Experts at Alpheus Environmental, a subsidiary of Anglian Water Group, have warned that many companies are unaware of the extent and potential impact of new tightened rules – prescribed in ‘best available techniques’ or BREF document requirements, set to come into force later this year.
Under the EU IED, companies are obliged to reduce harmful industrial emissions, including emissions of waste water and generation of waste, and these rules are set to be tightened this year. The ‘polluter pays’ principle also puts the onus on companies to upgrade their facilities and for them to pay for any damage done to the environment.
Alpheus Environmental says that EU regulators are currently drafting best practices that will heighten “already-stringent obligations” on waste water and generation of waste for the decade ahead. It has however raised concerns very few in the industry are aware of this, it adds.
Despite Brexit, industry experts believe these regulations will still be maintained in UK law.
Explains water management expert Declan Maguire (pictured), operations director at Alpheus Environmental: “Despite the fact that this legislation is in place since 2013, the extent of the new obligations are only now becoming apparent as sectoral guidelines come into place.
“Companies that were previously IED complainant will suddenly become non-compliant as they fail to achieve the new standards. If companies are not proactively establishing baseline reports of emissions and addressing deficiencies it will lead to penalties and ultimately facility closures, and no business can sustain this.”
