More than 80% of marine litter is plastics. The European Commission is proposing new EU-wide rules that target the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe’s beaches and seas, as well as lost and abandoned fishing gear. These products are the biggest part of the problem. Together they constitute 70% of all marine...

The European Commission has issued its starkest warning yet of economic penalties facing the Government due to lack of progress in decarbonising Irish society and in adopting renewable energy.  Its 2018 Country Report Ireland concludes “existing climate change mitigation efforts will not enable Ireland to achieve its Europe 2020 climate goals domestically”. It adds: “Only limited progress...

An Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Frances Fitzgerald T.D., has announced that new EU regulations, which introduce new non-financial reporting requirements for some of Ireland’s largest companies, took effect from Monday, 21 August 2017. Under the European Union (Disclosure of non-financial and diversity Information by certain large undertakings and groups) Regulations 2017, large companies will...

The Commission has adopted a report presenting the conclusions of the extensive evaluation of the EU Ecolabel Scheme and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). The Fitness Check of the functioning and performance of these two voluntary schemes found that implementation must improve to reach full potential as circular economy tools. The EU Ecolabel is...

EU rules on the information provided with chemical products used in the construction sector do not need to be extended to include more information on hazardous ingredients, the European Commission has decided.  The Commission report has concluded that the declarations of performance (DOPs) introduced by the 2011 Construction Products Regulation (CPR) already contain sufficient provisions on...

The European Commission has published a consultation document on the quality of drinking water in Europe The aim of this drinking water consultation document is to gather views on the need and the possible range of actions which could be undertaken in order to improve the supply with high quality drinking water. The results of the...

The European Food SCP Round Table has taken a major step forward towards supporting informed choice as it launches the ENVIFOOD Protocol version 1.0. The ENVIFOOD Protocol is the first sectoral framework methodology to build on both global (ISO) and EU (Product Environmental Footprint – PEF) approaches in order to provide specific guidance for conducting environmental...

FP7 attaches great importance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The aim for FP7 is to allocate at least an indicative 15% of the total EU funding of roughly €50 billion for 2007–13 to SMEs. SMEs have a role in a range of environmental research topics including water recovery/recycling, water and wastewater treatment, waste management...

Europe can effectively replace oil with renewable energy in transport without resorting to harmful biofuels, according to a new report by Dutch research institute CE Delft, commissioned by environmental groups. The report, Sustainable Alternatives for Land-based Biofuels in the European Union, explores scenarios that recommend a major EU policy shift, prioritising energy efficiency and speeding...

The European Commission has lowered the fees and charges that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have to pay to register chemicals by 35% to 95% in relation to standard registration fees, and from 25% to 90% in relation to standard fees for authorisation requests. Registration makes companies responsible for the safe use of chemicals...