Final Report Summary - BAT4MED (Boosting Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries)
Executive Summary:
BAT4MED project, “Boosting Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries”, co-financed by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, aims to analyse the potential impact of the introduction of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control concept in the Mediterranean Partner Countries -Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia- (hereinafter MPCs) and, more specifically, if this can contribute to minimise the negative impacts associated with polluting industries and their related activities, products and services from key industrial sectors ensuring thus a higher level of environmental protection.
The project aims to help implement the EU Technologies Action Plan by supporting the transfer and uptake of environmental technologies in developing countries. To that aim, the possibilities for and impact of diffusion of the EU IPPC approach to the MPCs were assessed and the implementation of BAT in the national environmental programmes was promoted and supported.
To achieve foreseen objectives, the project relied on a concise working methodology and structure. Firstly, BAT4MED analysed the industrial context in the MPCs to select the most promising sectors with the highest Environmental Benefit Potential. Secondly, a methodology for BAT assessment was designed and applied and BAT were selected for each identified sector taking into account specific sector and local conditions in the participating MPC. Additionally, an analysis of potential convergence of MPCs policies with the EU-approach was carried out in order to assess the potential for the future adaptation of the existing MPC permitting procedures to integrate principles based on the IPPC approach.
BAT4MED project’s approach is mostly aimed at assessing the potential effectiveness of the IPPC Directive if applied in the MPCs on some key-variables for economic and industrial growth, such as the technical and economic feasibility and environmental performance of the BAT in those countries, the impact caused by the adoption of the identified and proposed BAT in terms of changes and improvements needed, the potential impact on the improvement of the overall environmental performance and on human health, as well as on the environmental aspects of the key industrial sectors, the investment that is going to be required to implement the BAT in the relevant sectors, the impact on cost and on the overall competitiveness of the interested industrial sectors that can derive from the extension of the IPPC approach to the MPCs, the corrective actions and compensation measures that can be introduced in the BAT conceptualisation for the MPCs in order to limit the negative effects and strengthen the positive impact of the IPPC-like approach, etc.
A total of 8 partners from 6 countries (4 coming from 3 EU countries –Spain, Italy and Belgium- and 4 from the Mediterranean Partner Countries –Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco-) were brought together given their solid background in IPPC and BAT related issues:
• Instituto Andaluz de Tecnología (IAT), ES
• Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek N.V. (VITO), BE
• Agencia de Residus de Catalunya (ARC-CP/RAC), ES
• Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant'Anna (SSSUP), IT
• Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), EG
• Centre International des Technologies de l’Environnement de Tunis (CITET), TN
• Centre Marocain de Production Propre (CMPP), MA
• Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region & Europe (CEDARE), EG
The project supports the adaptation of relevant EU information on BAT for key industrial sectors to the MPCs, with special focus on regional and local conditions. The information on BAT will demonstrate the environmental but also the economic benefits arising from their application, in order to motivate industrial managers for their implementation. Though BAT4MED is tackled from the perspective of key industrial sectors, the goal of the consortium was to design and implement universal tools and methodologies, allowing thus easily the replication of the whole project in other countries and industrial sectors. To this end, particular efforts were put into the development of each methodology, to ensure its applicability within the context of the project but also beyond it.
Project Context and Objectives:
The Mediterranean is the largest European sea, shared by 460 million people living in its 22 countries and territories and visited by 275 million more every year. According to the 2009 UNEP/Plan Bleu, the shores of the Mediterranean account for 5.7% of the world land mass, 7% of the world population and 12% of world GDP. Despite its richness, the Mediterranean region represents one of the most vulnerable environments in the world, accounting also for 60% of the world “water-poor” population and 8% of global CO2 emissions.
Industrial production processes account for a considerable share of the overall pollution in the Mediterranean (for emissions of greenhouse gases and acidifying substances, wastewater emissions and waste). In South and East Mediterranean countries, main environmental problems of coastal water pollution are due to poor treatment of urban waste and management of chemicals, compound by inadequate technical capabilities and economic incentives. In North Mediterranean countries, particularly in the EU with its more prescriptive regulations, considerable effort has gone into wastewater treatment, chemicals management, pollution prevention or more curative measures.
The EU countries of the Mediterranean region are combating this industrial pollution mainly through the implementation of the EU Directive on Industrial Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC Directive), adopted in 1996 by the European Commission, which has been recently recasted along with other six environmental-industry directives into the current EU Industrial Emissions Directive. The IPPC Directive introduced a regulatory system that uses an integrated approach to environmental protection by controlling emissions to air, water and land from industrial activities falling within the scope of the Directive. In essence, the policy requires polluting industrial operators to obtain environmental permits to run their industrial facilities. Such permits are based on the application of Best Available Techniques (BAT) and control emissions to all environmental media, being BAT understood as “the most effective and advanced stage in the development of activities and their methods of operation which indicate the practical suitability of particular techniques for providing in principle the basis for emission limit values designed to prevent and, where that is not practicable, generally to reduce emissions and the impact on the environment as a whole”.
In this context, BAT4MED project, “Boosting Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries”, aimed to analyse the potential impact of the introduction of the IPPC concept in the Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPC) and, more specifically, if this could contribute to minimise the negative impacts associated with polluting industries from key industrial sectors.
The overall objective of the project is to ensure a higher level of environmental protection of the region, minimising the negative impacts associated with activities, products and services from key industrial sectors in the MPC. The project aims to help implement the EU Technologies Action Plan by supporting the transfer and uptake of environmental technologies in developing countries. To that aim, the possibilities for and impact of diffusion of the EU IPPC approach to the MPC were assessed and the implementation of BAT in the national environmental programmes was promoted and supported. BAT4MED acts thus as a catalyst for change in the MPC, while supporting the growth and leadership of European industries producing or managing environmental technologies.
Specific objectives of the project are as follows:
• To identify, assess and select the BAT for pollution prevention and control in key industrial sectors with the highest environmental potential benefit;
• To promote and spread the use of BAT through dissemination activities;
• To assess the possibility and the impact of disseminating the IPPC approach to other MPC.
Project Results:
Firstly, the BAT4MED project analysed the industrial context in the MPC to select the most promising sectors with the highest environmental benefit potential. This preliminary analysis includes a benchmarking exercise of national analysis reports that identify possible synergies and selects those sectors that can ensure the highest global impact in the region for further study. Through an in-depth analysis of the potential transferability of results, the two most promising industrial sectors with the highest environmental potential benefit selected were the textile sector and the food sector, specifically, the dairy sector. Though the industrial and economic situation may vary notably between the different MPCs, the analysis carried out reveals that most of the problems faced by the Mediterranean industries are common to the majority of countries, which will be the key to spread results and ensure their transferability.
Secondly, a methodology for the assessment of available environmentally friendly techniques, so-called candidate BAT, and the selection of BAT was developed. For each target sector, the BAT were selected accordingly, taking into account specific sector and local conditions in the participating MPC. The methodology assesses the candidate BAT at a sector level, with respect to their technical and economic viability and environmental benefit.
The methodology was used to assist the MPCs and the technical working groups (TWGs) in drafting national BAT sector reports. It provides not only a clear and transparent evaluation tool for candidate BAT, but also guidelines on the elaboration of BAT sector reports, e.g. it indicates that the data needs to be used to conduct a BAT analysis. In the future, the methodology will inevitable provide support to policy makers and permit writers, in general, in the selection of BAT.
During the process of writing the methodology and elaborating the BAT sector reports, an Expert Group (EG) -consisting of key experts in the field of IPPC at the European level- was called upon to help guarantee the scientific and technical quality of the project’s outcomes.
Additionally, an analysis of the potential convergence of MPC policies with the EU approach was carried out in order to assess the potential for the future adaptation of the existing MPC, permitting procedures to integrate principles based on the IPPC approach. This stage aimed at analysing and benchmarking policy and legislative frameworks regarding IPPC in the MPC. In particular, the methodological approach for the analysis helped the MPC to collect the information and to ensure the comparability of project results in order to assess the possibility and the impact of diffusing the EU IPPC approach to the MPC and other Mediterranean countries. In addition, the conclusions of this analysis provided policy recommendations to support the implementation of BAT in the MPC.
An in-depth description of main S&T results/foregrounds of the project is detailed below. However, and for more detailed information, the submitted deliverables can be checked.
WP2.- ANALYSIS AND SELECTION OF THE KEY INDUSTRIAL SECTORS IN THE MPC
One of the three work-packages related to the coordination activity of the project was WP2, “Analysis and selection of the key industrial sectors in the MPC”, which aimed to analyse the industrial context in the selected MPC and select the most promising sectors to work on, in term of environmental potential benefit.
The Methodology designed for this purpose aimed to analysing in each MPC, key industrial sectors with significant negative impacts on human health and environment in order to identify the most promising sectors with the environmental benefit potential. This methodology was useful for data collection to complete the 3 National Analyses aimed at selecting 2 industrial sectors in each MPC with the “highest environmental potential benefit”. These key industrial sectors of the project were selected starting from the 27 sectors covered by the IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) Directive with an approved version of BREFs (Best Reference Documents).
After the identification of the Environmental Benefit Potential, partners completed WP2 with the Benchmarking analysis. This analysis allowed considering the priority sectors of each MPC in order to verify the possibility to select 2 common sectors for the whole project. The method to adopt in this phase was discussed and shared by the PMB after the conclusion of the related National Analysis.
Fifteen sectors of interest were pre-selected in each MPC, according to the project methodology and availability of information. The fifteen pre-selected sectors were then assigned scores according to sets of indicators indicating the relevance of each sector from the economic, environmental and social, health and institutional perspectives. Eight out of these fifteen sectors were found to be common in the three MPCs (Cement, Lime and Magnesium Oxide Manufacturing Industries; Ceramic Manufacturing Industry; Ferrous Metals Processing Industry; Food, Drink and Milk Industries; Iron and Steel Production; Non-Ferrous Metals Industries; Pulp & Paper Industry; Textile Industry). The best available information was used, and the result of the scoring exercise was a ranking of the “Environmental Benefit Potential (EBP)” for each sector in each country. The rankings for each sector across the three countries were the basis for the benchmarking exercise and the selection of the two sectors of highest priority.
Thus, the National Analyses of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia allowed identifying the Environmental Benefit Potential of industrial sectors in order to verify the possibility to select 2 common sectors for the whole project.
Thanks to the Benchmarking Analysis, two sectors were selected among the eight common ones identified in the three National Analyses: the food, drink and milk industries sector and the textile industry sector. These two sectors obtained the highest total ranking (according to the national EBPs) among the all eight common sectors to the MPCs.
Though BAT4MED is tackled from the perspective of these two particular industrial sectors selected, and the rest of WPs were elaborated according to this selection, the goal of the consortium was to design and implement universal tools and methodologies, allowing thus easily the replication of the project in other countries and industrial sectors.
WP3.- DEVELOPMENT OF BAT SECTOR REPORTS
Next step of the project was WP3, “Development of BAT sector reports”. For this purpose, a methodology for the selection of BAT at a sector level was designed. This methodology is based on both VITO’s and ARC-CP/RAC’s previous experience in BAT assessment and selection (VITO’s ISO 14001 BAT development procedure; ARC-CP/RAC’s Guide for the Implementation of a Pollution Prevention and Control System based on based on Best Available Technologies (BAT) and Best Environmental Practices (BEP) in the MAP Countries, first published in September 2007).
The methodology was used to assist the MPC and the Technical Working Groups (TWG) set up during the project in drafting national BAT sector reports for the selected industrial sectors, i.e. the dairy and textiles industry, taking into account regional/national technical, environmental and economic issues. The methodology provides the MPCs and the TWGs with a clear and transparent evaluation tool, method that structures both the selection of the BAT, as well as the writing of the BAT sector report, i.e. indicates the kind of data needed to conduct the BAT analysis.
This methodology involves the evaluation of all potential environmentally friendly techniques or so-called candidate BAT with respect to their technical viability, environmental benefit, and economic viability. It was validated by the Project Management Board on 11/10/2011 and the Expert Group (EG) on 07/11/2011.
The Methodology for the selection of BAT consists of 6 steps. These steps must be completed one after the other. Depending on the desired depth of the analysis, the complexity of the processes and data availability, these 6 steps were defined either qualitatively (expert analysis) or quantitatively.
- Step 1: Describe the subject or framework of the BAT analysis. Define the processes of interest and their environmental performance.
- Step 2: Compile a list of candidate BAT. Make an elaborate list of techniques that could be used to improve the environmental performance, or of the so called candidate BAT.
- Step 3: Evaluate the technical viability of the candidate BAT. Focus only on the technical viability of the techniques, while ignoring (for now) the environmental and economic aspects.
- Step 4: Evaluate the environmental performance of the candidate BAT. There are two possible approaches: a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach to evaluate the environmental performance of the candidate BAT. The quantitative approach can supplement or replace the qualitative approach, and depends on the availability of data on the initial emissions, the environmental performances (reduction efficiencies) and the cross-media effects of the candidate BAT.
- Step 5: Evaluate the economic viability of the candidate BAT. There are two possible approaches: a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach to evaluate the economic viability of the candidate BAT, to analyse the affordability (is it too expensive for industry?) and the cost-effectiveness (is it too expensive compared to the environmental effects/benefits?) of the candidate BAT. The quantitative approach can supplement or replace the qualitative approach, and depends on the availability of data on investment and operational costs of the candidate BAT and the environmental effects/benefits.
- Step 6: Select the BAT. Select the appropriate BAT from the list of candidate BAT (step 2) based on the technical, environmental and economic viability (step 3, 4 & 5).
These steps are described in more detail in the related Deliverable (D3.2).
For each target sector, the BAT were selected accordingly, taking into account specific sector and local conditions in the participating MPC. The methodology assessed the candidate BAT at a sector level, with respect to their technical and economic viability and environmental benefit.
As for the elaboration of BAT sector reports is concerned, the primary objective of determining BAT at a sector level is to provide support to policy makers and permit writers. For the elaboration of a BAT report, both a procedure on how to tackle this type of study, as well as a methodology for BAT evaluation is required. Since the concept of BAT and its application in a regulatory framework is mostly known and used in Europe, it is important to perform a consistency check with the situation and practices in the MPCs. A translation of the methods known and applied in Europe is therefore needed.
Generally, when performing a BAT evaluation, expert involvement is of high importance. Therefore, a sector technical working group (TWG) is called together on a regular basis. This TWG should consist of representatives from the sector (from companies or sector associations), public agencies and independent experts. All parties involved should preferably be represented in order for the results to be widely supported. The role of the TWG is to assist in the data collection and to present their view on the criteria to be evaluated in selecting the BAT. In total, three TWG meetings were organized in the course of the BAT4MED project, each focusing on specific parts of the
BAT evaluation.
Additionally, to facilitate the access of members of the TWGs and other stakeholders to information and to enhance the writing of the BAT sector reports, 2 technology databases were built.
The first database focuses on Industrial Process Technology. The database includes a description of the main process steps and its variants, the techniques, methods and equipment applied in the dairy and textiles industry, this for specific products produced, and via factsheets. The database was built using data from the European BREFs (i.e. BREF Food, Drink and Milk Industries and BREF Textiles Industry) and VITO’s BAT sector reports, completed with other relevant data, i.e. data from the technical audits (task 3.1) and the information gathering (task 3.2.a)).
The second database focuses on Environmentally Friendly Techniques. This database consist of a number of factsheets covering a description of available environmentally friendly techniques, or so-called “candidate BAT”, for the dairy and textiles industry, their applicability, environmental benefits, cross media effects, costs and existing operational data. Not only vertical candidate BAT (addressing sector specific issues), but also horizontal candidate BAT (addressing issues across industry sectors, being the dairy and textiles industry) were included in the database.
The data related to vertical candidate BAT were obtained from an analysis of the BREF Food, Drink and Milk, the BREF Textiles Industry and other literature (including international publications and VITO’s BAT sector reports) identified in task 3.2.a). Some of the candidate BAT were identified during the technical visits carried out by the MPC. The data related to horizontal candidate BAT were obtained from an analysis of the most relevant horizontal BREFs, being the BREF Emissions from Storage, the BREF Energy Efficiency and the BREF Industrial Cooling Systems.
Both databases were built based on other existing technology databases are available online, through this link on the project’s website: http://databases.bat4med.org. Access is allowed for all users.
The databases were the backbone for drafting Chapters 3 (“Description of industrial processes and environmental aspects”) & Chapter 4 (“Description of environmentally friendly techniques”) of the BAT sector reports (task 3.6).
By applying the Methodology for BAT selection and thanks to the organisation of different TWG meetings and databases, 6 BAT Sector Reports were elaborated, 3 on the dairy industry (one for each participating MPC: Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) and 3 on the textiles industry (also one for each participating MPC).
Each BAT sector report contains the following main components:
• A summary,
• An introduction with general information on the background of this project, the IPPC Directive (or Industrial Emissions Directive) and the use of BAT,
• A description of the sector and related existing national and international legislation,
• A description of the industrial processes and environmental aspects,
• A description of the potential environmentally friendly techniques,
• And the evaluation and selection of BAT and further recommendations.
The drafting of the reports was led by VITO (dairy) and SSSUP (textiles), with the collaboration of MPC partners and TWGs. IAT also supported their drafting to address horizontal issues, techniques that are of relevance for the selected industrial sectors. The PMB and the project Expert Group have validated the final reports.
The publishing of the reports was developed by the ARC-CP/RAC, according to project’s corporate image and communication guidelines. The reports are also available on the project’s website (http://www.bat4med.org/en/publications/bat-sector-reports-elaborated-and-published-mediterranean-partner-countries) and other relevant information systems and were printed to be disseminated in the national workshops and international event.
Currently the reports are available in English, French and Arabic in order to ensure a wider dissemination and uptake by the industry and other relevant stakeholders in the Mediterranean Partner Countries.
An important factor when trying to raise environmental awareness and involvement in industrial sectors, still, is legislation. Each of the MPCs involved indicated that today, their environmental legislation is a general one, not making any distinction between different activities when setting Emission Limit Values (ELVs). Besides this aspect, environmental permitting is tackled in a totally different way than is done in Europe. It is clear to say that the legislative approach is thus very different from the IPPC approach that we are trying to transfer to the BAT4MED project. The lack of monitoring and obligated reporting makes it very hard to facilitate BAT evaluations: the lack of data is inevitable when monitoring is absent. Monitoring can be seen as one key element when trying to implement the IPPC approach: no monitoring means no available data and, therefore, no possibility to state BAT AELs and set ELVs. No monitoring (and reporting) also means that compliance with stated ELVs is very hard to check and, thus, legislation risks being ineffective.
From the experience of the project, it is clear that there is still a significant legislative gap to be overcome before the IPPC approach and BAT principle can be transferred for real to the MPCs.
In order to determine the real potential for future adaptation of the existing MPC legislative procedures and to permit the integration of the principles based on the IPPC approach, the project included an analysis on this matter.
WP4.-TOWARDS POLICY CONVERGENCE IN POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
For this purpose, the BAT4MED project has assessed the possibility and impact of the establishment of the EU IPPC scheme in the MPCs. One of the fundamental premises of the study that was developed was that the BAT will spread through the interested industrial sector only if this process is feasible and economically sustainable and if it is accompanied and spurred by effective policy measures.
To this end, the BAT4MED targeted the following objectives:
- To analyze and benchmark policy and legislative frameworks regarding pollution prevention and control in the MPC;
- To provide the MPC with information on the EU IPPC approach based on the IED;
- To assess the possibility and the impact of diffusing the EU IPPC approach to other MPCs;
- To bring together the previous experience of the EU in pollution prevention and control and the conclusions of the BAT4MED project for providing policy recommendations to support the implementation of BAT in the MPC.
The Methodological approach designed for this analysis, developed by IAT and reviewed and validated by the PMB, aimed at providing the guidelines for the analysis and benchmark the policy and legislative frameworks regarding pollution prevention and control in the MPC by providing MPC with information on the EU integrated approach for Pollution Prevention and Control based on the 2008/1/EC Directive (IPPC Directive). This approach has helped MPC partners to collect the information and ensure the comparability of project results in order to assess the possibility and the impact of diffusing the EU IPPC approach to the MPC partners and other MPC.
A good definition of the problem and a clear understanding of what causes it are preconditions for setting objectives, identifying and comparing Policy options to address the problem. To this end, IAT developed a questionnaire that has been completed by the MPC. This questionnaire is part of the Methodological approach and has helped the MPC to establish a baseline scenario as the basis for comparing the different options for the policy frameworks that support the implementation of BAT in the MPC. The aim of the baseline scenario is to explain which the current situation is in comparison to the Policy that could be implemented in the MPC.
For this purpose, MPC partners answered a number of questions related to the following aspects:
• Economic issues: financial instruments for eco-innovation and eco-investments, other incentives (e.g. soft loans, risk guarantees, in-kind technical support, etc.), energy subsidies, water pricing, etc.
• Environmental issues: based on legislative, administrative and control and inspection systems analyses.
• Social issues: social groups affected by pollution prevention and control scheme.
The questionnaire was the basis to work on the National Analysis on the policy frameworks that support the implementation of BAT techniques.
Based on the results of these questionnaires, the MPCs worked on the analysis and best practice mapping of the policy and legislative frameworks related to pollution prevention and control at national level. Main results of these questionnaires were used to elaborate the National Analyses by the MPC, which were presented during the Final National Workshops held in the MPC in May 2013.
The National Analyses include a description of the methodological approach followed, a description of main principles related to the EU IPPC scheme and a section about the policy context regarding the current situation of this principles in the MPC. Finally, some conclusions about these studies are also provided in each country-specific report, as well as the template of the questionnaire designed to collect the information needed to develop these analyses. These reports are available on the website of the project: http://www.bat4med.org/en/publications/national-analyses-policy-framework-support-implementation-best-avaliable-techniques-or
On basis of the results of the questionnaires and National Analyses, IAT worked on a comparative analysis of the policy and legislative frameworks that support the prevention and control of pollution in the MPC. This benchmarking exercise was the basis to elaborate the Cross-national analysis, which highlights the most relevant aspects regarding pollution prevention and control both at the EU and in the MPCs.
Thanks to these initial analyses, a series of legislative gaps (in comparison with the EU IPPC scheme) were identified. These gaps can be considered as challenges for the MPC. As the final stage of the methodological approach designed, these challenges have been translated into policy recommendations (Task 4.4) aiming not only at fostering the implementation of BAT at national scope, but at showing how the MPC can improve their pollution prevention and control scheme by following the EU IPPS scheme, which has shown effectiveness in minimizing the negative impacts associated with polluting industries from the industrial sector.
Following national policy analyses and cross-country analysis implemented in the BAT4MED project, the policy briefings report developed by CEDARE concludes with a summary of the problem, policy context, options and comparison of options with regards to their various impacts over the medium term (5 years), and finally, policy recommendations.
The Policy briefings aims to provide practical policy recommendations and guidance, comprising a concise summary of how government policies can best support the implementation of BAT in each country and approach the EU IPPC scheme.
For this purpose, policy options were assessed through formulating three scenarios of policy intervention approaches: Gradual Transposition Scenario (similar to the process of EU member states and accession countries), Voluntary Action Incentives Scenario (which differ by focusing on creating the enabling environment to promote voluntary measures by industries), and Business-As-Usual with which the impact of the first two action-scenarios are compared, and which assumes continuation of the status quo.
The recommended policies suggest that the Voluntary Action Incentives scenario would be most favorable. The recommendation is that a gradual approach toward adoption of favorable/tailored elements the IPPC scheme in a manner that incentivizes and enables voluntary action rather than introducing additional legally binding or costly requirements to the industry or requiring substantial institutional and administrative capacity. The enabling environment to induce these (predominantly) voluntary actions by the industry includes BAT guidance (with focus on the identified priority sectors), financial incentives (including leveraging international cooperation opportunities), capacity building, and improvement of information availability and exchange.
These mentioned four key measures create the enabling environment to carry out a simplified step-by-step approach toward policy convergence with the favorable elements of the EU IPPC scheme and adoption of BAT building on BAT4MED project outcomes. The steps are enlisted as follows:
• Step-1: Identify priority sectors based on Environmental Benefit Potential (EBP).
• Step-2: Establish a simplified integrated permit requirement.
• Step-3: Maintain minimum standard requirements on which to base the permit in accordance with the existing standards.
• Step-4: Use Best Available Techniques (BAT) as a basis for permits to be issued.
• Step-5: Ensure periodic publication of emission levels.
The Policy Briefings report is available on the website of the project: http://www.bat4med.org/en/publications/bat4med-policy-briefs-egypt-morocco-and-tunisia
Potential Impact:
IMPACT
The overall expected impact of BAT4MED project is to prepare the ground for the implementation of BAT techniques to respond to particular health and environmental impacts from industrial emissions in the Mediterranean region, with the objective to reduce the “pollution leakage” due to the displacement of polluting industries.
BAT4MED contributes thus to gain knowledge on particular health and environmental impacts from industrial emissions in the MPC by coordinating research on the MPC industrial sectors, bringing together economic, environmental and social aspects that allowed determining the environmental benefit potential from specific sectors. The application of the methodology proposed for the sector analysis represents not only an advance on the state of the art of the environment in the target countries, but also the building of a solid, scientific basis for the further assessment of the scope for preventive and abatement technologies in each sector.
Project’s impact is not limited to the involved MPC but to the whole Mediterranean region. To this end, the benchmarking exercise of the National Analyses allowed selecting two common sectors that ensured a highest global impact in the region. Through an in-depth analysis of the potential transferability of results, the two sectors with the highest environmental benefit potential selected were the textile and the food sectors (specifically the dairy sector). Though industrial and economic situation may vary notably between different MPC, the analysis carried out revealed that most of the problems faced by the Mediterranean industries are common to the majority of countries, what was key to spread results and ensure their transferability.
In addition, a methodology for the assessment of candidate BAT and the selection of BAT was developed. This methodology was used to assist the MPC and the TWGs in drafting the BAT sector reports. It provides not only a clear and transparent evaluation tool for candidate BAT, but also the guidelines for the elaboration of BAT sector reports. In the future, the methodology will provide support to policy makers and permit writers in general in the selection of BAT.
Last but not least, thanks to the analysis of the potential convergence of MPC policies with the EU IPPC approach, the potential for the future adaptation of the existing MPC permitting procedures to integrate principles based on the IPPC approach was assessed. The conclusions of this analysis provided a series of policy recommendations that support the implementation of BAT in the MPC.
Though BAT4MED was tackled from the perspective of the two particular industrial sectors selected, the goal of the consortium was to design and implement universal tools and methodologies, allowing thus easily the replication of the project in other countries and industrial sectors.
DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION
The BAT4MED project aims to protect the Mediterranean region’s environment by minimising the negative impacts of polluting industries from two key industrial sectors in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. In order to reach this objective, it was very important to set up a dissemination strategy at the beginning of the project, which main objectives were to inform, to disseminate and to raise awareness about the project’s activity and results.
The final plan for use and dissemination of foreground lists all the dissemination and communication actions that have been undertaken since the launching of the project in December 2010 by the 8 partners of the project. All these actions are summarized, analysing which were their target audience, their objectives and their impact. They consist mainly of production of website and information and communication material, publications, press releases, organisation of dissemination events and participation to related event. The updated plan summarizing all these actions is followed by annexes detailing the list of press releases issued during the project and the list of events the project team participated to. This document was submitted as D5.10.
Main dissemination activities were the following ones:
- Design and delivery of project corporate image (logo, brochure in different languages, roll-up banner, posters, and other communication material).
- Design, launch and update of the website at the beginning of the project. Additionally, a new version of the BAT4MED website was enhanced and running since October 1st 2012. Several news, publications and information have been uploaded in the project website. Webpage can be viewed following the links: www.bat4med.org and www.bat4med.net. On the other hand, documents and project deliverables have been uploaded on the new version of the intranet (private section) in order for all project members to have an easy and quick access to all important documents related to the project.
- 5 issues of the Newsletter were launched and disseminated through CP/RAC list of contacts and through the contacts included within the database of stakeholders built at the beginning of the project (more than 2000 contacts in total). These newsletters included different news of the project and are available through project website.
- IAT and CPRAC made possible the development and publication of a dissemination article about BAT4MED project that has been published in the annual publication "International Innovation”, due to an agreement signed with Research Media, Ltd. It was published on October 2012 and each partner received a number of original copies of the related issue.
- The first research article was produced, selected and presented at the Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems held in Ohrid (Rep. of Macedonia) in July 2012. This paper was developed by VITO, SSSUP and IAT, and based on WP2 results, untitled ““A method to implement BAT (Best Available Techniques) in South Mediterranean Countries: the experience of BAT4MED project” was published in the December 2012 issue of the online open-access journal Environmental Economics for scientific divulgation. The paper is available following this link, http://businessperspectives.org/component/option,com_journals/task,issue/id,209/jid,9/Itemid,74/
- The second paper (developed by VITO, SSSUP and IAT and based on WP3 & WP4 results) is titled “Transferring the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Approach and Best Available Techniques (BAT) Concepts to Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco”. It describes the experience carried out in the second part of BAT4MED project and in particular the results related to the elaboration of BAT reports for dairy and textile industries. Moreover, the paper argues main findings of the activity linked with the assessment of the different scenario to introduce the BAT Reports in the environmental policy framework of the participating countries. The paper was published by “Sustainability” International Journal (ISSN 2071-1050; CODEN: SUSTDE) in the Vol. 5, Issue 7 of the year 2013 (pp. 2944-2959). The journal is a cross-disciplinary, scholarly, open access journal of environmental, cultural, economic and social sustainability of human beings, which provides an advanced forum for studies related to sustainability and sustainable development, published by MDPI online monthly and indexed by important organisation such as Scopus / SciVerse (Elsevier). The reason of choice of a Swiss editor is due to the fact that the main objective of the BAT4MED project was to transfer the Best Available Techniques approach in extra-European contexts. To this purpose, partners of the project have selected an editor from Ukraine for the first paper and from Switzerland for the second paper. The paper can be downloaded to the link: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/7/2944. To date of 17th October, the abstract was viewed 407 times, and the full text 225 times.
- In addition, several press releases were published by all project partners in different media and newspaper articles were released in the MPC.
- The project consortium has been working throughout the project to identify most relevant events or the project to attend and at which BAT4MED could be presented in order to enhance horizontal collaboration with other on-going networks and initiatives operating in the Mediterranean region and related to industrial pollution prevention and control.
- The BAT4MED team also successfully submitted a paper to the 16th Conference of the European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP) & 7th Conference of the Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) that took place in Istanbul (Turkey) from June 3rd to June 7th, 2013. BAT4MED was also invited to participate during this upcoming event to a workshop untitled “Up scaling the Sustainable Production in the Mediterranean region”, with other institution such as the Catalan Waste Agency, UNIDO and the Cleaner Production Centre from Egypt. Currently, IAT, SSSUP and VITO are working on this paper, which could be published in a special volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP) upon its revision.
- This paper, co-authored also by other partners of the BAT4MED project is focused on the policy and legislative analysis of the current framework in MPC carried out during last months of the project. After a description of the methodological approach for the policy and legislative frameworks, the paper includes the way through which the data was analysed in a comparative analysis to highlight most relevant aspects regarding pollution prevention and control both at EU and the MPC, which were the base for developing the Policy briefings.
- In the final months of BAT4MED, the project results have been disseminated in both partner and non-partner MPCs in a series of workshops. The purpose was to disseminate results to all stakeholders and additionally to countries of the Mediterranean out of the scope of BAT4MED who could benefit from outputs and participate in future exploitation of results in future projects. All workshops included open discussions and Q&A sessions. The national final workshops have been held in the MPC, during the month of May 2013. Project results have been presented to national stakeholders and industries in Cairo on May 21st, in Tunis on May 28th and in Casablanca on May 30th. The national BAT sector reports were available online and in hard copies during the workshops. The project coordinator begun by giving an overview of the project, and each work package leader gave a presentation of their achievements during the project. Technical Working Group members were invited to present their experience with the project. Media coverage was given to these final workshops, as press conferences were held just after the events.
- The non-partner MPCs are Palestine, Lebanon, Libya, Algeria, Jordan and Syria. However, in the case of Jordan, the dissemination activity was entirely completed/ merged in the international final event on the 27th of June, 2013 as reported in BAT4MED Deliverable 5.9.
- In the case of Syria, the workshop was not carried out due to security concerns. The workshops in non-partner MPCs were therefore implemented in Palestine, Lebanon, Libya and Algeria on the dates of 7th and 8th of July and 15th and 18th of August respectively. A total of 7 national workshops were therefore carried out and reported in Deliverable 5.8. Attendance was satisfactory in terms of diversity and relevance of stakeholders and in terms of numbers of attendees (average of 23 attendees per non-MPC workshop). In two of the workshops for non-MPCs, those in Palestine and Libya, presentations and discussions by the BAT4MED consortium represented by CEDARE were made through video-conferencing due to issues related to the security situation in both Egypt and either host countries during that period. The design of the workshops with virtual presence was however proven successful and promising for replication in the case of future cooperation. Various distribution materials with adequate use of foreground were used in all workshops, and all events were adequately covered in the media. A summary of the workshops and media coverage is provided in Deliverable 5.8 with conclusions about the implementation of the workshops.
- The “International Event on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control” has been organized by ARC-CP/RAC as a one-day event on June 27th, at the Marriot Dead Sea hotel, Jordan. The objective of this event was to offer the opportunity to regional stakeholders interested in replicating the IPPC scheme in their country to get to know the BAT4MED experience and use the result of the initiative in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. About 50 participants, from ministries of environment, trade, economy and industry, from the private sector, consultancies, universities and international agencies gathered to discuss the possibilities of implementing the IPPC scheme in their country. International experts were invited to present other initiatives relevant to the project such as the EU IPPC implementation process (IPTS-IPPC Bureau) and the MIRA project for fostering the European Union-Mediterranean Partner Countries (EU-MPC) Innovation and Science & Technology Communities of Practice. Interest for replicating the BAT4MED project in Jordan has been strongly expressed by the participants, from policy makers and from private sector.
Furthermore, IAT as project coordinator was in charge of checking the progress of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and knowledge ownership in close relation with CEDARE as Exploitation manager throughout project’s lifetime. These IPR issues are included within the Consortium Agreement and Plan for Use and Dissemination of Foreground. An example of these specific actions to protect, disseminate and exploit the results generated of the project is, as said above, the upcoming publication of the first research article in an open access journal, available online to the reader without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.
In the final stage of BAT4MED project (Boosting Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries); a sustainability strategy has been developed as presented in this report. The aim of this strategy is to help partners take the appropriate steps to ensure the impact of project results beyond its completion, to enable Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPC) to adopt the concept of the EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) tailored to their respective needs and to promote widespread use of relevant Best Available Techniques (BAT).
The specific objectives for ensuring an enabling environment for sustainability are: Mainstreaming of project results into regional environmental policies; Introduction of project results into capacity building and training programmes, Maintenance of the website (and database) by the consortium, Enhancing networking among partners and stakeholders, Applying project results in other sectors and countries; Future marketing of project results.
In this respect the sustainability strategy provides practical guidance for all project partners to ensure sustained impact of BAT4MED based on experiences throughout this project and accumulated experiences from past projects. Experience from previous, similar cooperation projects for the promotion of BAT and the EU IPPC approach was invaluable reference for the sustainability strategy, such as experiences gained by other European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Partner countries and Russia in their gradual convergence with EU environment policy and legislation.
The strategy is consistent with the policy recommendations developed in BAT4MED as presented in the Policy Briefings of the project. It is not only targeting the three MPCs, namely Egypt, Tunis, and Morocco, but also the non-partner MPCs who have hosted final national workshops that discussed project results and possibilities for future cooperation in this field. It is notable that in national workshops, common feedback was often emphasizing the interest for follow-up projects that involve demonstrational outcomes and facilitating mechanisms, such as financial incentives schemes, as a priority for engaging in future international cooperation.
Focus of the sustainability strategy is on actions to be led by the BAT4MED partners themselves primarily in order to “lead by example” and thereby replicate activities in other MPCs based on solid experience and proven commitment. The Centre for Environment and Development in the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), being an international organization experienced in the MENA region with its strong regional presence, shall therefore play a key role in this respect. Partners from each partner-MPC are the key players in the promotion of the IPPC approach in their respective country, and shall continually build on the experience and knowledge shared by the scientific and technical partners of the BAT4MED project from Spain, Italy and Belgium. In the strategy, a set of indicators for sustainability are also suggested in order to assess the effectiveness of the sustainability measures taken and ensure replication and expansion of the project components in other sectors and through other stakeholders and non-partner MPCs as well.
List of Websites:
PUBLIC WEBSITE: www.bat4med.org
CONTACT DETAILS:
Eva Pérez (IAT-Project Coordinator)
Tel.: +34 954 46 80 10
e-mail: evaperez@iat.es
Caroline Polders (BAT Centre - VITO NV)
Boeretang 200, 2400 MOL, Belgium
Tel. + 32 14 33 59 42
Fax. + 32 14 32 11 85
caroline.polders@vito.be
Tiberio Daddi (SSSUP)
t.daddi@sssup.it
+39 050 883971
Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC)
C/ Dr. Roux, 80
08017 Barcelona
Tel.: +34 93 553 87 90
cleanpro@cprac.org
BAT4MED project, “Boosting Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries”, co-financed by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, aims to analyse the potential impact of the introduction of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control concept in the Mediterranean Partner Countries -Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia- (hereinafter MPCs) and, more specifically, if this can contribute to minimise the negative impacts associated with polluting industries and their related activities, products and services from key industrial sectors ensuring thus a higher level of environmental protection.
The project aims to help implement the EU Technologies Action Plan by supporting the transfer and uptake of environmental technologies in developing countries. To that aim, the possibilities for and impact of diffusion of the EU IPPC approach to the MPCs were assessed and the implementation of BAT in the national environmental programmes was promoted and supported.
To achieve foreseen objectives, the project relied on a concise working methodology and structure. Firstly, BAT4MED analysed the industrial context in the MPCs to select the most promising sectors with the highest Environmental Benefit Potential. Secondly, a methodology for BAT assessment was designed and applied and BAT were selected for each identified sector taking into account specific sector and local conditions in the participating MPC. Additionally, an analysis of potential convergence of MPCs policies with the EU-approach was carried out in order to assess the potential for the future adaptation of the existing MPC permitting procedures to integrate principles based on the IPPC approach.
BAT4MED project’s approach is mostly aimed at assessing the potential effectiveness of the IPPC Directive if applied in the MPCs on some key-variables for economic and industrial growth, such as the technical and economic feasibility and environmental performance of the BAT in those countries, the impact caused by the adoption of the identified and proposed BAT in terms of changes and improvements needed, the potential impact on the improvement of the overall environmental performance and on human health, as well as on the environmental aspects of the key industrial sectors, the investment that is going to be required to implement the BAT in the relevant sectors, the impact on cost and on the overall competitiveness of the interested industrial sectors that can derive from the extension of the IPPC approach to the MPCs, the corrective actions and compensation measures that can be introduced in the BAT conceptualisation for the MPCs in order to limit the negative effects and strengthen the positive impact of the IPPC-like approach, etc.
A total of 8 partners from 6 countries (4 coming from 3 EU countries –Spain, Italy and Belgium- and 4 from the Mediterranean Partner Countries –Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco-) were brought together given their solid background in IPPC and BAT related issues:
• Instituto Andaluz de Tecnología (IAT), ES
• Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek N.V. (VITO), BE
• Agencia de Residus de Catalunya (ARC-CP/RAC), ES
• Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento Sant'Anna (SSSUP), IT
• Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), EG
• Centre International des Technologies de l’Environnement de Tunis (CITET), TN
• Centre Marocain de Production Propre (CMPP), MA
• Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region & Europe (CEDARE), EG
The project supports the adaptation of relevant EU information on BAT for key industrial sectors to the MPCs, with special focus on regional and local conditions. The information on BAT will demonstrate the environmental but also the economic benefits arising from their application, in order to motivate industrial managers for their implementation. Though BAT4MED is tackled from the perspective of key industrial sectors, the goal of the consortium was to design and implement universal tools and methodologies, allowing thus easily the replication of the whole project in other countries and industrial sectors. To this end, particular efforts were put into the development of each methodology, to ensure its applicability within the context of the project but also beyond it.
Project Context and Objectives:
The Mediterranean is the largest European sea, shared by 460 million people living in its 22 countries and territories and visited by 275 million more every year. According to the 2009 UNEP/Plan Bleu, the shores of the Mediterranean account for 5.7% of the world land mass, 7% of the world population and 12% of world GDP. Despite its richness, the Mediterranean region represents one of the most vulnerable environments in the world, accounting also for 60% of the world “water-poor” population and 8% of global CO2 emissions.
Industrial production processes account for a considerable share of the overall pollution in the Mediterranean (for emissions of greenhouse gases and acidifying substances, wastewater emissions and waste). In South and East Mediterranean countries, main environmental problems of coastal water pollution are due to poor treatment of urban waste and management of chemicals, compound by inadequate technical capabilities and economic incentives. In North Mediterranean countries, particularly in the EU with its more prescriptive regulations, considerable effort has gone into wastewater treatment, chemicals management, pollution prevention or more curative measures.
The EU countries of the Mediterranean region are combating this industrial pollution mainly through the implementation of the EU Directive on Industrial Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC Directive), adopted in 1996 by the European Commission, which has been recently recasted along with other six environmental-industry directives into the current EU Industrial Emissions Directive. The IPPC Directive introduced a regulatory system that uses an integrated approach to environmental protection by controlling emissions to air, water and land from industrial activities falling within the scope of the Directive. In essence, the policy requires polluting industrial operators to obtain environmental permits to run their industrial facilities. Such permits are based on the application of Best Available Techniques (BAT) and control emissions to all environmental media, being BAT understood as “the most effective and advanced stage in the development of activities and their methods of operation which indicate the practical suitability of particular techniques for providing in principle the basis for emission limit values designed to prevent and, where that is not practicable, generally to reduce emissions and the impact on the environment as a whole”.
In this context, BAT4MED project, “Boosting Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries”, aimed to analyse the potential impact of the introduction of the IPPC concept in the Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPC) and, more specifically, if this could contribute to minimise the negative impacts associated with polluting industries from key industrial sectors.
The overall objective of the project is to ensure a higher level of environmental protection of the region, minimising the negative impacts associated with activities, products and services from key industrial sectors in the MPC. The project aims to help implement the EU Technologies Action Plan by supporting the transfer and uptake of environmental technologies in developing countries. To that aim, the possibilities for and impact of diffusion of the EU IPPC approach to the MPC were assessed and the implementation of BAT in the national environmental programmes was promoted and supported. BAT4MED acts thus as a catalyst for change in the MPC, while supporting the growth and leadership of European industries producing or managing environmental technologies.
Specific objectives of the project are as follows:
• To identify, assess and select the BAT for pollution prevention and control in key industrial sectors with the highest environmental potential benefit;
• To promote and spread the use of BAT through dissemination activities;
• To assess the possibility and the impact of disseminating the IPPC approach to other MPC.
Project Results:
Firstly, the BAT4MED project analysed the industrial context in the MPC to select the most promising sectors with the highest environmental benefit potential. This preliminary analysis includes a benchmarking exercise of national analysis reports that identify possible synergies and selects those sectors that can ensure the highest global impact in the region for further study. Through an in-depth analysis of the potential transferability of results, the two most promising industrial sectors with the highest environmental potential benefit selected were the textile sector and the food sector, specifically, the dairy sector. Though the industrial and economic situation may vary notably between the different MPCs, the analysis carried out reveals that most of the problems faced by the Mediterranean industries are common to the majority of countries, which will be the key to spread results and ensure their transferability.
Secondly, a methodology for the assessment of available environmentally friendly techniques, so-called candidate BAT, and the selection of BAT was developed. For each target sector, the BAT were selected accordingly, taking into account specific sector and local conditions in the participating MPC. The methodology assesses the candidate BAT at a sector level, with respect to their technical and economic viability and environmental benefit.
The methodology was used to assist the MPCs and the technical working groups (TWGs) in drafting national BAT sector reports. It provides not only a clear and transparent evaluation tool for candidate BAT, but also guidelines on the elaboration of BAT sector reports, e.g. it indicates that the data needs to be used to conduct a BAT analysis. In the future, the methodology will inevitable provide support to policy makers and permit writers, in general, in the selection of BAT.
During the process of writing the methodology and elaborating the BAT sector reports, an Expert Group (EG) -consisting of key experts in the field of IPPC at the European level- was called upon to help guarantee the scientific and technical quality of the project’s outcomes.
Additionally, an analysis of the potential convergence of MPC policies with the EU approach was carried out in order to assess the potential for the future adaptation of the existing MPC, permitting procedures to integrate principles based on the IPPC approach. This stage aimed at analysing and benchmarking policy and legislative frameworks regarding IPPC in the MPC. In particular, the methodological approach for the analysis helped the MPC to collect the information and to ensure the comparability of project results in order to assess the possibility and the impact of diffusing the EU IPPC approach to the MPC and other Mediterranean countries. In addition, the conclusions of this analysis provided policy recommendations to support the implementation of BAT in the MPC.
An in-depth description of main S&T results/foregrounds of the project is detailed below. However, and for more detailed information, the submitted deliverables can be checked.
WP2.- ANALYSIS AND SELECTION OF THE KEY INDUSTRIAL SECTORS IN THE MPC
One of the three work-packages related to the coordination activity of the project was WP2, “Analysis and selection of the key industrial sectors in the MPC”, which aimed to analyse the industrial context in the selected MPC and select the most promising sectors to work on, in term of environmental potential benefit.
The Methodology designed for this purpose aimed to analysing in each MPC, key industrial sectors with significant negative impacts on human health and environment in order to identify the most promising sectors with the environmental benefit potential. This methodology was useful for data collection to complete the 3 National Analyses aimed at selecting 2 industrial sectors in each MPC with the “highest environmental potential benefit”. These key industrial sectors of the project were selected starting from the 27 sectors covered by the IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) Directive with an approved version of BREFs (Best Reference Documents).
After the identification of the Environmental Benefit Potential, partners completed WP2 with the Benchmarking analysis. This analysis allowed considering the priority sectors of each MPC in order to verify the possibility to select 2 common sectors for the whole project. The method to adopt in this phase was discussed and shared by the PMB after the conclusion of the related National Analysis.
Fifteen sectors of interest were pre-selected in each MPC, according to the project methodology and availability of information. The fifteen pre-selected sectors were then assigned scores according to sets of indicators indicating the relevance of each sector from the economic, environmental and social, health and institutional perspectives. Eight out of these fifteen sectors were found to be common in the three MPCs (Cement, Lime and Magnesium Oxide Manufacturing Industries; Ceramic Manufacturing Industry; Ferrous Metals Processing Industry; Food, Drink and Milk Industries; Iron and Steel Production; Non-Ferrous Metals Industries; Pulp & Paper Industry; Textile Industry). The best available information was used, and the result of the scoring exercise was a ranking of the “Environmental Benefit Potential (EBP)” for each sector in each country. The rankings for each sector across the three countries were the basis for the benchmarking exercise and the selection of the two sectors of highest priority.
Thus, the National Analyses of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia allowed identifying the Environmental Benefit Potential of industrial sectors in order to verify the possibility to select 2 common sectors for the whole project.
Thanks to the Benchmarking Analysis, two sectors were selected among the eight common ones identified in the three National Analyses: the food, drink and milk industries sector and the textile industry sector. These two sectors obtained the highest total ranking (according to the national EBPs) among the all eight common sectors to the MPCs.
Though BAT4MED is tackled from the perspective of these two particular industrial sectors selected, and the rest of WPs were elaborated according to this selection, the goal of the consortium was to design and implement universal tools and methodologies, allowing thus easily the replication of the project in other countries and industrial sectors.
WP3.- DEVELOPMENT OF BAT SECTOR REPORTS
Next step of the project was WP3, “Development of BAT sector reports”. For this purpose, a methodology for the selection of BAT at a sector level was designed. This methodology is based on both VITO’s and ARC-CP/RAC’s previous experience in BAT assessment and selection (VITO’s ISO 14001 BAT development procedure; ARC-CP/RAC’s Guide for the Implementation of a Pollution Prevention and Control System based on based on Best Available Technologies (BAT) and Best Environmental Practices (BEP) in the MAP Countries, first published in September 2007).
The methodology was used to assist the MPC and the Technical Working Groups (TWG) set up during the project in drafting national BAT sector reports for the selected industrial sectors, i.e. the dairy and textiles industry, taking into account regional/national technical, environmental and economic issues. The methodology provides the MPCs and the TWGs with a clear and transparent evaluation tool, method that structures both the selection of the BAT, as well as the writing of the BAT sector report, i.e. indicates the kind of data needed to conduct the BAT analysis.
This methodology involves the evaluation of all potential environmentally friendly techniques or so-called candidate BAT with respect to their technical viability, environmental benefit, and economic viability. It was validated by the Project Management Board on 11/10/2011 and the Expert Group (EG) on 07/11/2011.
The Methodology for the selection of BAT consists of 6 steps. These steps must be completed one after the other. Depending on the desired depth of the analysis, the complexity of the processes and data availability, these 6 steps were defined either qualitatively (expert analysis) or quantitatively.
- Step 1: Describe the subject or framework of the BAT analysis. Define the processes of interest and their environmental performance.
- Step 2: Compile a list of candidate BAT. Make an elaborate list of techniques that could be used to improve the environmental performance, or of the so called candidate BAT.
- Step 3: Evaluate the technical viability of the candidate BAT. Focus only on the technical viability of the techniques, while ignoring (for now) the environmental and economic aspects.
- Step 4: Evaluate the environmental performance of the candidate BAT. There are two possible approaches: a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach to evaluate the environmental performance of the candidate BAT. The quantitative approach can supplement or replace the qualitative approach, and depends on the availability of data on the initial emissions, the environmental performances (reduction efficiencies) and the cross-media effects of the candidate BAT.
- Step 5: Evaluate the economic viability of the candidate BAT. There are two possible approaches: a qualitative approach and a quantitative approach to evaluate the economic viability of the candidate BAT, to analyse the affordability (is it too expensive for industry?) and the cost-effectiveness (is it too expensive compared to the environmental effects/benefits?) of the candidate BAT. The quantitative approach can supplement or replace the qualitative approach, and depends on the availability of data on investment and operational costs of the candidate BAT and the environmental effects/benefits.
- Step 6: Select the BAT. Select the appropriate BAT from the list of candidate BAT (step 2) based on the technical, environmental and economic viability (step 3, 4 & 5).
These steps are described in more detail in the related Deliverable (D3.2).
For each target sector, the BAT were selected accordingly, taking into account specific sector and local conditions in the participating MPC. The methodology assessed the candidate BAT at a sector level, with respect to their technical and economic viability and environmental benefit.
As for the elaboration of BAT sector reports is concerned, the primary objective of determining BAT at a sector level is to provide support to policy makers and permit writers. For the elaboration of a BAT report, both a procedure on how to tackle this type of study, as well as a methodology for BAT evaluation is required. Since the concept of BAT and its application in a regulatory framework is mostly known and used in Europe, it is important to perform a consistency check with the situation and practices in the MPCs. A translation of the methods known and applied in Europe is therefore needed.
Generally, when performing a BAT evaluation, expert involvement is of high importance. Therefore, a sector technical working group (TWG) is called together on a regular basis. This TWG should consist of representatives from the sector (from companies or sector associations), public agencies and independent experts. All parties involved should preferably be represented in order for the results to be widely supported. The role of the TWG is to assist in the data collection and to present their view on the criteria to be evaluated in selecting the BAT. In total, three TWG meetings were organized in the course of the BAT4MED project, each focusing on specific parts of the
BAT evaluation.
Additionally, to facilitate the access of members of the TWGs and other stakeholders to information and to enhance the writing of the BAT sector reports, 2 technology databases were built.
The first database focuses on Industrial Process Technology. The database includes a description of the main process steps and its variants, the techniques, methods and equipment applied in the dairy and textiles industry, this for specific products produced, and via factsheets. The database was built using data from the European BREFs (i.e. BREF Food, Drink and Milk Industries and BREF Textiles Industry) and VITO’s BAT sector reports, completed with other relevant data, i.e. data from the technical audits (task 3.1) and the information gathering (task 3.2.a)).
The second database focuses on Environmentally Friendly Techniques. This database consist of a number of factsheets covering a description of available environmentally friendly techniques, or so-called “candidate BAT”, for the dairy and textiles industry, their applicability, environmental benefits, cross media effects, costs and existing operational data. Not only vertical candidate BAT (addressing sector specific issues), but also horizontal candidate BAT (addressing issues across industry sectors, being the dairy and textiles industry) were included in the database.
The data related to vertical candidate BAT were obtained from an analysis of the BREF Food, Drink and Milk, the BREF Textiles Industry and other literature (including international publications and VITO’s BAT sector reports) identified in task 3.2.a). Some of the candidate BAT were identified during the technical visits carried out by the MPC. The data related to horizontal candidate BAT were obtained from an analysis of the most relevant horizontal BREFs, being the BREF Emissions from Storage, the BREF Energy Efficiency and the BREF Industrial Cooling Systems.
Both databases were built based on other existing technology databases are available online, through this link on the project’s website: http://databases.bat4med.org. Access is allowed for all users.
The databases were the backbone for drafting Chapters 3 (“Description of industrial processes and environmental aspects”) & Chapter 4 (“Description of environmentally friendly techniques”) of the BAT sector reports (task 3.6).
By applying the Methodology for BAT selection and thanks to the organisation of different TWG meetings and databases, 6 BAT Sector Reports were elaborated, 3 on the dairy industry (one for each participating MPC: Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia) and 3 on the textiles industry (also one for each participating MPC).
Each BAT sector report contains the following main components:
• A summary,
• An introduction with general information on the background of this project, the IPPC Directive (or Industrial Emissions Directive) and the use of BAT,
• A description of the sector and related existing national and international legislation,
• A description of the industrial processes and environmental aspects,
• A description of the potential environmentally friendly techniques,
• And the evaluation and selection of BAT and further recommendations.
The drafting of the reports was led by VITO (dairy) and SSSUP (textiles), with the collaboration of MPC partners and TWGs. IAT also supported their drafting to address horizontal issues, techniques that are of relevance for the selected industrial sectors. The PMB and the project Expert Group have validated the final reports.
The publishing of the reports was developed by the ARC-CP/RAC, according to project’s corporate image and communication guidelines. The reports are also available on the project’s website (http://www.bat4med.org/en/publications/bat-sector-reports-elaborated-and-published-mediterranean-partner-countries) and other relevant information systems and were printed to be disseminated in the national workshops and international event.
Currently the reports are available in English, French and Arabic in order to ensure a wider dissemination and uptake by the industry and other relevant stakeholders in the Mediterranean Partner Countries.
An important factor when trying to raise environmental awareness and involvement in industrial sectors, still, is legislation. Each of the MPCs involved indicated that today, their environmental legislation is a general one, not making any distinction between different activities when setting Emission Limit Values (ELVs). Besides this aspect, environmental permitting is tackled in a totally different way than is done in Europe. It is clear to say that the legislative approach is thus very different from the IPPC approach that we are trying to transfer to the BAT4MED project. The lack of monitoring and obligated reporting makes it very hard to facilitate BAT evaluations: the lack of data is inevitable when monitoring is absent. Monitoring can be seen as one key element when trying to implement the IPPC approach: no monitoring means no available data and, therefore, no possibility to state BAT AELs and set ELVs. No monitoring (and reporting) also means that compliance with stated ELVs is very hard to check and, thus, legislation risks being ineffective.
From the experience of the project, it is clear that there is still a significant legislative gap to be overcome before the IPPC approach and BAT principle can be transferred for real to the MPCs.
In order to determine the real potential for future adaptation of the existing MPC legislative procedures and to permit the integration of the principles based on the IPPC approach, the project included an analysis on this matter.
WP4.-TOWARDS POLICY CONVERGENCE IN POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
For this purpose, the BAT4MED project has assessed the possibility and impact of the establishment of the EU IPPC scheme in the MPCs. One of the fundamental premises of the study that was developed was that the BAT will spread through the interested industrial sector only if this process is feasible and economically sustainable and if it is accompanied and spurred by effective policy measures.
To this end, the BAT4MED targeted the following objectives:
- To analyze and benchmark policy and legislative frameworks regarding pollution prevention and control in the MPC;
- To provide the MPC with information on the EU IPPC approach based on the IED;
- To assess the possibility and the impact of diffusing the EU IPPC approach to other MPCs;
- To bring together the previous experience of the EU in pollution prevention and control and the conclusions of the BAT4MED project for providing policy recommendations to support the implementation of BAT in the MPC.
The Methodological approach designed for this analysis, developed by IAT and reviewed and validated by the PMB, aimed at providing the guidelines for the analysis and benchmark the policy and legislative frameworks regarding pollution prevention and control in the MPC by providing MPC with information on the EU integrated approach for Pollution Prevention and Control based on the 2008/1/EC Directive (IPPC Directive). This approach has helped MPC partners to collect the information and ensure the comparability of project results in order to assess the possibility and the impact of diffusing the EU IPPC approach to the MPC partners and other MPC.
A good definition of the problem and a clear understanding of what causes it are preconditions for setting objectives, identifying and comparing Policy options to address the problem. To this end, IAT developed a questionnaire that has been completed by the MPC. This questionnaire is part of the Methodological approach and has helped the MPC to establish a baseline scenario as the basis for comparing the different options for the policy frameworks that support the implementation of BAT in the MPC. The aim of the baseline scenario is to explain which the current situation is in comparison to the Policy that could be implemented in the MPC.
For this purpose, MPC partners answered a number of questions related to the following aspects:
• Economic issues: financial instruments for eco-innovation and eco-investments, other incentives (e.g. soft loans, risk guarantees, in-kind technical support, etc.), energy subsidies, water pricing, etc.
• Environmental issues: based on legislative, administrative and control and inspection systems analyses.
• Social issues: social groups affected by pollution prevention and control scheme.
The questionnaire was the basis to work on the National Analysis on the policy frameworks that support the implementation of BAT techniques.
Based on the results of these questionnaires, the MPCs worked on the analysis and best practice mapping of the policy and legislative frameworks related to pollution prevention and control at national level. Main results of these questionnaires were used to elaborate the National Analyses by the MPC, which were presented during the Final National Workshops held in the MPC in May 2013.
The National Analyses include a description of the methodological approach followed, a description of main principles related to the EU IPPC scheme and a section about the policy context regarding the current situation of this principles in the MPC. Finally, some conclusions about these studies are also provided in each country-specific report, as well as the template of the questionnaire designed to collect the information needed to develop these analyses. These reports are available on the website of the project: http://www.bat4med.org/en/publications/national-analyses-policy-framework-support-implementation-best-avaliable-techniques-or
On basis of the results of the questionnaires and National Analyses, IAT worked on a comparative analysis of the policy and legislative frameworks that support the prevention and control of pollution in the MPC. This benchmarking exercise was the basis to elaborate the Cross-national analysis, which highlights the most relevant aspects regarding pollution prevention and control both at the EU and in the MPCs.
Thanks to these initial analyses, a series of legislative gaps (in comparison with the EU IPPC scheme) were identified. These gaps can be considered as challenges for the MPC. As the final stage of the methodological approach designed, these challenges have been translated into policy recommendations (Task 4.4) aiming not only at fostering the implementation of BAT at national scope, but at showing how the MPC can improve their pollution prevention and control scheme by following the EU IPPS scheme, which has shown effectiveness in minimizing the negative impacts associated with polluting industries from the industrial sector.
Following national policy analyses and cross-country analysis implemented in the BAT4MED project, the policy briefings report developed by CEDARE concludes with a summary of the problem, policy context, options and comparison of options with regards to their various impacts over the medium term (5 years), and finally, policy recommendations.
The Policy briefings aims to provide practical policy recommendations and guidance, comprising a concise summary of how government policies can best support the implementation of BAT in each country and approach the EU IPPC scheme.
For this purpose, policy options were assessed through formulating three scenarios of policy intervention approaches: Gradual Transposition Scenario (similar to the process of EU member states and accession countries), Voluntary Action Incentives Scenario (which differ by focusing on creating the enabling environment to promote voluntary measures by industries), and Business-As-Usual with which the impact of the first two action-scenarios are compared, and which assumes continuation of the status quo.
The recommended policies suggest that the Voluntary Action Incentives scenario would be most favorable. The recommendation is that a gradual approach toward adoption of favorable/tailored elements the IPPC scheme in a manner that incentivizes and enables voluntary action rather than introducing additional legally binding or costly requirements to the industry or requiring substantial institutional and administrative capacity. The enabling environment to induce these (predominantly) voluntary actions by the industry includes BAT guidance (with focus on the identified priority sectors), financial incentives (including leveraging international cooperation opportunities), capacity building, and improvement of information availability and exchange.
These mentioned four key measures create the enabling environment to carry out a simplified step-by-step approach toward policy convergence with the favorable elements of the EU IPPC scheme and adoption of BAT building on BAT4MED project outcomes. The steps are enlisted as follows:
• Step-1: Identify priority sectors based on Environmental Benefit Potential (EBP).
• Step-2: Establish a simplified integrated permit requirement.
• Step-3: Maintain minimum standard requirements on which to base the permit in accordance with the existing standards.
• Step-4: Use Best Available Techniques (BAT) as a basis for permits to be issued.
• Step-5: Ensure periodic publication of emission levels.
The Policy Briefings report is available on the website of the project: http://www.bat4med.org/en/publications/bat4med-policy-briefs-egypt-morocco-and-tunisia
Potential Impact:
IMPACT
The overall expected impact of BAT4MED project is to prepare the ground for the implementation of BAT techniques to respond to particular health and environmental impacts from industrial emissions in the Mediterranean region, with the objective to reduce the “pollution leakage” due to the displacement of polluting industries.
BAT4MED contributes thus to gain knowledge on particular health and environmental impacts from industrial emissions in the MPC by coordinating research on the MPC industrial sectors, bringing together economic, environmental and social aspects that allowed determining the environmental benefit potential from specific sectors. The application of the methodology proposed for the sector analysis represents not only an advance on the state of the art of the environment in the target countries, but also the building of a solid, scientific basis for the further assessment of the scope for preventive and abatement technologies in each sector.
Project’s impact is not limited to the involved MPC but to the whole Mediterranean region. To this end, the benchmarking exercise of the National Analyses allowed selecting two common sectors that ensured a highest global impact in the region. Through an in-depth analysis of the potential transferability of results, the two sectors with the highest environmental benefit potential selected were the textile and the food sectors (specifically the dairy sector). Though industrial and economic situation may vary notably between different MPC, the analysis carried out revealed that most of the problems faced by the Mediterranean industries are common to the majority of countries, what was key to spread results and ensure their transferability.
In addition, a methodology for the assessment of candidate BAT and the selection of BAT was developed. This methodology was used to assist the MPC and the TWGs in drafting the BAT sector reports. It provides not only a clear and transparent evaluation tool for candidate BAT, but also the guidelines for the elaboration of BAT sector reports. In the future, the methodology will provide support to policy makers and permit writers in general in the selection of BAT.
Last but not least, thanks to the analysis of the potential convergence of MPC policies with the EU IPPC approach, the potential for the future adaptation of the existing MPC permitting procedures to integrate principles based on the IPPC approach was assessed. The conclusions of this analysis provided a series of policy recommendations that support the implementation of BAT in the MPC.
Though BAT4MED was tackled from the perspective of the two particular industrial sectors selected, the goal of the consortium was to design and implement universal tools and methodologies, allowing thus easily the replication of the project in other countries and industrial sectors.
DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION
The BAT4MED project aims to protect the Mediterranean region’s environment by minimising the negative impacts of polluting industries from two key industrial sectors in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. In order to reach this objective, it was very important to set up a dissemination strategy at the beginning of the project, which main objectives were to inform, to disseminate and to raise awareness about the project’s activity and results.
The final plan for use and dissemination of foreground lists all the dissemination and communication actions that have been undertaken since the launching of the project in December 2010 by the 8 partners of the project. All these actions are summarized, analysing which were their target audience, their objectives and their impact. They consist mainly of production of website and information and communication material, publications, press releases, organisation of dissemination events and participation to related event. The updated plan summarizing all these actions is followed by annexes detailing the list of press releases issued during the project and the list of events the project team participated to. This document was submitted as D5.10.
Main dissemination activities were the following ones:
- Design and delivery of project corporate image (logo, brochure in different languages, roll-up banner, posters, and other communication material).
- Design, launch and update of the website at the beginning of the project. Additionally, a new version of the BAT4MED website was enhanced and running since October 1st 2012. Several news, publications and information have been uploaded in the project website. Webpage can be viewed following the links: www.bat4med.org and www.bat4med.net. On the other hand, documents and project deliverables have been uploaded on the new version of the intranet (private section) in order for all project members to have an easy and quick access to all important documents related to the project.
- 5 issues of the Newsletter were launched and disseminated through CP/RAC list of contacts and through the contacts included within the database of stakeholders built at the beginning of the project (more than 2000 contacts in total). These newsletters included different news of the project and are available through project website.
- IAT and CPRAC made possible the development and publication of a dissemination article about BAT4MED project that has been published in the annual publication "International Innovation”, due to an agreement signed with Research Media, Ltd. It was published on October 2012 and each partner received a number of original copies of the related issue.
- The first research article was produced, selected and presented at the Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems held in Ohrid (Rep. of Macedonia) in July 2012. This paper was developed by VITO, SSSUP and IAT, and based on WP2 results, untitled ““A method to implement BAT (Best Available Techniques) in South Mediterranean Countries: the experience of BAT4MED project” was published in the December 2012 issue of the online open-access journal Environmental Economics for scientific divulgation. The paper is available following this link, http://businessperspectives.org/component/option,com_journals/task,issue/id,209/jid,9/Itemid,74/
- The second paper (developed by VITO, SSSUP and IAT and based on WP3 & WP4 results) is titled “Transferring the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Approach and Best Available Techniques (BAT) Concepts to Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco”. It describes the experience carried out in the second part of BAT4MED project and in particular the results related to the elaboration of BAT reports for dairy and textile industries. Moreover, the paper argues main findings of the activity linked with the assessment of the different scenario to introduce the BAT Reports in the environmental policy framework of the participating countries. The paper was published by “Sustainability” International Journal (ISSN 2071-1050; CODEN: SUSTDE) in the Vol. 5, Issue 7 of the year 2013 (pp. 2944-2959). The journal is a cross-disciplinary, scholarly, open access journal of environmental, cultural, economic and social sustainability of human beings, which provides an advanced forum for studies related to sustainability and sustainable development, published by MDPI online monthly and indexed by important organisation such as Scopus / SciVerse (Elsevier). The reason of choice of a Swiss editor is due to the fact that the main objective of the BAT4MED project was to transfer the Best Available Techniques approach in extra-European contexts. To this purpose, partners of the project have selected an editor from Ukraine for the first paper and from Switzerland for the second paper. The paper can be downloaded to the link: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/7/2944. To date of 17th October, the abstract was viewed 407 times, and the full text 225 times.
- In addition, several press releases were published by all project partners in different media and newspaper articles were released in the MPC.
- The project consortium has been working throughout the project to identify most relevant events or the project to attend and at which BAT4MED could be presented in order to enhance horizontal collaboration with other on-going networks and initiatives operating in the Mediterranean region and related to industrial pollution prevention and control.
- The BAT4MED team also successfully submitted a paper to the 16th Conference of the European Roundtable on Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP) & 7th Conference of the Environmental Management for Sustainable Universities (EMSU) that took place in Istanbul (Turkey) from June 3rd to June 7th, 2013. BAT4MED was also invited to participate during this upcoming event to a workshop untitled “Up scaling the Sustainable Production in the Mediterranean region”, with other institution such as the Catalan Waste Agency, UNIDO and the Cleaner Production Centre from Egypt. Currently, IAT, SSSUP and VITO are working on this paper, which could be published in a special volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP) upon its revision.
- This paper, co-authored also by other partners of the BAT4MED project is focused on the policy and legislative analysis of the current framework in MPC carried out during last months of the project. After a description of the methodological approach for the policy and legislative frameworks, the paper includes the way through which the data was analysed in a comparative analysis to highlight most relevant aspects regarding pollution prevention and control both at EU and the MPC, which were the base for developing the Policy briefings.
- In the final months of BAT4MED, the project results have been disseminated in both partner and non-partner MPCs in a series of workshops. The purpose was to disseminate results to all stakeholders and additionally to countries of the Mediterranean out of the scope of BAT4MED who could benefit from outputs and participate in future exploitation of results in future projects. All workshops included open discussions and Q&A sessions. The national final workshops have been held in the MPC, during the month of May 2013. Project results have been presented to national stakeholders and industries in Cairo on May 21st, in Tunis on May 28th and in Casablanca on May 30th. The national BAT sector reports were available online and in hard copies during the workshops. The project coordinator begun by giving an overview of the project, and each work package leader gave a presentation of their achievements during the project. Technical Working Group members were invited to present their experience with the project. Media coverage was given to these final workshops, as press conferences were held just after the events.
- The non-partner MPCs are Palestine, Lebanon, Libya, Algeria, Jordan and Syria. However, in the case of Jordan, the dissemination activity was entirely completed/ merged in the international final event on the 27th of June, 2013 as reported in BAT4MED Deliverable 5.9.
- In the case of Syria, the workshop was not carried out due to security concerns. The workshops in non-partner MPCs were therefore implemented in Palestine, Lebanon, Libya and Algeria on the dates of 7th and 8th of July and 15th and 18th of August respectively. A total of 7 national workshops were therefore carried out and reported in Deliverable 5.8. Attendance was satisfactory in terms of diversity and relevance of stakeholders and in terms of numbers of attendees (average of 23 attendees per non-MPC workshop). In two of the workshops for non-MPCs, those in Palestine and Libya, presentations and discussions by the BAT4MED consortium represented by CEDARE were made through video-conferencing due to issues related to the security situation in both Egypt and either host countries during that period. The design of the workshops with virtual presence was however proven successful and promising for replication in the case of future cooperation. Various distribution materials with adequate use of foreground were used in all workshops, and all events were adequately covered in the media. A summary of the workshops and media coverage is provided in Deliverable 5.8 with conclusions about the implementation of the workshops.
- The “International Event on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control” has been organized by ARC-CP/RAC as a one-day event on June 27th, at the Marriot Dead Sea hotel, Jordan. The objective of this event was to offer the opportunity to regional stakeholders interested in replicating the IPPC scheme in their country to get to know the BAT4MED experience and use the result of the initiative in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. About 50 participants, from ministries of environment, trade, economy and industry, from the private sector, consultancies, universities and international agencies gathered to discuss the possibilities of implementing the IPPC scheme in their country. International experts were invited to present other initiatives relevant to the project such as the EU IPPC implementation process (IPTS-IPPC Bureau) and the MIRA project for fostering the European Union-Mediterranean Partner Countries (EU-MPC) Innovation and Science & Technology Communities of Practice. Interest for replicating the BAT4MED project in Jordan has been strongly expressed by the participants, from policy makers and from private sector.
Furthermore, IAT as project coordinator was in charge of checking the progress of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and knowledge ownership in close relation with CEDARE as Exploitation manager throughout project’s lifetime. These IPR issues are included within the Consortium Agreement and Plan for Use and Dissemination of Foreground. An example of these specific actions to protect, disseminate and exploit the results generated of the project is, as said above, the upcoming publication of the first research article in an open access journal, available online to the reader without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.
In the final stage of BAT4MED project (Boosting Best Available Techniques in the Mediterranean Partner Countries); a sustainability strategy has been developed as presented in this report. The aim of this strategy is to help partners take the appropriate steps to ensure the impact of project results beyond its completion, to enable Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPC) to adopt the concept of the EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) tailored to their respective needs and to promote widespread use of relevant Best Available Techniques (BAT).
The specific objectives for ensuring an enabling environment for sustainability are: Mainstreaming of project results into regional environmental policies; Introduction of project results into capacity building and training programmes, Maintenance of the website (and database) by the consortium, Enhancing networking among partners and stakeholders, Applying project results in other sectors and countries; Future marketing of project results.
In this respect the sustainability strategy provides practical guidance for all project partners to ensure sustained impact of BAT4MED based on experiences throughout this project and accumulated experiences from past projects. Experience from previous, similar cooperation projects for the promotion of BAT and the EU IPPC approach was invaluable reference for the sustainability strategy, such as experiences gained by other European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Partner countries and Russia in their gradual convergence with EU environment policy and legislation.
The strategy is consistent with the policy recommendations developed in BAT4MED as presented in the Policy Briefings of the project. It is not only targeting the three MPCs, namely Egypt, Tunis, and Morocco, but also the non-partner MPCs who have hosted final national workshops that discussed project results and possibilities for future cooperation in this field. It is notable that in national workshops, common feedback was often emphasizing the interest for follow-up projects that involve demonstrational outcomes and facilitating mechanisms, such as financial incentives schemes, as a priority for engaging in future international cooperation.
Focus of the sustainability strategy is on actions to be led by the BAT4MED partners themselves primarily in order to “lead by example” and thereby replicate activities in other MPCs based on solid experience and proven commitment. The Centre for Environment and Development in the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), being an international organization experienced in the MENA region with its strong regional presence, shall therefore play a key role in this respect. Partners from each partner-MPC are the key players in the promotion of the IPPC approach in their respective country, and shall continually build on the experience and knowledge shared by the scientific and technical partners of the BAT4MED project from Spain, Italy and Belgium. In the strategy, a set of indicators for sustainability are also suggested in order to assess the effectiveness of the sustainability measures taken and ensure replication and expansion of the project components in other sectors and through other stakeholders and non-partner MPCs as well.
List of Websites:
PUBLIC WEBSITE: www.bat4med.org
CONTACT DETAILS:
Eva Pérez (IAT-Project Coordinator)
Tel.: +34 954 46 80 10
e-mail: evaperez@iat.es
Caroline Polders (BAT Centre - VITO NV)
Boeretang 200, 2400 MOL, Belgium
Tel. + 32 14 33 59 42
Fax. + 32 14 32 11 85
caroline.polders@vito.be
Tiberio Daddi (SSSUP)
t.daddi@sssup.it
+39 050 883971
Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC)
C/ Dr. Roux, 80
08017 Barcelona
Tel.: +34 93 553 87 90
cleanpro@cprac.org