Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

335 Chapter 13: Environment and Industry Environment and Industry 1 www.consilium.europa.eu/media/4aldqfl2/2024_557_new-strategic-agenda.pdf (accessed 15 July 2024). 2 Amending IED Directive (2010/75/EU) and Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC). 1. Introduction Industry is an important part of Ireland’s economy, providing jobs and vital goods for modern society. Over 18% of the workforce in Ireland, 2.3 million people in 2022, was employed in industry (CSO, 2023), with the industrial sector third behind the healthcare and retail sectors in terms of workforce size. The total value of products manufactured in Ireland in 2022 was €132 billion. The three largest industry sectors accounted for two-thirds (or almost €90 billion) of total net selling value – pharmaceutical products (32%), food products (18%) and chemicals and chemical products (17%) (CSO, 2023). Ireland is the world’s third largest exporter of pharmaceuticals; there are now more than 84,000 highly skilled people directly and indirectly employed in the wider chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing sector. Bord Bia (2024) reported an increase in Irish food and drink exports of 22% in 2022, worth €16.7 billion. This decreased by 4% in 2023 but remains 24% higher than it was in 2019. While these sectors provide significant benefits to the Irish economy, they also present potential risks to the environment that require appropriate management and regulation. Industrial activities are a source of pressure on the environment, mainly in the form of waste generation, resource consumption and emissions to the atmosphere, soil and water ecosystems. Studies have shown that air pollution from industrial facilities across Europe has significant costs associated with its impacts on human health, ecosystems, infrastructure and climate. Across Europe, more than 100 industrial facilities (none from Ireland) are responsible for 50% of the damage caused by air pollution, mostly emitted by energy suppliers within Germany, Poland, Italy, France and Spain (EEA, 2024). Some industrial sites cause local issues with water and air quality and can create noise and odour problems which impact a community’s ability to enjoy its local environment. 2. European policy context European Green Deal The European Green Deal is Europe’s strategy to ensure a climate-neutral, clean and circular economy by 2050, optimising resource management and minimising pollution while recognising the need for deeply transformative policies (EC, 2019). It provides a roadmap for industries to transition towards more sustainable practices, while also fostering innovation and competitiveness. It aims to reach zero pollution for a toxic-free environment under the Zero Pollution Action Plan (EC, 2021). One of the pillars of the Green Deal is ‘a predictable and simplified regulatory environment’. Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 Adopted by the European Council in 2024, the Strategic Agenda 2024-2029 1 sets priorities for the European Union (EU) for the next 5 years in line with the EU’s ambition to become the first climate-neutral continent, focusing on green and digital industries and technologies. Agreed priorities include more support for the scale-up of Europe’s manufacturing capacity for net-zero technologies and products, the development of a more circular and resource-efficient economy and an ambition to simplify business permitting. There is a continued commitment in the Strategic Agenda to protect nature, reverse the degradation of ecosystems and strengthen water resilience. See Chapter 15 for more on the circular economy and Chapters 7 and 8 for further discussion of nature and water protection. Industrial Emissions Directive The revised Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) (2024/1785/EU) 2 is the main piece of EU legislation for preventing and reducing pollution from large industries (Topic Box 13.1). The amount of air pollutants emitted by these industries is seven times less than it was 20 years ago (EC, 2021). Table 13.1 maps the IED to selected European Green Deal policies.