Photo credit: Uwe Michael Neumann/Adobe Stock
Stable, heat-resistant, and with a high boiling point, polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, were once celebrated for their usefulness to industry, but soon became better known for their extreme toxicity to living things.
Today, the clock is ticking for countries worldwide to safety eliminate those that remain, fulfilling their commitments under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants with support from the GEF.
Although the manufacture of PCBs has been banned for decades, they were in such widespread use from the 1930s to 1980s they are still to be found all over the world.
Until research revealed the extreme danger they posed to humans and the environment, these carcinogenic compounds were used for hundreds of purposes. They can be found in transformers and capacitors; electrical equipment (such as voltage regulators, switches, and electromagnets); lubricants for motors and hydraulic systems; insulation materials from fiberglass to foam; adhesives; oil-based paint; plastics; floor finishes; old-style appliances; and household electrical devices.
These chemicals can also be created and released unintentionally by waste incinerators, cement kilns, and in the production of metals. Like other persistent organic pollutants governed by the Stockholm Convention, PCBs spread far and wide and can linger in the environment for decades.
The Stockholm Convention, which came into force in 2004, states that all countries must identify and stop using liquids and equipment containing PCBs by the end of 2025, and must bring all PCBs within their borders – including legacy waste – under environmentally sound management by 2028.
With these deadlines looming, a new Global Environment Facility-funded program has set out to help six countries in Africa – Cameroon, Eswatini, Gabon, Madagascar, Nigeria, and Uganda – to overcome headwinds and ensure this happens.
In its first phase, the Global Elimination Program for PCB is implemented by the World Bank, African Development Bank, UN Development Programme, and UN Environment Programme. Additional phases are planned. The program will work with electrical utilities and other relevant enterprises in the target countries to highlight the need to eliminate PCBs, along with the operational benefits of swapping out contaminated equipment for newer, more efficient versions.
Although the tempo has picked up in recent years, that is not the case everywhere. National discrepancies in the pace of elimination are in part due to the difficulties some countries face in tracking down and measuring the PCBs still in use.
While most signatory nations to the Stockholm Convention have developed national implementation plans to reach their milestones and regularly report back on progress, data quality remains an issue.
Many countries find it hard to accurately track how much PCB is still in use due to inconsistent or poorly enforced regulations, variations in tracking methods, and domestic electrical utilities that are unwilling or unable to give a full accounting.
Safely disposing of PCBs after removal is also a challenge. Not only are prices for PCB shipping rising; many countries must depend on foreign facilities with limited free capacity. And utilities are often reluctant – or unable to afford – to swap out contaminated transformers for modern, PCB-free replacements.
These obstacles are adding new urgency to efforts to meet the Stockholm deadlines, including those supported by the GEF as the convention’s financial mechanism.
The goal of the Global Elimination Program for PCB is to eradicate 8,750 tons of the toxic chemical in the six target countries, much of it by enabling electric utilities to replace PCB-contaminated equipment with newer, more efficient transformers that will increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
To encourage this change in thinking, the program will work with the World Bank, AfDB, UNDP, and UNEP to integrate clear guidance on the environmentally sound management of PCB into the terms of electricity transmission and distribution funding.
In addition, project teams will help utilities and other enterprises find and gain access to the right treatment and disposal options and provide technical help for the decontamination, rehabilitation, and replacement of contaminated equipment. The program also includes funds to help countries remove, transport, and dispose of legacy PCB stockpiles.
