Brussels, 19 July – The European Commission has published draft best-available-technique (BAT) guidelines for pulp and paper installations, to improve anti-pollution measures.
The guidelines form a reference for regulators to set permit conditions under the Industrial Emissions Directive, which will make the guidelines more binding for new plants from January 2014. Permits for all installations will require updating by early 2018.
In particular, the BAT guidelines will have much tighter limits on pollutant levels, such as emissions of dust and sulphur dioxide. Current EU pulp production mostly uses the kraft process, and under the guidelines, the acceptable level of pollutants for the chemical oxygen demand of waste water, per tonne of dry pulp, has been halved. As such, the industry will need a mixture of end-of-pipe measures, better technology and improved management.