The protection of rivers, lakes and the sea from industrial effluent and wastewater was the main objective of a two-day national workshop held in Tel Aviv on 29-30 May 2013 within the framework of the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building / Mediterranean Environment Programme. Participants, 38 in number, came from various ministries, the private sector, trade associations and NGOs to explore existing European regulations as well as a plethora of successful case studies from the Mediterranean region.
The protection of rivers, lakes and the sea from industrial effluent and wastewater was the main objective of a two-day national workshop held in Tel Aviv on 29-30 May 2013 within the framework of the Horizon 2020 Capacity Building / Mediterranean Environment Programme. Participants, 38 in number, came from various ministries, the private sector, trade associations and NGOs to explore existing European regulations as well as a plethora of successful case studies from the Mediterranean region.
The workshop occurred at an opportune moment for Israel, as the Ministry of Environment is currently working towards the renewal of directives improving the quality and monitoring of industrial emissions in Israel, while at the same time trying to simplify the system. Therefore, and in order to enhance the government’s efforts, the workshop focused on improving participants’ understanding of European regulation instruments, namely Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and the Water Framework Directive. In addition, MEDPOL, UNEP/MAP’s long-standing regional project for the Assessment and Control of Pollution in the Mediterranean Region to protect and enhance the natural resources of the Mediterranean region was presented. The UNIDO MED TEST approach, a Cleaner Production project with an impressive track record in addressing land-based sources of pollution in the region was also showcased. Finally, the licensing systems implemented in Italy and Spain were presented as best practices.
The training was organized by the Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC) with the support of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection.
