CELEX: 51983PC0189
Language: en
Date: 1983-04-14
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON PROCEDURES FOR HARMONIZING THE PROGRAMMES FOR THE REDUCTION AND EVENTUAL ELIMINATION OF POLLUTION CAUSED BY WASTE FROM TITANIUM DIOXIDE INDUSTRY

26. 5. 83                          Official Journal of the European Communities                             N o C 138/5
             Proposal for a Council Directive on procedure for harmonizing the programmes for the
             reduction and eventual elimination of pollution caused by waste from the titanium dioxide
                                                          industry
                             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 18 April 1983)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     reference values designed to have a long-term
 COMMUNITIES,                                                    preventive effect with regard to health and environ-
                                                                  mental protection;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community, and in particular                   Whereas existing industrial establishments must
Articles 100 and 235 thereof,                                    employ the appropriate systems for treating the
                                                                 wastes in order to attain the requisite levels by the set
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,              dates;
 Having regard to the opinion of the European                    Whereas, since installation of the appropriate systems
Parliament,                                                      can give rise to delays in the application of the
                                                                 measures to harmonize the programmes, provision
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                 must be made for derogation from this Directive in
Social Committee,                                                certain cases, subject to the prior agreement of the
                                                                 Commission;
Whereas Article 9 of Council Directive 78/176/EEC
of 20 February 1978 on waste from the titanium                   Whereas the provisions of this Directive do not
dioxide industry ('), as last amended by Directive               prejudice the obligations placed on Member States by
83/29/EEC (2), requires the Member States to draw                Council Directives 80/68/EEC of 17 December 1979
up programmes for the progressive reduction and                  on the protection of ground water against pollution
eventual elimination of pollution caused by waste                caused by certain dangerous substances (J) and
from industrial establishments in existence on 20                80/779/EEC of 15 July 1980 on air-quality limit
February 1978;                                                   values and guide values for sulphur dioxide and
                                                                 suspended particulates ( 4 );
Whereas these programmes, duly submitted to the
Commission, set general interim targets for the                  Whereas, since all the requisite powers have not been
reduction of pollution from liquid, solid and gaseous            provided for by the Treaty, Article 235 of the Treaty
wastes to be achieved by 1 July 1987; whereas the                should be invoked,
Commission is required to submit proposals for the
harmonization of these programmes with regard to                  HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
the reduction and eventual elimination of this
pollution and the improvement of the conditions of
competition in the titanium dioxide industry; whereas                                     Article 1
the Council is required to act on these proposals
                                                                 This Directive lays down, as required by Article 9 (3)
within six months of the publication of the opinion of
                                                                 of     Directive    78/176/EEC,       procedures      for
the European Parliament and that of the Economic
                                                                 harmonizing the programme for the reduction and
and Social Committee in the Official Journal of the
                                                                 eventual elimination of pollution from existing
European Communities;
                                                                 industrial establishments and is intended to improve
Whereas, in order to protect the aquatic environment,            the conditions of competition in the titanium dioxide
dumping of copperas and of insoluble matter should               industry.
be prohibited and discharges of liquid wastes from
the manufacturing processes, and in particular of                                         Article 2
strong acids, should be reduced in view of their                 1.    For the purposes of this Directive,         'liquid
harmful effects;                                                 wastes' means:
Whereas, in order to protect the aquatic environment,            — in the case of the sulphate process:
liquid wastes should be discharged into surface waters
                                                                     — strong acid arising from the separation phase
only under specified conditions of temperature and
                                                                         which follows on from the hydrolysis of the
neutrality;
                                                                         titanium oxide solutions and containing
Whereas it is necessary to fix, in respect of gaseous                    between 20 and 23 % free sulphuric acid and
discharges from the manufacturing                processes,              various metallic salts, and
(•) OJ No L 54, 25. 2. 1978, p. 19.                              (») OJ No L 20, 26. 1. 1980, p. 43.
O OJ No L 32, 3. 2. 1983, p. 28.                                 (4) OJ No L 229, 30. 8. 1980, p. 30.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 138/6                           Official Journal of the European Communities                              26. 5. 83
    — weak acid, at a concentration of between               of appropriate waste-treatment systems, to ensure
        5 and 7 %, arising from the washing phase            that:
        which follows on from the separation stage           — in respect of estuary waters, coastal waters and
        and also the other wash waters, and in                   the open sea:
        particular those associated with the gaseous
        discharges from the manufacturing processes,             — by 1 July 1987 they prohibit discharges of all
        including both the sulphate and chloride                      forms of copperas and of insoluble matter,
        processes;                                               — by 1 July 198 8*they reduce discharges of liquid
                                                                      wastes to the reference value of 1 000
— in the case of the chloride process:                                kilograms of free acid per tonne of titanium
    free hydrochloric acid.                                           dioxide produced,
                                                                 — by 1 July 1993 they further reduce discharges
'Reference value' means:
                                                                      of    liquid   wastes     by    60 %    of    the
— for liquid wastes:                                                  abovementioned reference value;
    — in the case of the sulphate process:                   — in respect of coastal waters and estuary waters:
        the quantity of free acid, in the form of                — by 1 July 1988 they prohibit discharges of
        sulphuric acid, arising from the strong acids                 liquid wastes at above 30 °C.
        and/or weak acids containing, whether
        dissolved or in suspension, salts of metals such     3.     In respect of surface waters, by 1 July 1988, the
        as Ti, Fe, Cr, Ni, Zn, Pb, Mn, V, arising from       Member States shall prohibit discharges of liquid
        the manufacturing process, with the exception        wastes at above 30 °C and with a p H value lower
        of copperas;                                         than 6,5.
    — in the case of the chloride process:                   4. (a) In respect of the atmosphere, Member States
        the quantity of free acid in the liquid wastes in             shall take the measures necessary to ensure
        the form of hydrochloric acid containing metal                that by 1 July 1988 SO x discharges are reduced
        chlorides;                                                    to the reference value of 3Q kilograms per
                                                                      tonne of titanium dioxide produced, as the
— for SO x :                                                          annual average.
    — in the case of the sulphate process:                      (b) The provisions of this Directive shall not
        the quantity of sulphur dioxide, and of sulphur               prejudice Directive 80/779/EEC.
        trioxide expressed as SO2 equivalent, arising           (c) The reference method of measurement for
        from the digestion towers and calcination kilns               SO v emissions is set out in the Annex.
        plus the acid droplets;
— for chlorine:
    — in the case of the chloride process:                                             Article 4
        the quantity of chlorine arising from the
                                                             1.     This Article shall apply to existing industrial
        various stages of the manufacturing process.
                                                             establishments employing the chloride process.
'Copperas' means:                                            2.     Member States shall take the necessary
crystallized ferrous sulphate (FeSC>4 — 7 H 2 0 )            measures, including those relating to the installation
separated out in solid from the titanyl sulphate             of appropriate waste treatment systems, to ensure
solution.                                                    that:
                                                             — in respect of estuary waters, coastal waters and
'Insoluble matter' means:                                        the open sea, by 1 July 1988 discharges of liquid
products which are not broken down by the sulphuric              wates are reduced to the reference value of 200
acid during the manufacturing process.                           kilograms of acid per tonne of titanium dioxide
                                                                 produced,
 2.    Terms defined in Directive 78/176/EEC have            — in respect of surface waters, by 1 July 1988 they
the same meaning for the purposes of this Directive.             prohibit discharges of liquid wastes with a pH
                                                                 value lower than 6,5.
                                                             They shall prohibit discharges of all solid wastes such
                         Article 3
                                                             as filtrates and metal chlorides into these same waters.
1.    This Article shall apply to existing industrial        3.     In respect of the atmosphere, Member States
establishments employing the sulphate process.               shall take the measures necessary to ensure that by 1
                                                             July 1988 chlorine emissions are reduced to the
2.    Member States shall take the necessary                 reference value of six grams per tonne of titanium
measures, including those relating to the installation       dioxide produced.
 ---pagebreak--- 26. 5. 83 .                        Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 138/7
                          Article                         ">        should technical problems arise during the application
                                                                    of the appropriate technologies.
Member States shall monitor the reference values,
reductions and prohibitions specified in Articles 3 and             2.     The Member State concerned shall send to the
4, in relation to the actual production of each                     Commission all the detailed supporting documents
establishment.                                                      which the Commission needs to decide whether the
                                                                    conditions for applying paragraph 1 have been
                          Article 6                                 satisfied.
1.    Member States shall take the measures necessary               3.     Extensions of the period for each category of
to ensure that:                                                     waste may not exceed 12 months.
— wastes subject to a discharge prohibition are
    stored on land with a view to re-use wherever
                                                                                            Article 8
    possible,
— products arising from the treatment of copperas,                  1.     Member States shall take the measures necessary
    strong acids, weak acids and any other wastes not               to comply with this Directive not later than 1 January
    subsequently re-used can be stored on land                      1986. They shall forthwith inform the Commission
    without prejudice to Directive 60/68/EEC.                       thereof.
2.    The remaining quantities of the discharges                    2.     Member States shall communicate to the
defined in Articles 3 and 4 may be disposed of                      Commission the provisions of national law which they
without pretreatment.                                               adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
                         Article 7
                                                                                            Article 9
1.    Subject to prior agreement by the Commission,
a Member State may depart from the set timetable                    This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                                                            ANNEX
                          Principle of the reference method of measurement for gaseous SO* emissions
              For the purposes of calculating the quantities of SO2, and of SO3 and acid droplets expressed as
              SO2 equivalent, discharged by specific installations, account must be taken of the volume of gas
              discharged over the duration of the specific operations in question and of the average SO2/SO3
              content measured over the same period. The SO2/SO3 flow rate and content must be determined
              under the same temperature and humidity conditions.