SA BREF Kick-off Meeting 

The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) (2010/75/EU), lays down a framework requiring Member States to issue operating permits for:

• Operating slaughterhouses with a carcass production capacity greater than 50 tonnes per day
• Disposal or recycling of animal carcases or animal waste with a treatment capacity exceeding 10 tonnes per day

The Directive stipulates that permits must contain conditions based on Best Available Techniques (BAT), to achieve a high level of protection of the environment as a whole.

The BAT conclusions of the BAT reference documents (BREFs) serve as the reference for the competent authorities when setting permit conditions for installations. BREFs are also used by the industry concerned in preparing applications for operating permits. Additionally, BREFs are a source of information for other parties interested in ways to minimise the environmental impacts of industry (including environmental NGOs).

The BAT reference document is a dynamic concept because new techniques may emerge such as science and technologies and new environmental processes introduced in industry.

Since the elements of BAT change over time, BREFs have to be reviewed and updated as appropriate. In addition, with the entry into force of the IED, the existing BREFs, which were adopted under the former IPPC Directive (i.e. Directive 96/61/EC which was repealed by Directive 2008/1/EC), need to be reviewed and, where necessary, updated.

The technical working group (TWG) set up for the review of the BAT reference document for the Slaughterhouses and Animal By-product Industries (SA BREF) had its Kick-off Meeting from 25 to 28 June 2019.

During the kick-off meeting (KoM) for the SA BREF review which took place on 25-28 June 2019, the TWG discussed and concluded on the scope of the revised SA BREF, the key environmental issues for the review of the BREF, the data collection, and the timeline of the next steps for the review of the SA BREF.

UECBV had the opportunity to update Slaughterhouse and Animal By-Products experts belonging to the private and to the public sector about the purposes of the W2R H2020 project, explaining the relevant challenges of the technology.

20 experts have expressed their interest in knowing something more about the W2R technology and if possible to have the opportunity to attend seminars and to be invited to visit the pilot, once ready. The European IPPC Bureau (EIPPB) invited the consortium to upload in the internet site all the relevant material in order to let all the 151 experts to be able to download it. The EIPPB invited the consortium to organise in due time, if possible, a visit to the wastewater treatment plant in Madadero del Sur, either to organise a technical seminar, this may take place in correspondence with the next TWG meeting in Seville, second half of 2019.

In this framework, the Joint Research Centre allowed UECBV (Technical Member of the BREF) to introduce the W2R technology and to update dissemination material in the Best Available Technique Information System (BATIS) database.

This platform is used to:

• facilitate the exchange of information between experts from Member States, the Commission, industry, non-governmental organisations promoting environmental protection and other entities to develop a number of technical documents in relation to European environmental legislation;
• facilitate the internal processes carried out within the Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership Unit in order to draw up or review these documents.

BATIS is an electronic system which contains all the information exchanged in the context of the drawing up/review of a number of technical documents in relation to European environmental legislation (e.g. BREFs, ecolabel criteria) except for confidential and sensitive information. These documents are developed within the Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership Unit of Directorate B: Growth and Innovation. Registered members are allowed to submit and view information.