Following on from a detailed review of existing European legislation relating to the control of environmental impacts arising from industrial operations, the European Commission has proposed a new directive on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) 2007/0286 (COD).
The directive will simplify current legislation by combining and simplifying the following existing directives:
- The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) directive
- The large combustion plant directive
- The waste incineration directive
- The solvent emissions directive
- Three directives concerning the titanium dioxide industry
The aim of the proposed directive is to strengthen the provisions already in force and to reduce further industrial emissions throughout the European Union (EU) by:
- Strengthening the application of Best Available Techniques (BAT) across all member states by ensuring that industrial operators use the most cost-effective techniques to achieve a high level of environmental protection
- Creating a level playing field across the EU
- Tightening permitted emission limits in certain industrial sectors, including large combustion plant
- Introducing minimum standards for environmental inspections of industrial installations and allow more effective permit reviews
- Extending the scope of existing provisions to cover other polluting activities, e.g. medium sized combustion plants
The directive is proposed to enter into force on 1st January 2011 with UK legislation expected to be in place by June 2012. Phased compliance will then take place between 2014 and 2016. The changes proposed by the industrial emissions directive will inevitably result in a review of existing domestic legislation and require amendments as appropriate. Operators will be required to review their existing permitted activities against the new requirements.
The areas of particular concern for most operators will be:
- The need to review and update BAT assessments against the revised ref. notes currently being prepared;
and
- The potential impacts that the revised emission limit values could have on the operability and viability of existing plant
ABB has a thorough understanding of the changes proposed by the industrial emissions directive. We also have extensive experience in reviewing and developing BAT justifications along with providing environmental and technical reviews of process plant to ensure compliance with environmental benchmarks.