Turkey is Officially a Party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury

Mercury is one of the most dangerous heavy metals. Because of this, the "Minamata Convention on Mercury" was prepared under the leadership of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in order to prevent environmental pollution caused by mercury. This agreement includes certain control and reduction measures for products, processes, and industries that use, release or emit mercury and their mercury-containing waste.

The Draft Regulation on Mercury for the implementation of the Minamata Convention at the national level has been prepared within the framework of our EU harmonization efforts, taking into account the relevant Regulation of the EU, and the draft is expected to be published in 2023.

With the agreement,

• Air emissions of mercury,
• Releases of mercury to soil and water,
• Prohibition of the establishment of new chloralkali plants using mercury batteries and vinyl chloride monomer production plants using mercury as a catalyst,
• Adoption of National Emission Limit Values ​​(ELVs) for mercury emissions based on the values ​​contained in the Regional Plan for the Reduction of Mercury Inputs outside the chloralkali industry,
• Monitoring the release of mercury into water, air, and soil to verify compliance with the requirements of the Regional Plan,
• Taking appropriate measures to isolate and control mercury-containing waste,

issues will be discussed.

Since Turkey is now officially a party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, this will help protect the environment and human health from the hazardous effects of mercury in Turkey after the implementation of this agreement.