A graphic image explaining mercury’s harmful effect on health from the World Health Organization.
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will enforce stricter regulation of mercury waste beginning in 2021 to better protect health and the environment from the hazardous metal, the Ministry of Environment said Monday.
The ministry said it will post a notice on a revised enforcement ordinance and regulation of the Waste Control Act in the government gazette for 40 days beginning Tuesday.
The amendment calls for including mercury and mercury compounds in a set of designated harmful wastes subject to special treatment.
Under the new rule, mercury waste must be disposed of separately from other forms of waste. Mercury will have to be removed before thermometers, batteries and other products containing the metal are thrown away.
The new ordinance also stipulates mercury must be put into sealed containers and permanently stored in specific facilities and that mercury residue must be buried on land after treatment according to levels of concentration.
The revision will be enforced in 2021, one year after the public notification is made, the ministry said.
The toughened measure has been devised in line with the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which takes effect in the country in late February next year.
The agreement aimed at curbing mercury pollution was signed in 2013 and came into force in 2017.
The convention was named after the southern Japanese city, where a severe neurological disorder caused by mercury poisoning left thousands of people with disabilities in the late 1950s.
“The amendment is an enactment of the environment-friendly standards of treatment of mercury waste recommended by the Minamata Convention. The government will continue to make efforts to prevent environmental damage from waste of mercury-containing products,” Lee Young-ki, director of resource circulation policy at the ministry, said.
(Yonhap)
