Exemplary Investigation into the State of Practical Realisation of Integrated Environmental Protection within the Ceramics Industry under Observance of the IPPC-Directive and the Development of BAT Reference Documents

On September, 24th, 1996 the Council of the European Communities issued Directive 96/61/EC on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC-D) [25]. This directive aims at the integrated reduction and prevention of environmental pollution emitted by industrial installations with a high potential of emissions into the environmental media air, water and soil. The priority of the Directive is to achieve a high level of protection of the environment as a whole. A substantial instrument to accomplish this aim is the introduction of an integrated licensing procedure valid for the operation of certain industrial installations with public participation in all member states of the EU. The IPPC-Directive differs from the German legislation, which deals with single, sector-specific laws.