Emissions from Industrial Facilities. Information is to be Publicly Shared.

Published 09th November 2009 - 5 comments - 1099 views -

All people in the European Union (EU) can now check how dangerous for their health are the industrial factories near their homes. EU executives have recently launched a website with an online detection of major pollutants. The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) is the new Europe-wide register that provides easily accessible key environmental data from industrial facilities in European Union Member States and in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

In relation to the E - PRTR platform, the environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “Transparency is a vital tool for improving our environment. The opening of this register will give citizens direct access to information on emissions from facilities across Europe and will help them to engage actively in decisions affecting the environment. It demonstrates a genuine commitment by the public authorities and industry to share information with citizens and increase openness.”

But what does it actually do? The registry collects data on pollution from more than 24,000 industrial facilities across the EU and contains information about the emissions of pollutants to air, water and land by industrial facilities throughout Europe. It includes annual data for 91 substances and covers more than 24 000 facilities in 65 economic activities. It also provides additional information, such as the amount and types of waste transferred from facilities to waste handlers both inside and outside each country.

For example, I've checked the general activity of all industries in the North East region of my country issued in 2007.  3, 325, 000 tonnes of CO2, 96,7 tonnes of nitrous oxide and 9,682 tonnes of methane were our share. of greenhouse gases. 65 kilograms and 49 kg of mercury and compunds were other heavy metal cocktails issued by the same region in the air in the same year. But I've only covered a slight part of the industrial activity. There are also pollutant releases, pollutant transfers and waste transfers (pic below).

Data results are much more complex, the register allows one to filter by industry, activity and subactivties, by region or by river basin district. I find this a very good educational tool, for people can relate to numbers and comparisons much easier and they can understand the environmental problems in a much clearer way.

I'm still comparing info within regions of my country, but I'd be very interested to know results from your countries, to further see where we stand in the big European picture.

Category: Climate Reporting, | Tags: environment, european union, co2 emissions, greenhouse gases,

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Adela
Earth
Independent (Copy)writer

I write for a living. I take photos for fun. I tell stories for having a story to live by.

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