The Secretariat of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) commissioned a regional study on mercury waste management in the region to the Asian Institute of Technology, Regional Resource Centre for Asia-Pacific (AIT RRC.AP), in cooperation with the UN Environment. The study covers the current situation of mercury waste management in the region, which consists of the ten ASEAN Member States (AMS), namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. All AMS are Parties to the Basel Convention, however, AMS such as Brunei Darussalam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Thailand are not signatories to the Minamata Convention.
The result of the study is presented in this report, providing information on the current state of the mercury waste management systems in each AMS jurisdiction, which includes the regulatory framework, institutional framework, mercury waste management infrastructure and operations, as well as the information and control elements. In addition, it also provides information on the mercury management practices for selected activities, inventories of mercury and mercury waste, and AMS’ input on the challenges, needs and opportunities implementing the ESM of mercury waste in the region.
The report is expected to serve as baseline information for consideration by the Association and its member states for decision-making in implementing environmentally sound management (ESM) of mercury waste as well as to the ASEAN Secretariat and other regional organisations for relevant programme development. It also identifies the current gaps of information and data on mercury management in the region.
