Strengthening chemicals management in Best Available Techniques Reference Documents

On the EU level the main instrument to control industrial releases is the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), particularly through the publication of BAT Reference documents (BREFs) and the corresponding key chapter, the BAT conclusions. The objective of the IED is to achieve a high level of environmental protection as a whole. This target can only be achieved when the BREFs include all chemicals and substances used in or potentially released from industrial processes, both the ones that have already been identified as hazardous and regulated, as well as the less known and non-regulated ones. At the centre of this report is the analysis of the information exchange under the IED, which results in BREFs and corresponding BAT conclusions. This report proposes how relevant information on chemicals used in or released from industrial processes can be more systematically addressed during BREF reviews. Special emphasis is given to possibilities to better use the available data generated in the context of other pertinent EU legislation such as REACH and POPs Regulation and Water Framework Directive (WFD). The HAZBREF project recommends further systemic cooperation and exchange of information between the European IPPC Bureau coordinating the BREF work and chemical experts from REACH, WFD and the POP convention community. To identify the hazardous chemicals relevant for a given industrial sector and to strengthen the measures to control them, BREF reviews require extended frontloading, systematic identification of chemicals and reinforcing the BREF Technical Working Group (TWG) with knowledge on chemicals. The HAZBREF project further recommends including a specific chapter on chemicals in all BREFs and BAT conclusions and proposes the key topics to be addressed. The proposals of this report seem to fall within a favourable political context with the recently published European Green Deal that defines a new policy framework requiring a deep transformation for the EU’s economy for a sustainable future. One of the key commitments of the EGD is the EU’s zero pollution ambition for a non-toxic environment, which is supported by the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability published in October 2020. The proposals made by the HAZBREF project would further strengthen the future BAT conclusions and support the IED in achieving the abovementioned EU policy objectives

Promoting non-toxic material cycles in the preparation of Best Available Technique Reference Documents (BREFs)

The main instrument at the EU level to control industrial releases is the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), particularly through the publication of BAT reference documents (BREFs) for industrial sectors, which include a BAT conclusions chapter setting a reference for permit conditions throughout the EU for IED installations. The EU action plan for the Circular Economy states that Circular Economy in industry will be promoted through the BREF documents, but so far this aspect is not reflected in concrete requirements in BREFs. The aim of this study is to provide input on how circular economy issues can be addressed in the BREFs in accordance with this new EU policy in order to facilitate recycling, reuse and improve the uptake of secondary raw materials. A general finding is that CE objectives cannot be reached by amending single regulatory frameworks and, instead, a systematic review of the whole regulatory system is required. IED and BREFs can promote CE objectives only to a limited extent, but, however, more can be done by making better use of the existing mechanisms in a systematic way. Many BREFs already include BATs on waste recovery and treatment, but requirements promoting non-toxic cycles should be more concrete than at present. For example, cross-contamination of waste materials should be prevented through requirements on source separation in BREFs. More emphasis could also be put on the practical implementation of waste hierarchy, which is the leading principle in supporting efficient material cycles. The traditional scope of IED and BREFs covers a single industrial installation from gate to gate, whereas the promotion of CE requires life cycle thinking and better connections to upstream and downstream processes. HAZBREF-project recommends introducing a BAT for chemical inventory in sectoral BREFs to support information on the chemical content of the products throughout the whole supply chain. Product requirements may limit the use of secondary raw materials and quantitative BATs (BAT-AEPLs) in BREF documents are rarely feasible, but increased information on possibilities to use secondary raw materials would support the recovery of waste and prevent waste generation