eliminate mercury use. The Global Mercury Partnership pro- motes the establishment of national action plans and reduc- tion targets, encourages collaboration and the sharing of best practices to reduce mercury use, and helps the take-up of in- novative market-based approaches.
The VCM industry, the basis for the large global production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), used in plastics, is the second largest user of mercury, which is used as a catalyst in the production process. Most of this production occurs in China. About 800 tonnes of mercury are thought to have been used by this in- dustry in China in 2012. Used mercury catalyst is recycled and reused by enterprises that hold permits for hazadous waste management in China. The amounts that may be emitted or released are not known (UNEP, 2013).
Once a globally-binding treaty is in place, there is hope that global mercury demand will decline sharply as industries that use mercury in products and processes or release it to the environment will be required to meet the obligations set out in the instrument.