There are more than 65,000 wastewater treatment plants in Europe, each providing an essential service to local populations. By simply installing innovative new equipment, plants could cut energy use by up to 25% while increasing nutrient removal by up to 20%. Operationally, a plant is designed to address the average waste water flow and composition...

The ISO International Standard for applying eco-efficiency assessment to product systems, was published in 2012 and has a huge potential given ongoing economic and environmental challenges for businesses. ISO 14045:2012, Environmental management – Eco-efficiency assessment of product systems – Principles, requirements and guidelines describes the principles, requirements and guidelines for eco-efficiency assessment for product systems. Eco-efficiency...

The UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate initiative announced the release of its Corporate Water Disclosure Guidelines providing a common approach to corporate water disclosure. Corporate water disclosure involves Collecting data on the current state of a company’s water management Assessing the implications of this information for the business, developing a strategic response Reporting this information...

PAS 55 is the British Standards Institution’s “Publicly Available Specification” for the optimised management of physical assets and infrastructure – it provides clear definitions and a 28-point requirements specification for optimised and whole-life asset management systems. It is the international reference standard It provides a clear and concise definition of what needs to be done...

A practical guide to eco-innovation has been published which is addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The booklet overviews emerging business opportunities eco-innovation has to offer to companies that reconsider business models, develop new products, technologies or services, or improve production processes. This guide which is divided into six sections, summarises key business issues, questions and...

On 17 December 2012, the EU’s Environment Ministers adopted conclusions setting out key actions to improve governance by those involved in managing water resources Improving land use Addressing water pollution Increasing water efficiency and resilience. The conclusions are the Council’s first response to the recent Commission communication“A blueprint to safeguard Europe’s water resources” and underline...

Strategic Environmental Assessment in Ireland (SEA) is the process by which environmental considerations are integrated into Plans and Programmes across a broad range of sectors including energy, fisheries, industry, telecommunications, water and land use. A review of SEA, commissioned by the EPA, has found that: SEA is providing a vital tool for environmental protection in...

The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DoECLG) has published the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 to regulate wastewater discharges from all homes that are not connected to the public sewer network. This is as a result of a European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgment made against Ireland in 2009 (Case C-188/08) in relation to...

The European Investment Fund and Microfinance Ireland have signed a guarantee agreement aimed at supporting micro-enterprises and self-employed entrepreneurs in Ireland. The guarantee is given under Progress Microfinance, which is managed by the European Investment Fund on behalf of the European Commission and the European Investment Bank. Microfinance Ireland can provide loans of less than...

The Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, announced on 17 December 2012 that a grant scheme will be available for householders whose septic tanks and other domestic waste water treatment systems need repairing or updating following inspection under the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012. Householders will need to register their system by 1 February 2013...