Solvents and emissions of VOCs in industry

FOI Council member and Environment Committee chairman Godwin C. Micallef was one of the speakers at a seminar jointly organised by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) and the Cleaner Technology Centre.

The seminar, held on April 27, aimed to discuss emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) arising from solvent use in industry and in particular relating to industry's obligations under Directive 1999/13/EC, which was transposed into Maltese legislation as LN225 of 2001.

Mr Micallef's presentation, entitled 'VOCs in Industry - pre and post accession', made reference to the pre-accession report on the implementation of the EU Council Directive, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Environment in April 2000.

The report identified the manufacturing sectors that would mainly be affected by this legislation: furniture, metal works, plastic processing, vehicle refinishing, printing, paints manufacturing, dry cleaning, footwear and pharmaceuticals.

However, Mr Micallef noted that quite a substantial amount of solvents contain compounds which are not used in the identified sectors and also explained the current situation of each of these sectors mainly due to technological advancements, direction of operations, market trends, and environmentally friendly processes.

Throughout his presentation, Mr Micallef said the majority of industrialists are always prepared to comply with legislation and that the challenge ahead of them would be to satisfy the demands of marketing while maintaining cost-effectiveness and reducing the environmental impact of VOCs.

However, Mr Micallef stressed that industrialists demand a level playing field and thus the enforcement of this legislation should be on all aspects of the economy, including those generating the majority of emissions, like the power station, transport and the agricultural sector.

The seminar was co-chaired by Anton Pizzuto, director, Cleaner Technology Centre, and Louis Vella, assistant director, Pollution Prevention and Control Unit, MEPA.

The other seminar speakers were Jorn Hansen, head of section, Danish Environmental Protection Agency; Ritianne Schembri, environmental officer, ST Microelectronics (Malta) Ltd; and Ing. Christina Mallia, environment protection officer, Pollution Prevention and Control Unit, MEPA.