2017 Mercury Workshop a success!
Given the pending 2017 mercury phase-out date, many decommissioning operations are presenting challenges in ensuring that workers and contractors remain healthy and safe and the environment is protected during such critical work. Therefore, after the sucess of the 2016 meeting which focussed more on worker health, Euro Chlor arranged an international workshop in Brussels on 01/02 February 2017 to share practical experiences and best practice on the decommissioning process and the minimisation of mercury exposure during final operations and dismantling.
In addition to a set of presentations on the health, safety and technical aspects of mercury phase out, time was devoted to allow members to discuss their biggest chalenges with industry experts.
Topics also included
- The regulatory situation around mercury stabilisation and disposal
- Cleaning of mercury cell equipment and contaminated areas (e.g. soils)
- Safe and environmentally responsible dismantling and decommissioning of mercury cells
- Minimising mercury exposure during final operation and decommissioning
- Regulatory requirements for emission control
Mr Zsolt Bukszár of Euro Chlor member company BorsodChem Zrt. found the event "really useful due to the number of questions that we have". He also appreciated the "open exchange of experiences"; a real benefit of such a workshop!
Euro Chlor will build from the success of this meeting, developing our guidance information and preparing similar workshops to help meet future chalenges.
Many of the learnings from this event will be presented at our Technical Workshop in May 2017 in Berlin. More information on this can be found here.
