Mercury in Latin America
The signing of the Minamata Convention on Mercury on 10 October 2013 will encourage governments to pass new and more stringent regulations on mercury abatement in the cement industry. One such example is the USA which will see new rules come into effect in 2015. Further south, the mercury issue is moving onto the sustainability agenda of Latin American cement producers. Kline Consulting considers how they can effectively reduce mercury levels in their cement plants. By John Kline & Charles Kline, Kline Consulting, USA.
Figure 1: global mercury emissions, 2005
After the signing of the Minamata Convention on Mercury on 10 October 2013, new regulations on mercury abatement will force cement plants to act. Following the negotiations for the Minamata Convention, Fernando Lugris, the Uruguayan chair of the negotiations, said: “Today in the early hours of 19 January 2013, we have closed a chapter on a journey that has taken four years of often intense but ultimately successful negotiations and opened a new chapter towards a sustainable future. This has been done in the name of vulnerable populations everywhere and represents an opportunity for a healthier and more sustainable century for all peoples.”
