HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 24/2
Superseding HELCOM Recommendation 14/5
Adopted 25 June 2003 having regard to Article 20, Paragraph 1 b) of the Helsinki Convention
BATTERIES CONTAINING MERCURY, CADMIUM OR LEAD
THE COMMISSION,
RECALLING Article 5 of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992 (Helsinki Convention), in which the Contracting Parties undertake to prevent and eliminate pollution of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea caused by harmful substances,
RECALLING ALSO Article 5 and Annex I of the 1992 Helsinki Convention, which recognises heavy metals as priority substances for action to reduce pollution in the Convention Area,
REGARDING that waste containing mercury, cadmium or lead is under the Basel Convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal (1989) subject to notification procedure and other measures in all Contracting Parties of the Helsinki Convention,
REGARDING that heavy metals are included in the list of substances for priority action in the hazardous substances strategy of HELCOM (Recommendation 19/5),
DESIRING to attain and implement the target set by the Kalmar Communique of the CBSS, 1996 with regard to hazardous substances,
RECOMMENDS to the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Commission that:
a) batteries containing mercury, cadmium or lead should to the extent possible be substituted by less hazardous batteries;
b) placing of batteries containing more than 0,0005 % of mercury on the market would be prohibited as soon as possible with the exception for button cells and batteries composed of button cells with a mercury content less than 2 %;
c) recovery or safe disposal of spent batteries containing mercury, cadmium or lead should be applied in order to avoid contamination of the environment;
d) legislation concerning batteries containing mercury, cadmium or lead should be implemented regulating labelling and collection of used batteries and, labelling requirements should comply with existing Community or international standards and refer to batteries containing:
- more than 0.0005% mercury by weight;
- more than 0.025% cadmium by weight;
- more than 0.4% lead by weight,
RECOMMENDS FURTHER that the Contracting Parties report on the implementation of this Recommendation to the Commission every three years starting in 2006.
REPORTING FORMAT FOR HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 24/2 CONCERNING BATTERIES CONTAINING MERCURY, CADMIUM OR LEAD
Lead Country: Sweden
Country: Year:
1. General implementation status:
Specify means used when nationally putting into force the Recommendation
via general reference in the national legislation
via a specific adoption of an amendment to existing national legislation
via administrative or other means, please specify.
Possible problems identified when putting into force nationally the Recommendation.
2. Is the Recommendation in paragraph b) of the Recommendation implemented? (Yes/Partly/No) Specify:
3. Has a collection system of used batteries been implemented? (Yes/Partly/No) Specify.
4. How big portion of the batteries in the end of service life containing mercury, cadmium or lead are collected approximately at the present (denote the year when data obtained)?
5. Describe the types of batteries and uses of batteries, where the mercury, cadmium or lead are still used:
6. Amount of batteries sold per year in (This information should be submitted in case it is available) (denote the year):
a) Total amount of all batteries (in tonnes/year)
b) Total amount of batteries containing mercury over 0,0005 % (in tonnes/year):
c) Nickel-cadmium, sealed batteries (in tonnes/year)
d) Nickel-cadmium, open batteries (in tonnes/year)
e) Lead containing batteries (in tonnes/year)
7. How are the collected batteries treated at the present? (Recovery, storage, disposal etc.) Specify for mercury, cadmium and lead respectively when necessary.
8. Have labelling requirements for batteries in the paragraph d) of the Recommendation been implemented? (Yes/Partly/No) Specify.