EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 10: Environment and Industry Apart from the specific waste management or industry- related policies, other broader policy measures in the waste and resource efficiency area will also have a positive impact on industrial waste generation and recovery in the coming years, specifically policy measures in relation to the circular economy. The European Commission’s Circular Economy Package (EC, 2018), one of the main blocks of the European Green Deal agenda for sustainable growth, sets out a strategic framework of measures that will help stimulate Europe’s transition towards a circular economy, boost global competitiveness, foster sustainable economic growth and generate new jobs. As part of the Circular Economy Package, the Commission will clarify rules on by-products and end-of-waste status. This will help support the development of industrial symbiosis – a process by which the waste of one company can become resources for another company. Industrial symbiosis is also already used extensively at site level by many production installations. For example, many use exothermal processes delivering heat to processes requiring additional energy. There are many examples of industrial symbiosis at a national level, including: n ash from power sector used in cement industry or brick manufacture n by-product from chemical plant used as fertiliser n solvent recovery for use in paint manufacture n hazardous solid waste material recovered for use as a biomass fuel. More recently, as part of the European Commission’s European Green Deal (EC, 2019) launched in December 2019, there will be a considerable step up in action on chemicals. The Green Deal is a core part of the Commission’s growth strategy, and it includes ambitious measures to tackle climate and environment-related challenges, including action to advance ‘Towards a zero- pollution ambition for a toxic free environment’. As part of this action to ensure a toxic-free environment and eliminate pollution, the Commission plans to present a chemicals strategy for sustainability. This strategy will aim to better protect citizens and the environment from hazardous chemicals and encourage innovation in the development of safer and more sustainable alternatives. 6. Enforcement of EPA Licences for Industrial Facilities A range of enforcement options are open to the EPA to deal with licence breaches. After a licence is issued by the EPA, inspectors from the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement are tasked with the enforcement of the licence. The IED contains mandatory requirements on environmental inspections. The EPA has robust systems in place covering environmental inspections and draws up annual inspection plans accordingly. The IED requires site visits at frequencies ranging from every year to every 3 years, depending on environmental risk-based criteria. Where licence breaches are detected, the EPA can take a number of enforcement actions. These include recording non-compliances with licence conditions; undertaking additional site inspections, audits or emissions monitoring; opening compliance investigations; issuing statutory notices; taking prosecutions or injunctions; and ultimately suspending or revoking a licence if the environmental issue has not been satisfactorily resolved. The EPA Compliance and Enforcement Policy 6 sets out the enforcement actions the EPA takes, having regard to five guidance principles: risk based, proportionality, consistency, transparency and the polluter-pays principle. The EPA receives complaints from members of the public in relation to licensed facilities. Each complaint is recorded and investigated; some may require a visit to the site in question. In total 84 per cent of all complaints received from the public relate to odour (57%) and noise (27%). One enforcement tool the EPA employs is the National Priority Sites system, which identifies and publishes the names of licensed sites that are enforcement priorities. Each licensed site receives a score based on its compliance status against four criteria: compliance investigations, complaints, incidents and non-compliances. The first National Priority Sites list was launched by the EPA in July 2017 and the list has been updated and published at the end of each quarter since then. Sites come off the list when they have made the necessary improvements in compliance. Summary information on the National Priority Sites during 2019 and 2020 is given in Figure 10.13 below. 6 http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/enforcement/oeeenforcementpolicy. html 271