Holding the chemical industry together

28 September 1998 00:00  [Source: ICB]

Solvents are the enablers of the chemicals industry - often used but rarely seen in action. But, asks John Baker, where would the paints industry be without them?

Or for that matter adhesives, inks, industrial cleaners, toiletries and household products, even pharmaceuticals, where solvents are crucial to the creation of many pure compounds and are finding increasing usage.

European consumption of the two main solvents classes - hydrocarbon and oxygenated solvents - stands at around 4.3m tonne/year. The figure has been growing only slowly in recent years and is expected to hold steady in the medium term.

Growth in the customer base for solvents is being more or less balanced by improvements in the efficiency of using solvents and in greater recovery and recycling. Over the past 15 years, solvent emissions have halved per unit of production.

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These two main solvent groups, encompassing alcohols, ketones, esters and glycol ethers, as well as aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, account for around 90% of overall solvents usage, the balance consisting of the more specialised chlorinated solvents.

No wonder then, that when solvents began to come under scrutiny in various European Commission directives, such as the VOC directive and IPPC, that around 30 producers, in the main major petrochemicals companies, began to organise themselves to ensure the continuing well-being of these useful chemicals.

In mid-1996, two Cefic groups, the Oxygenated Solvents Producers Association (OSPA) and the Hydrocarbon Solvents Producers Association (HSPA), formed the joint European Solvents Industry Group (ESIG) - 'to provide a single point of contact for information on oxygenated and hydrocarbon solvents in Europe. Through working with industry and with industry partners, the group cultivates best practice in solvent usage, health, safety and environmental protection.'

The more specialised issues surrounding chlorinated solvents, and the fact that they are rarely used with other solvents as blends, have meant that they are more appropriately represented by the chlorine users group Eurochlor.

'Solvents are everywhere', points out Peter Hudson, external affairs manager for solvents at Shell and chairman of ESIG. 'They are influential but often taken for granted'. ESIG calculates that the industry sector is directly responsible for 10 000 jobs in Europe - in manufacture and distribution - and is worth Ecu2.1bn. If the user chain is taken into account, solvents impact 10m jobs in Europe and enable Ecu200bn of industry activity.

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ESIG has already produced a number of fact sheets - including 'using solvents safely' and 'solvents and the environment' and is publishing a newsletter Solutions. It is also now beginning to put together best practice guidelines - the first covering measurement of solvent vapour concentrations in the work environment. Others are promised in the near future: a technical guide on measurement and a guide to reducing exposure to solvents in the workplace. Future communication plans include the creation of a web site for ESIG.

'Our approach at ESIG', explains Hudson, 'is to take a generic approach to solvents'. ESIG does not comment on individual types or groups of solvents, such matters are left to the parent OSPA and HSPA groupings. However, Hudson adds, there is a growing appreciation of the common activities across these two groupings, which might mean the role of ESIG could expand in future.

Hudson argues that as the solvents sector is mature, many of the issues surrounding health and safety have been extensively addressed over the years. Thus the focus is on emerging issues surrounding the environment, such as emissions and their reduction.

Solvents' contribution to air pollution - namely smog - is complex but this is the main environmental issue for both oxygenated and hydrocarbon solvents, explains Ian Dobson, external affairs manager for oxygenated solvents at BP Chemicals and chairman of the Cefic European Solvents VOC Coordination Group.

The European Commission has brought forward a raft of proposed legislation in recent years to tackle air quality across western Europe, including the Auto Oils directive, the IPPC directive, the stationary large combustion sources directive, and, most pertinently for the solvents sector, the VOC solvents emissions directive.

This sets out to reduce solvents emission as part of an overall effort to cut pollution in the form of NOx and VOCs. These, when combined in the lower atmosphere in the presence of strong sunlight, react to form ozone, an irritant pollutant.

Figures from ESIG (see diagram) show that solvents are the cause of around one-quarter of VOC emissions in western Europe, with transport, and combustion and power other leading causes. Perhaps surprisingly, natural vegetation, especially pine forests, are estimated to account for a significant proportion of total VOC emissions - around 22%.

But, says ESIG, simply taking the tonnage of VOCs emissions is not indicative of the ozone-forming impact. This varies with the type of VOC and the time of year and location being considered. By weighting the figures for reactivity and season, ESIG has calculated that solvent use accounts for a smaller 10% impact, with vegetation's effect expanding to 57% during summertime.

Nevertheless, the Commission has moved forward with its VOC directive, which is expected to receive final ratification later this year after the latest draft has been considered by the European Parliament. The draft was agreed by the European Council of Environment Ministers on 23 March this year. The directive should finally be adopted by the Council in early 1999, and member states will then have two years in which to implement the legislation, in many instances making sure it is compatible with current national VOC legislations.

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Dobson believes the current draft text can be welcomed by those making and using solvents, even though the implementation costs - estimated variously between Ecu70-80bn - are high. 'We welcome the fact that legislators have considered the industry's viewpoint throughout the directive's development so that the proposals now contain more appropriate and achievable targets.

'Compliance will undoubtedly be challenging and costly for the 400 000 enterprises in 30 industry sectors affected by the proposals, but time and flexibility has been built in so that compliance should be achievable by 2007.'

As it now stands, the directive seeks to cut VOC emissions from solvent-using installations by 67% by 2007, compared with a base year of 1990. It will affect some 400 000 concerns, over 90% of which are small and medium-sized companies, involving 10m employees.

The directive is not prescriptive in terms of the technologies that must be used to reduce emissions, a fact to be welcomed, says Dobson, given the sometimes expensive capital investments already made in some sectors to cut emissions. In general, ESIG advises that there are a number of routes to compliance; good housekeeping, emission abatement, solvent recycling, reformulating solvents blends and/or products, eg high solids paints.

The route to the current draft has been long and tortuous. The Commission first put forward initial draft legislation in 1991, and the directive has been through near a dozen drafts since then. Along the way the industry, through such bodies as the European Solvents VOC Coordination Group, has managed to educate the politicians and legislators in the complexities of the solvents industry.

As a result, says Dobson, the directive avoids a prescriptive approach in terms of overall targets and technologies, which would have proved excessively expensive, and instead sets targets for 30 industry sectors, allowing flexibility in how they are achieved.

'This delivers emissions cuts in an even handed way,' explains Dobson, 'in itself a challenge for the Commission as some member states wanted the use of Best Available Technology while others already had national legislation in place and there was a strong desire for this to remain compatible.' The way things stand at the present, member states are still able to put forward a national plan proposal, adopting existing legislation, as long as it delivers the same results as the directive.

The other major benefit of the directive's current approach, he explains, is that it will allow companies to invest now in capital plant to cut emissions with the knowledge that they will not have to change their approach in coming years. This recognises the costs and timescale involved in such investment, and also the fact that some member states already have legislation in place. 'With this approach, we can see out to 2010 with some clarity,' he adds.

As the directive comes into force ESIG will make it is task to establish a communication route from the solvents producers to the many end users, to assist them in meeting the requirements of the legislation. It will again endeavour to promote the use of best practice in this respect.

As a first step, it is planning a major international conference for early March next year in Brussels, provisionally entitled 'Living with the directive'. Aimed at solvents users, it will explain the implications of the directive and give advice on how industry can comply. 'Although written in a flexible way the directive is still challenging,' says Dobson.

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