New EU norms to reduce environmental impact of smitheries and foundries

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The European Commission has introduced new norms for smitheries and foundries to reduce their impact on the environment and human health. Known as Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions, they will be applied to approximately 1,000 ferrous or non-ferrous metal foundries.

For the first time, they will also apply to 25 smitheries using hammers for the forging process. Existing installations will have four years to comply with the stricter norms, while new installations must meet the requirements immediately.

The revised norms focus on reducing emissions to air and water while addressing other environmental issues in support of circular economy objectives - including energy efficiency and resource efficiency (water consumption, raw material consumption, waste generation).

They also promote the substitution of raw materials with hazardous characteristics or high environmental impact (e.g. using alternative binders with low or no emissions of hazardous substances in foundries) and encourage the decarbonisation and further reduction of pollution in the sector by promoting the use of fossil-free energy sources for heating processes in foundries.

They will greatly simplify and streamline the setting of permit conditions for smitheries and foundries in the EU by providing a reference to Member States for delivering integrated permits.

The new norms have been developed under the EU's Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), a central piece of the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan. They are based on a review of the Best Available Techniques Reference Document (BREF) for the Smitheries and Foundries industry, which was developed through a participatory process involving industry stakeholders, EU public authorities, and environmental NGOs.

Background

The Industrial Emissions Directive (Directive 2010/75/EU, as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1785 on industrial and livestock rearing emissions) provides a framework for regulating about 75,000 industrial and livestock rearing installations across the EU.

It requires these installations to hold a permit based on the use of BAT. An EU-level information exchange process results in BAT reference documents and establishes BAT conclusions.

The process for the drawing up and review of BAT reference documents and their conclusions is led by the Joint Research Centre's European Bureau for Research on Industrial Transformation and Emissions (EU-BRITE), based in Seville, Spain.

More information

EUR-Lex - Implementing decision - EU - 2024/2974

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