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What does the revised Industrial Emissions Directive mean for my site?

By Harshal Mistry, Founder, MISTR Systems · 7 min read · Updated October 2026 · For licensed food, dairy and pharma sites in Ireland and the EU

The key dates

Transposition is still outstanding in many member states. In Ireland, check the EPA's industrial emissions licensing pages for the national regulations and how they will be applied to existing licences.

What changes for a licensed site

• Stricter limits by default. Emission limit values are set at the strictest achievable end of the range linked to Best Available Techniques (BAT), unless a derogation applies.
• Performance limits for water use. Permits must include environmental performance limit values, including for water.
• An environmental management system. Every installation needs one, independently audited, with key information published online free of charge.
• Higher penalties. For the most serious breaches by companies, the maximum fine must be at least 3% of annual EU turnover.
• Compensation. People whose health is damaged by a breach can claim compensation, which is new in EU environmental law.
• More public data. Permits and site data are available through the European Industrial Emissions Portal.

Why this matters for wastewater data

A limit set at the strictest end of the range leaves less room between normal operation and a breach. An EMS has to show that the site knows its own performance and acts on it. Both depend on monitoring data that is complete, correct and checked. A drifting pH probe or a gap in flow data used to be a maintenance issue. Under IED 2.0 it is also a gap in the evidence your EMS relies on.

What to do now

1. List every emission point and parameter in your licence, with its current limit.
2. Find out how close each one runs to its limit over a normal year, including peaks.
3. Check whether your monitoring would hold up to an external EMS audit: calibration, gaps, records.
4. Start or update your EMS against ISO 14001 or EMAS.
5. Watch for the Irish transposing regulations and any EPA licence reviews.
6. Follow the EU Environmental Omnibus, which proposes changes to some IED 2.0 requirements.

Possible changes: the Environmental Omnibus

On 10 December 2025 the European Commission proposed an Environmental Omnibus. For the IED, it would allow the EMS to be prepared at company level instead of for each installation, remove the chemical inventory and transformation plan requirements from the EMS, and extend some deadlines. These are proposals going through the normal legislative process, so the current rules still apply.

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