The Minamata Convention states that “mercury-added products” must be treated to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury.
Distill and stabilise mercury
Mercury is present in everyday objects such as lamps, thermometers or button batteries. To protect humans and the environment, mercury must be separated by distillation in order to recover it to transform into mercury sulphide. BATREC has developed a physiochemical treatment to stabilise the metal mercury (Hg) into mercury sulphide (HgS) in order to permanently dispose of it in a salt mine.
Under strict conditions, a small amount of the recovered mercury is recycled to a purity of over 99.9995%.
The high purity mercury can be reused in specific applications authorised by Swiss law under principles set out in the Minamata Convention. For example, the Minamata Convention allows the use of mercury for R&D and analysis purposes (porosimetry, polarography, etc.). BATREC’s main aim is to provide a mercury treatment solution that guarantees a closed recycling loop.