If your business produces a waste you have an obligation to dispose of it in a legal manner. There are two keys things all businesses need to be aware of.  Waste is your responsibility until it reaches its final destination.  When it leaves your site it must be transported by a suitably licensed waste collection company. Not...

The Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/EC establishes a framework based on the “polluter pays” principle to prevent and remediate environmental damage. This framework aims at ensuring that the economic operator bears the financial consequences from harm or damage  caused to the environment.  “Environmental damage” is defined as damage to protected species and natural habitats, damage to water or...

7 July 2015 is the deadline for Industrial Emissions Licences for existing installations operating newly prescribed activities as presented in the First Schedule of EPA Acts 1992-2013 -V2. Section 7.8 of the revised first schedule of the EPA Act now includes the requirement for the following installations to be processed where the treatment and processing,...

From 1 June 2015, the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation will be the only legislation that applies to the classification and labelling of both substances and mixtures in the EU.   The CLP Regulation has applied in fact to substances since 1 December 2010 but now, mixtures come into play. CLP requires companies to...

ECHA has published translations of the the updated Guidance for downstream users into 22 EU languages. The update addresses the need to provide more and up to date guidance on The application of scaling when checking whether a downstream user’s use of a substance is covered by the supplier’s exposure scenario The communication of information on the...

Companies of all sizes are responsible for the safety of chemicals that they place on the EU market. Recent surveys and checks by inspectors show that many small companies using chemicals are still unaware of REACH and CLP or may think that the EU’s chemical law does not apply to their business. The leaflet “Chemical Safety...

ECOS Environmental Consultants were pleased to hear that the European Parliament have voted in favour of new rules to improve the safety of consumer products circulating in the EU’s internal market – including those imported from outside the EU – and to step-up market surveillance concerning all non-food products. It is intended that this will contribute...

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Biological Agents) Regulations 2013 ( S.I. No. 572 of 2013) sets down the minimum requirements for the protection of workers from the health risks associated with biological agents in the workplace. The regulations must be applied to any activity where workers are actually or potentially exposed to biological agents as...

The HSA has recently published new guidelines on how to control fuel losses on petrol filling stations, called “An Operators Guide for Wetstock Reconciliation at Fuel Storage Facilities“, which is free to download at Petrol Stations – Health and Safety Authority. The guide is designed to assist petrol station operators to prevent and detect fuel leaks on their...

The European Communities (Environmental Liability) Regulations 2008, came into force in Ireland on 1 April 2009 with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage. The purpose of these Regulations is to establish a framework of environmental liability based on the ‘polluter-pays’ principle, to prevent and remedy environmental damage and introduce a reporting obligation...