EU legislation:friend or foe?
April 1st 2005

Despite EU environmental regulations being designed to encourage economic growth in a sustainable manner, some sectors of UK plc will have us believe that it is cheaper to spend money lobbying against environmental legislation than it is to invest in the necessary technologies to accommodate it

Currently, environmental legislation counts for more than a third of the 700 directives passed by the EU and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reports that “business ranks environmental legislation as the second most significant regulatory concern, behind employment legislation.”Nevertheless, industry associations using lobbying tactics in an attempt to influence politicians were rewarded when it was announced that the emissions trading scheme should be adjusted for a selection of energy intensive industries.

However, the arguments that claim that environmental protection is damaging UK industry are often incorrect. Environmental policy can spur innovation, curb waste production and improve energy efficiency. It is the inaction and the inertia that harm the UK’s international competitiveness by undermining the economy while impacting negatively upon the environment.

Environmental legislation can create business opportunities and this year’s G8 and EU presidencies place the UK in a unique position to deliver in this arena.As Mr Blair points out in his climate change speech,“The potential for innovation, for scientific discovery and hence, of course for business investment and growth, is enormous.” In fact, the past decade has seen the global market for environmental technologies and services expand dramatically. In the UK approximately 17 000 companies employing 400 000 people are currently enjoying annual combined turnovers of £25 billion.However, opportunities are continuously lost as delays in implementing the necessary infrastructure to deal with legislation such as the WEEE Directive prompt materials to be exported for treatment, in addition to the income derived from the process.While the UK is competing for a share of the environmental products and services market, forecasted to be worth US$688 billion by 2010, it still lags behind European nations such as Germany as well as Japan and even the US on an international level.

Regarding the WEEE Directive and according to Stewart Ward, from DARP Environmental Consultancy, the problem is not with the concept of the Directive, but with the infrastructure that is urgently needed.“Problems that have occurred in the past can be avoided with WEEE if we act to put vital infrastructure in place now,”he explains. Practical solutions and case studies focusing on the WEEE Directive will be discussed at a conference running alongside ET2005 when Kyocera Mita hosts its Green Card conference, featuring speakers from Toyota, Barclays and public sectors. Ultimately, the lack of infrastructure to handle Directives such as WEEE, RoHS, Landfill, End of Life Vehicles and Hazardous Waste have had serious environmental implications and have allowed fly tipping to become a lucrative business, with a reported 65 000 incidents a month at an estimated cost of £100m to £150m to local authorities and landowners.

There should be plenty of scope for the EU Directives that encourage reuse and recycling given that in the UK we produce enough waste in less than two hours to fill London’s Albert Hall but a metropolis the size of Manchester recycles only 2% of its household waste.Demanufacturing, the process of removing glass, ferrous, non-ferrous and precious metals and plastics from waste and end-of-life goods – can impact positively upon the environment and even fill some of the gap created by the shrinkage of manufacturing in recent years.

Advances in clean, environmental technology represent a crucial aspect of sustainable development, as will be discussed at this year’s ET, which is designed to promote dialogue and innovation in the environmental technology sector.

Furthermore, ET provides opportunities in solving legislative and environmental challenges.

Ultimately, EU Directives are open, accessible documents that can be printed the moment they are issued into the public domain.

Unfortunately these Directives often fall victim to a ‘Europhobic’press that fails to understand the motivation that drives them.One latest story claims that the EU Directive on Environmental Liability will cost UK businesses £1.8 billion.

The truth is that the cost is a fraction of that figure and is estimated between £18m and £52 million.

Organisations such as the Environment Agency, who will be hosting free seminars at ET2005, offer practical advice to modernise approaches to incorporate such environmental regulations.

As these green considerations become increasingly mainstream and as governments around the world adopt the sustainable development concept, the clear winners in the modern world are those for whom environmental responsibilities form an integral part of their future strategy.

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