Environmental technologies have the potential to reduce environmental impact, enhance competitiveness and improve efficiency; this is known as the win-win scenario. The EU Commission’s Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP) is a first co-ordinated step in this direction.
"Environmentally sound technologies protect the environment, are less polluting, use all resources in a more sustainable manner, recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle residual wastes in a more acceptable manner than the technologies for which they were substitutes. Environmentally sound technologies in the context of pollution are process and product technologies that generate low or no waste, for the prevention of pollution. They also cover end of the pipe technologies for treatment of pollution after it has been generated. Environmentally sound technologies are not just individual technologies, but total systems which include know-how, procedures, goods and services, and equipment as well as organisational and managerial procedures."
The Environmental Protection Agency is among the main players in implementing ETAP in Ireland via its Science, Technology, Research and Innovation for the Environment (STRIVE) 2007-2013 and Environmental Research, Technological Development and Innovation (ERTDI) 2000-2006 Programmes.
The Cleaner Production and Environmental Technologies Key Measure of the STRIVE Programme aims at developing linkages between expert groups in third-level and research institutes and key stakeholders in government, industrial and financial sectors in order to develop and capitalise on environmental technologies.
It is supported via the Cleaner Greener Production Programme (CGPP) which commenced in 2000. The objective of the CGPP is to encourage companies in Ireland, particularly SMEs, to adopt a high standard of environmental performance by adapting or improving business practices in order to minimise negative impact on the environment. The programme seeks to promote environmentally friendly production through the application of environmental management, increased resource productivity, waste reduction, reuse/recycling of materials, up-cycling (i.e. adding value to a recycled product), energy management and a change of culture within organisations.
The CGPP aims at influencing the behaviour of companies in Ireland by encouraging them to take account of environmental considerations. The long-term aim is to try to ensure that cleaner greener production and eco-efficiency become the established norm in Ireland. Find out more about the Cleaner Greener Production Programme
Environmental technologies is one of the key areas in which research and innovation are essential, both for economic competitiveness and to yield outcomes that make tangible improvements to quality of life. Innovations in these areas can also assist in improving environmental management and can assist the relevant agencies and authorities in the enforcement of environmental legislation.
Environmental Technologies projects have been funded by the EPA under the following headings:
It is an objective of this theme to explore innovative research and development solutions that could potentially address specific environmental issues. Research in this area will focus on developing new or improved environmental technologies (e.g., nanotechnology, green chemistry, white biotechnology) that are needed to reduce the environmental impact of human activities, protect the environment and manage resources more efficiently.
This theme is aimed at developing the technologies and systems required to measure and monitor the quality of Ireland’s environment.
This theme is aimed at providing the background information and guidance required in relation to the development of environmental technologies. It also aims at the full-scale demonstration of environmental technologies that are capable of treating a particular and significant pollutant stream in Ireland and for which there has been little uptake.
Find out more about the EPA-funded research in this area:
Read more about our completed projects:
Access the websites of our research projects:
Research Reports & Datasets on Environmental Technologies
