Issue
The production of cement accounts for about 11% of the global anthropogenic mercury emissions estimated at approximately 2220 tonnes per year1.
Mercury is present in the raw materials (e.g., limestone) and/or in the fuel (e.g. coal) used in the cement manufacturing process. The major pathway for mercury releases from the cement industry is via emissions to the atmosphere.
The expected acceleration of construction activities in emerging markets and the related increase in local cement supplies will contribute to the global mercury emissions.
More on Mercury releases from the cement industry
Objective
The objective of the Partnership Area is to minimize mercury releases to the environment from cement manufacture. The Partnership Area aims to supplement existing programmes in key, strategically selected ways to ensure that reductions are globally significant.
Strategy
The Partnership Area aims to support its objective principally by:
- Establishing sectoral mercury inventories and baseline scenarios for the industry.
- Encouraging use of most appropriate technique to reduce or minimize mercury releases into the environment.
- Increasing the awareness of the cement industry to mercury as a pollutant through increased outreach efforts.
The Partnership Area also seeks to update mercury inventory information by providing guidance on methods for cement plants to assess their emissions more accurately.
Partnership Area Lead
- Claude Lorea - Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA)
- Zaigham Abbas - Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan
