UNEP Holds Meeting On PCBs Phase-Out Plan

Friday, June 11, 2004

Experts meeting in Geneva over the last two days discussed ways to get rid of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), one of the world's most hazardous chemicals. PCBs are one of 12 highly toxic chemicals targeted for elimination by the 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which entered into force last month. It has been extensively used in electrical equipment such as transformers and large capacitors in power lines and in additives in paint, carbonless copy paper and plastics.

Although the use of PCBs is now banned under the treaty, they continue to pose a serious risk to human health and the environment because the chemicals have been discharged into soils, rivers and lakes over the years and are still being held at temporary storage sites, mostly in developing countries.

During the meeting, U.N. Environment Program Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said financial and technical challenges to eliminate PCBs will require "vigorous" public-private partnership.

"While international donors and national governments will set priorities and invest tens of millions of dollars, commercial firms have the expertise and technologies to perform much of the actual clean-up work," he said.

Under the treaty, countries must phase out "in-place equipment" containing PCBs by 2025 as long as leaks are prevented (U.N. release, June 10).

The Global Environment Facility is providing $250 million for the period of 2002-2006 to help developing nations phase out PCBs.

"Many billions of dollars" will be spent globally "to make the world PCB-free by 2028," said James Willis, director of the UNEP chemicals unit (Alexander Higgins, Associated Press, June 10).
Published in UN Wire - Copyright, National Journal Group, Year 2004