ETV demonstrates a valuable potential in supporting implementation of circular economy policies based on the performance of technologies. Showing a way of how this potential could be utilised is an important factor that may bolster market acceptance and recognition of ETV and especially turning the attention of technology providers offering innovations with environmental performance resulting in the lowest impact dedicated to specific industrial sectors.
One of the options considered by the LIFEproETV project is building a link enabling feeding information from ETV to the ‘Sevilla process’ establishing Best Available Techniques Reference Documents (BREFs) under the Industrial Emissions Directive. To discuss possible cooperation pathways, end February LIFEproETV organised an on-line meeting with JRC’s European IPPC Bureau and DG ENV. The discussion allowed to identify how such cooperation pathways could be built in practice taking into account specific features of ETV on the one hand and the needs of IED (currently under revision) as well as the BREFS and the links that already exist.
Environmental Performance Levels (BAT-AEPLs). However, there are two important aspects to note. First, BREFs’ focus today is on proven Best Available Techniques (BAT), rather than Emerging Techniques (although the latter may possibly gain more prominence in the revised IED). Second, the definition of “BAT” is broader than the ETV focus, since BAT and BREFs encompass “techniques” (including both the technology used and the way in which the installation is designed, built, maintained, operated and decommissioned) rather than technologies while ETV’s present emphasis on “technologies” defined as products, processes and services in the technical standard ISO 14034: Environmental Management: ETV.
Moreover, ETV could provide a role in assisting BREFs and the IED via the database of verified technologies the by categorising whether a technique/ technology listed on the ETV database was targeted towards a particular industry or sector, or was being/ had been developed with a particular BREF in mind. The reciprocal information flowing from the IPPCB to the ETV Secretariat to note would be the Key Environmental Issues (KEIs) for each BREF sector, which are clearly documented on the IPPC Bureau/ DG ENV websites. These KEIs could signal the way/ emphasise the need for technologies/ techniques to be developed, or where ETV technologies already developed could be used.
The discussion will be definitely continued with the involvement of the EU ETV Secretariat, while LIFEproETV role would be to serve as a catalyst in communicating the opportunities provided by linking ETV with IED and BREFs towards technology providers offering potential BAT candidate technologies to industry.