Around 300 textile industry plants to comply with new EU legal norms

Some 300 textile industry and 3,000 chemical plants in the European Union (EU) will have to comply with new legal norms adopted under the EU Industrial Emissions Directive to reduce their environmental impact. The new legal norms estimate existing installations to take four years to adapt, while new facilities are required to comply immediately.

The new European Commission Decisions refer to the management and treatment of waste gas in the chemical sector and a series of activities in the textile industry. They stem from a coordinated effort by stakeholders, including industry, to agree on Best Available Techniques (BATs). It is another step by the European Commission towards the Zero Pollution ambition to reduce air, water, and soil pollution to levels harmless to health and the environment, according to the European Commission.

Some 300 textile industry and 3,000 chemical plants in the European Union (EU) will have to comply with new legal norms adopted under the EU Industrial Emissions Directive to reduce their environmental impact. The new legal norms estimate existing installations to take four years to adapt, while new facilities are required to comply immediately.

In the case of the textile sector, the environmental legislative changes concern in particular the wet processing of textiles, which include treatments such as bleaching, dyeing, or finishing treatment to give specific properties to the textile, like water repellence. The new norm is part of the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles which aims to create a greener, more competitive textiles sector, the European Commission said.

The new norm for the textile sector has a particular emphasis on emissions to air and to water and targets over 20 air and water pollutants including formaldehyde, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), dust, as well as ammonia for emissions to air, or metals for emissions to water. The new norm focuses also on environmental issues relevant to circular economy—including energy efficiency and resource efficiency (water consumption, chemicals consumption, waste generation).

It also promotes more sustainable industrial production through the substitution of chemicals that are hazardous, harmful, or have a high environmental impact by introducing an approach underpinned by a chemical management system.

The chemical activities covered under the Common Waste Gas Management and Treatment Systems in the Chemical Sector (WGC) BAT Conclusions mainly include the production of organic chemicals, polymers, and pharmaceuticals, which are large emitters of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with about 40,000 tonnes emitted to air each year.

The new norms for WGC target emission standards for 34 key air pollutants emitted from the chemical industry sector and include stricter binding levels for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A particular attention is paid to carcinogenic or toxic substances. In addition, they introduce a new approach based on a management system for preventing, reducing, and quantifying diffuse emissions (those emissions that are not channelled or ducted, such as leaks from equipment).

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)