EU rules governing waste plant emissions passed

Europe-wide rules setting new emissions and pollution standards for industrial plants – such as energy-from-waste incinerators and anaerobic digestion facilities – have been officially passed as law by the European Council of Ministers and are now set to be transposed into UK law by the end of 2012.

The Directive on Industrial Emissions was rubberstamped this week (November 8) by the Council, which approved all the amendments to the draft legislation that were backed by the European Parliament in July 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).

The new legislation was developed as a means of bringing together seven pieces of European legislation on emissions, including the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) and the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive, into a single Directive.

In England and Wales, both the WID and IPPC are implemented through Environmental Permitting Regulations, enforced by the Environment Agency.

FEAD

When the final Directive was approved by the Parliament earlier this year, it was broadly welcomed by FEAD, the body representing waste management companies across Europe.

However, it has raised concerns over the fact that, by including different thresholds for different waste management technologies before they have to meet the legislation's requirements, the Directive will not create a level playing field.

In particular, with AD plants need to operate at a capacity of 100 tonnes-a-day or more before being subject to the requirements of the legislation, whereas other plants, such as composting facilities, have to meet its standards if they deal with 75 tonnes-a-day or more of waste. The organisation believes that this favours AD ahead of other biological waste treatment technologies.

The Directive also details emissions limit values, which set the actual limits on emissions from plants such as waste incinerators.

FEAD has welcomed the fact that ‘competent authorities' can step outside these rules if they decide the cost impact of the limits is disproportionate to the environmental benefits. However, it questioned the fact that these authorities are also able to set limits which are more stringent than those developed under the best available techniques (BATs) process.

Council

The Council's vote to approve the Directive was hailed by the European Union's environment commissioner, Janez Potocnik, who said: “The vote by the Council to adopt the new Directive on industrial emissions is a milestone in industrial pollution control in the European Union.

“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.”

The Directive will now enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, which is expected before the end of the year, setting the clock ticking for Member States including the UK to then have two years to transpose the Directive into domestic legislation.