International colloquium
13 Oct 2014
On the 02 October 2014, the 5th International Colloquium on Environmental Systems Management in Europe took place in Turin, Italy.
Attendees discovered the current views of the European Commission and Gian Luca Galletti – Italy’s Minister of the Environment, Land and Sea – on the role played by the new Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) in combatting climate change.
Adopted by the European Council of Ministers in 2010 and only recently written into the internal law of member states, the IED directive stipulates that companies in the steel, chemical, pharmaceutical, paper, agri-food, refining, ceramic and waste management industries will from now on be required to use the best technology available, periodically revise their exercise permits and restore contaminated sites following completion of activities.
This affects more than 100,000 companies in Europe, including 5,600 in the UK.
The directive creates additional costs for industrial producers in a context of deep economic depression and increasing international competition.
In addition, the limits on ‘state aid’ forming part of Community legislation cause issues for public interventions to help companies deal with these extra costs.
EDF Fenice, a supplier of energy and environmental services to industrial companies in Europe, is proposing to spread the extra costs resulting from the directive over time by covering the investment required to adapt industrial installations to meet the new standards.
EDF Fenice places emphasis on energy and waste efficiency projects too, in order to reduce costs relating to energy and waste activities for the companies affected, as well as on signing long-term environmental monitoring and restoration contracts to enable industrial clients to benefit from substantial economies of scale.
