Since 2007, European industry has reduced its emissions of harmful pollutants into the air and water by between 40% and 75%, according to data from the European Environment Agency. The EU now wants to go further towards a clean and competitive industry.
It is estimated that the 50,000 largest installations in the EU still account for around 40% of greenhouse gas emissions and are responsible for 20% of all air and water pollutants.
These pollutants have a significant impact on human health and the environment:
- Fine particles (PM2.5) can enter our lungs and bloodstream, causing illness and death.
- NOx threatens human life and biodiversity.
- SOx, heavy metals and ammonia are harmful to crops, wildlife and humans.
- Greenhouse gases cause climate change and reduce air quality.
A sharp fall in emissions
Pollution caused by industrial emissions accounts for billions of euros in costs and hundreds of thousands of premature deaths in the EU every year.
However, according to the European Environment Agency, environmental and health costs of European industry have decreased by a third from 2012 to 2021. The EEA says the EU energy sector has accounted for about 80% of the total decrease.
According to the same study, this is mainly due to the adoption of new techniques and the shift to renewables and less polluting fuels, both changes being largely as a result of EU action.
New European rules
The European Union recently revised its Industrial Emissions Directive (IED 2.0), its main tool for taking action on pollution coming from the continent's largest factories and farms.
Under this directive, installations have been required to comply with the environmental performance associated with the best available techniques (BAT) in their sector. A growing number of governments in the world are now seeking to adopt the same approach.
These performances are decided during the ‘Sevilla process’, a collaborative governance model involving industry, EU Member States and civil society, which takes place at the Joint European Research Centre (JRC) in Seville.
Currently, around 80% of industrial sites comply with the highest permitted emission limit values. Under the IED 2.0 directive, the competent authorities in the Member States will be required to use more stringent values when revising or establishing permits.
Best Available Techniques are set to also take into account more explicitly the human health and climate protection of installations.
Decarbonisation efforts
The new rules aim to achieve a further 40% reduction in the main atmospheric pollutants by 2050. One aim is to confirm the trend observed in recent decades: EU industry has grown while reducing its impact on the environment, a process known as ‘decoupling’.
Another important aspect of the revised directive is to support innovation and guide investment to boost Europe's green competitiveness on the basis of the Clean Industrial Deal recently presented by the European Commission.
In Seville, a new Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) has been set up to identify and characterise the most promising technologies for achieving circular economy and carbon neutrality.
The European Union's objectives are to reach carbon neutrality and zero pollution by 2050. A new portal makes it possible to track changes in the levels of various pollutants in the different regions of Europe.
The European Environment Agency considers that the EU has completed or advanced the implementation of the 33 actions announced in the 2021 ‘zero pollution’ action plan, but that further efforts are still needed to achieve the objectives.
Read more
