The present guidelines provide guidance for the environmentally sound management (ESM) of wastes consisting of elemental mercury and wastes containing or contaminated with mercury, pursuant to decisions VIII/33, IX/15 and BC-10/7 of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal and decision VII/7 of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention.