A water and waste water management company has warned that thousands of beer companies face potential fines and disciplinary action — including the closing of facilities — due to the far-reaching effects of the new Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
Experts at Alpheus Environmental, a subsidiary of Anglian Water Group, have warned that many beer manufacturers are simply unaware of the extent and potential impact of new tightened rules. These are prescribed in ‘best available techniques’ or BREF document requirements, set to come into force later this year.
Declan Maguire, operations director at Alpheus Environmental
Under the EU Industrial Emissions Directive, companies are obliged to reduce harmful industrial emissions, including emissions of waste water and generation of waste, and these rules are set to be tightened this year. The ‘polluter pays’ principle puts the onus on companies to upgrade their facilities and for them to pay for any damage done to the environment.
EU regulators are currently drafting a series of best practices that will heighten already-stringent obligations on waste water and generation of waste for the decade ahead. They have, however, raised concerns that very few in the industry are aware of this.
Despite Brexit, industry experts believe these regulations will still be maintained in UK law. Experts anticipate that the new EU guidance documents will include increased responsibilities in the design, construction, and operation of industrial facilities, specifically including water treatment.
Companies in water-intensive industries such as alcohol, food and beverage, manufacturing, electronics, leisure, and pharmaceuticals, will be most affected by the new responsibilities.
The legislation servers to integrate and strengthen existing legislation, broaden the scope of industrial activities regulated, establish and prescribe the technologies required in each sector to reduce emissions, and require companies to establish a base line of emission report upon which licence thresholds will be set and adjusted.
It is widely agreed within the water sector that Brexit will likely not affect the relevant legislation in the UK, which it implemented along with other EU member states after the current EU Industrial Emissions Directive came into effect in 2013.
Water management expert Declan Maguire, operations director at Alpheus Environmental, said: “Despite the fact that this legislation is in place since 2013, the extent of the new obligations are only now becoming apparent as sectoral guidelines come into place.
New standards
“Companies that were previously IED compliant will suddenly become non-compliant as they fail to achieve the new standards. If beer companies are not proactively establishing baseline reports of emissions and addressing deficiencies, it will lead to penalties and ultimately facility closures, and no business can sustain this.”
The new EU guideline documents reflect the need to protect global water systems in coming decades. Increasing demand intensity for domestic and industrial water use will see rising competition for water resources and, therefore, higher costs. This will lead to the need for companies to adopt more cost-effective water management, including water recycling, water efficiency measures, and waste minimisation.
Declan added: “In order to be compliant with emerging regulatory requirements, but also cost-efficient in the face of increasing pressures on global water resources, drinks manufacturers will need to look at how they can ensure their water management continues to be fit for purpose.
“We are seeing a rapid shift towards a ‘polluter pays’ approach to water, so companies will need to be prepared to minimise their wasted water or face rapidly increasing costs.
“With water technology developing at a rapid pace and the requirement on organisations to seek out the most efficient means of delivering water treatment, the process of managing water in-house will also become progressively more inefficient and financially unsustainable, so I expect we will see more manufacturing companies looking to outsource their water management to specialised experts.”
