2. Background
Under Article 5 of the Stockholm Convention, Parties are required to take certain measures, as summarized in Figure 2-1 below, to reduce total releases of by-product emissions of Annex C chemicals from anthropogenic sources "with the goal of their continuing minimization and, where feasible, ultimate elimination".
- Develop Action Plan with implementation schedule, 2 years after entry into force for Party
- Inventory current and projected releases.
- Evaluate laws and policies.
- Develop and promote strategies and review every 5 years.
- Require BAT** for new sources identified in plan and Part II Annex C 4 years after entry into force for Party
- Promote BAT for existing sources Part II and Part III, Annex C, and for new sources Part III, Annex C.
- Promote BEP*** for new and existing sources Part II and Part III, Annex C.
** Best Available Techniques (BAT): most effective and advanced activities to limit, prevent or reduce releases (process description, available techniques, and achievable release levels).
*** Best Environmental Practices (BEP): environmental control measures and strategies.
- Incinerators (municipal, hazardous, medical, sewage sludge)
- Cement kilns - Hazardous wastes
- Pulp production using elemental chlorines
- Thermal metallurgical process (iron sintering, secondary copper, aluminium and zinc
- Open burning of waste, residential burning
- Wood, other biomass firing
- Fossil fuelled utility, industrial boilers
- "other" thermal metallurgical process (secondary lead, secondary steel, primary aluminium, primary base metals (i.e. copper, lead, nickel,zinc), magnesium)
- Smouldering copper cables
- Specific chemical processes (chlorophenols, chloranil), textile and leather dyeing and finishing
- Cremaatoria, destruction animal carcasses
- Motor vehicules, waste oil refineries, vehicle shredder plants
Under Article 5 (a), the Convention provides further guidance on the content of an action plan:
- An evaluation of current and projected releases, including the development and maintenance of source inventories and release estimates, taking into consideration the source categories identified in Annex C;
- An evaluation of the efficacy of the laws and policies of the Party relating to the management of such releases;
- Strategies to meet the obligations of this paragraph [measures to reduce or eliminate releases from unintentional production], taking into consideration the evaluations in (i) and (ii);
- Steps to promote education and training with regard to, and awareness of, those strategies;
- A review every five years of the strategies and of their success in meeting the obligations of this paragraph [measures to reduce or eliminate releases from unintentional production]; such reviews shall be included in reports submitted pursuant to Article 15; and
- A schedule for implementation of the action plan, including for the strategies and measures identified therein.
Annex C of the Stockholm Convention lists 17 sectors or categories that are identified as sources of the four unintentionally produced POPs. These have been listed below for reference.
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