Belgium – Ineos is threatening to close its Aromatics site in Geel if the company does not receive a new environmental permit. At the Flemish site, the company produces PTA. In late August, the plant’s environmental permit was revoked because the company was allegedly discharging too much cobalt. With a closure, 600 jobs could be lost.
Ineos produces PTA, a raw material for polyester, in Geel. In this process, the company applies a cobalt catalyst. The company has pledged to reduce cobalt content by 80 percent, but authorities say that is not enough. In the past, the plant’s permit allowed cobalt levels in water of up to 1,000 micrograms per liter, and actual emission levels were barely a quarter of that amount, Ineos said.
Additional treatment
The plant had agreed to reduce that maximum level to 500 and then to 120 by 2027. To this end, Ineos would invest in additional purification. This would require an investment of more than 20 million euros. The Flemish government had agreed to this. But two organizations, Bond Beter Leefmilieu and Natuurpunt challenged this decision. For now, Ineos is still producing, using the previous environmental permit. But the Flemish government must decide on a new permit within three months and is obliged to take the Council’s rulings into account.
Top executive Sir Jim Ratcliffe responded furiously: ‘The European Union cannot on the one hand claim to support the industry and on the other give in to pressure from NGOs who will not be satisfied until we have deindustrialized the entire continent.’ According to the company, the new legal limit imposed on cobalt is totally unachievable and is 20 times lower than experts say is necessary. Ineos further states that “the European Water Framework Directive does not identify cobalt as a priority substance and neither France nor Germany has imposed a limit.
Stranglehold
If the site’s permit is not renewed, a closure scenario is imminent and nearly 600 jobs will be at risk, Ineos says. Ratcliffe: “This is exemplary of what we see happening across Europe. Regulators are issuing ever stricter rules to meet the demands of NGOs determined to use regulation to put a stranglehold on the European chemical industry. Their demands are unrealistic and will not help improve the environment, but rather lead to large-scale deindustrialization and the loss of livelihoods of thousands of hard-working people.
