A Study on the Management of Mercury in Taiwan using Substance Flow Analysis
Date Issued
2012
Date
2012
Author(s)
Li, Hsiu-Wen
Abstract
Mercury is a poisonous chemical substance, but has been widely used in battery, thermostat, thermometer, fluorescent tube, sphygmomanometer, gyroscope, and other products. Taiwan does not produce mercury; thus, all of the raw materials rely on import. According to the import statistics of the Directorate General of Customs, Ministry of Finance, the average imports of mercury and mercuric chloride from 2000 to 2009 were 6.3 metric ton (MT), which is very high. In addition, the current recycling item for mercury only includes the Waste fluorescent lamps, while other pollutants were compressed into waste and stored in the pedosphere through isolation or insulation. In fact, the pollutants still exist. In order to know the categories, characteristics, spread and management effects of mercury-contained substances in Taiwan, this study first introduced the physical, chemical and poisonous characteristics of mercury. It then reviewed the Minamata Disease in Japan, the domestic and foreign mercury pollution cases, and related and regulations, in order to emphasize the importance of waste mercury management. This study also analyzed the flow of the mercury-contained substances in Taiwan, including raw materials, fabrication and manufacture, use, waste management and recycling process, Substance flow analysis was conducted to determine the amount, establish the base line, and evaluate the management effect. In other words, substance flow analysis was used to discuss the management of mercury-contained substances in Taiwan. In addition, to find the most effective management method, derivative scenarios were designed as the reference for decision schemes.
According to the research results, from 2006 to 2009, the total mercury content of 34 kinds and 195 mercury-contained substances was 155.548MT. The input (imports) was 229.830MT;those with economic value (recyclable) accounted for 76%, and those with non-economic value (non-recyclable) accounted for 24%. The output (exports) was 95.742 MT; those with economic value accounted for 94%, and those with non-economic value accounted for 6%. Domestic extraction was 0.760MT (where, the total amount of upcycling was 0.359MT and the extraction amount was 0.402MT); those with economic value accounted for 47%, and those with non-economic value accounted for 53%. The stock was 57.577MT, the waste management rate decreased year by year and all of the upcycling rates failed to achieve 1%. The domestic processed output was 76.913MT; those outputted to atmosphere accounted for 49%,and those to the water body and the soil accounted for 2%, and 49%,respectively.
The input and output were both the highest in the semi-finished product/product phase. The top ten items with largest input and output net mercury amounts were battery, crude oil, coal, mercury, thermometer, thermostat, iron, medical blood pressure gauges, lime and aluminum. As for those with non-economic value, the input in production phase was higher than that in semi-finished/finished products phase, where, the representative items were coal and crude oil. The output in semi-finished/finished products phase was higher than that in production phase, where, the representative items were cement, pigment and petroleum.
As for the processed output in Taiwan, in the raw material phase, the main items outputted to the atmosphere were crude oil, coal and iron; that outputted to water body was aluminum and those outputted to soil were copper and gold. In the semi-finished/finished products phase, the main items outputted to the atmosphere were cement, petroleum and teeth amalgam; those outputted to water body were teeth amalgam, battery, lamp, teeth amalgam and lamp; those outputted to soil were battery and lamp. In the use phase, the main items outputted to the atmosphere were cement, pigment and lamp; those outputted to water body were teeth amalgam and pigment; those outputted to soil did not include main mercury-contained items. In the waste management and recycling phase, the main items outputted to atmosphere, water body and soil were all waste dry battery, waste mercury and its chemical compound and sewage sludge, where, the amount of waste dry battery outputted to the soil was the highest.
According to the derivative scenarios, only through prohibiting input and output as well as semi-finished/finished products in Taiwan could the total amount of mercury be reduced. If the total amount of upcycling was to be increased, the three scenarios, i.e. recycling items increasing, abandoning habit change and waste recycling and treatment equipment improvement, should be combined. The upcycling rates of 17 derivative scenarios were all lower than 30%, where, indicated by the 17th scenario results, even though the mercury-contained products with economic value (recyclable) in production and semi-finished/finished products semi-finished/finished products phases were prohibited, mercury amount still existed.
On the whole, the mercury-contained materials had complex categories and the typical characteristics of anthroposphere, and their input was larger than output and stock. The main mercury-contained items changed from battery in 2006 to thermostat in 2009, indicating that the prohibition or restriction laws and regulations had significant effect. However, the waste management rate decreased, thus, the other mercury-contained products should be prohibited.
The improvement of upcycling rate faced high technical bottleneck and linear flow was hard to be changed into circular flow. Thus, it was strongly recommended that the mercury-containing substances without economic value should be tightened emission standards, while, those with economic value should be prohibited. The existing mercury-contained products should be centralized, buried and insulated, without upcycling. Correspondingly, the two indicators defined in this research, i.e. waste management rate and upcycling rate, could serve a reference for management.
Subjects
Mercury
Substance flow analysis
Waste Management Rate
Upcycling Rate
UNEP Toolkit For Identification And Quantification Of Mercury Releases
Type
thesis
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