisms from ships’ hulls, treatment of water used in industry, switches and relays, preservation of wood, in thermometers to be used for analysis and research, in measuring devices and as dental amalgam. There are limited exemptions for some areas of use until December 31, 2010. The use of mercury in thermometers has been prohibited in Norway since 1998. For more information see the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority's report Impact of a General Ban on Mercury in Products (PDF file, 337KB) or the press release.

South Africa While trying to combat a series of electrical blackouts throughout South Africa, Eksom, the nation's power utility, began distrbuting over 5 million compact fluorescent lights (CFL) to its residents in 2006. Now in 2009, South Africa is looking to enact legislation holding retailers and manufacturers responsible for proper disposal of CFL bulbs since they contain mercury which is damaging to human health and the environment.