NRDC/Chemical Registration Center Inventory Part of SEPA
Phase 1 of NRDC/CRC Study Inventory mercury supply through mining and imports, estimate total annual supply Investigate usage in the battery sector Investigate usage in vinyl chloride monomer manufacture
China Mercury Supply Estimate (based on average ) Legal Mining700 tons Imports233 tons Catalyst Recycle290 tons Illegal Mining0-200 tons Total tons By-product capture…..
China VCM Sector Mercury Usage, (tons) Year Mercury catalyst Total mercury
Growth estimates for PVC sector From , PVC output in China rose from 1.96 million tons to 3.1 million tons, an annual increase of over 25%. Mercury catalyst usage grew by an annual rate of 31.4% during this period. ***This is probably the largest single use of mercury within any sector of any country****
Options for Reducing Mercury Usage in VCM manufacture Alternative non-mercury catalysts Coal to ethylene via naptha Better management of mercury catalyst during production Improvements in recycling??