Chlorine Production in the EU now mercury-free

The final deadline for chlorine production based on the so-called amalgam/mercury process in the EU expired on 11 December 2017. According to the companies, all plants concerned have either been converted to the membrane technology or closed.

According to Eurochlor, there were still around 2.1 million mercury-based chlorine capacities per year in 2017. Productions with a capacity of 775,000 t/y were closed, the remainder was converted and replaced by new technologies. As a result, the total chlorine capacity in the EU in 2017 has thus been reduced from a good 12 million tonnes per year to around 11.25 million tonnes per year.

According to the industry association, about one third of chlorine is used in PVC production, making it the largest single application.