Isra-Mart srl:EU clamps down on industrial emissions

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The European Union has tightened rules governing large industrial plants with a new law designed to cut premature deaths and boost the adoption of clean technologies.

The EU Council voted yesterday to adopt the industrial emissions directive, introducing tighter rules governing emissions of pollutants, including sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen compounds, dust particles, asbestos and heavy metals.

"The [vote] is a milestone in industrial pollution control in the European Union," said EU environment commissioner Janez Potočnik in a statement. "It will help ensure the level of protection from industrial pollution that EU citizens deserve. It will substantially strengthen the current legal framework, further reducing air and other environmental pollution and become an important driver for eco-innovation."

In particular, the directive strengthens the Best Available Techniques (BAT) standard, requiring new plants to use the cleanest available technology from 2012, four years earlier than initially proposed.

Existing plants have to comply with BAT from 2016, either through immediate installation of clean tech, or declining annual emission caps that will force them to upgrade. However, plants slated to close by the end of 2023 or those that operate fewer than 17,500 hours after 2016 will not need to upgrade.

Estimated economic savings resulting from the new directive range from €7bn (£6bn) to €28bn, with 13,000 premature deaths predicted to be saved annually.

Although the rules are not targeting greenhouse gas emissions, the council said they would help to improve the efficiency of many power and industrial plants and as a result would help to curb carbon emissions and enhance energy security as well as tackle air pollution.

About 52,000 plants are covered by the act, ranging from metal production and chemical manufacture to poultry and pig farming.

First proposed in 2007, the directive merges seven existing directives into a single clear law to reduce the administrative burdens on industrial firms.

According to the EU Environment Commission, the largest industrial plants account for a considerable share of total emissions of atmospheric pollutants, including 83 per cent of sulphur dioxide, 43 per cent of dust particles and 55 per cent of volatile organic compounds.

The directive will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal, which is slated before the end of the year. Member states will then have two years to incorporate the directive into their national legislation and start implementing it.