Although this is a handbook for policy and regulation, the major part of
it is filled with data on the three heavy metals that served as
examples: mercury, cadmium and lead. Their stocks, productions, prices,
trade flows, uses and applications, recovery and recycling, as well as
their (eco)toxicological characteristics have been collected and
presented to their fullest extent.
In addition, they are thoroughly analysed for consistency, future
developments and trends and, of course, their consequences for
sustainable development and future policy and regulation.
The second part, on policy and regulation, begins with an extensive and
fundamental consideration on the characteristics of a sustainable heavy
metals policy, whereby innovative policy tools are developed. In many
aspects, these considerations are also valid for other metals and even
non-metallic persistent substances.
Addressing the European Union in particular, its policy-making structure
and practice are critically analysed, in order to develop feasible and
viable guidelines for long-, medium- and short-term EU policy
measures.
The results of this exercise are then applied to the three heavy metals.
In each of these three chapters, all existing EU measures are presented
in detail and confronted with better practices elsewhere, resulting in
many suggestions and recommendations for the future. In the last
chapter, the main conclusions and recommendations are carefully
summarised. Together with a very extended table of contents, this makes
the book easily accessible, in spite of its volume. This Handbook is a
must for policy-makers and administrators at all levels, as well as for
their counterparts in a wide variety of industries. In addition, it is
well-suited for environmental science courses at academic or higher
professional level.
