Regulating VOC’s Industrial Emission Regulation (IED)

The Industrial Emission Directive (IED) – Driving closed systems in surface and dry-cleaning

The The Industrial Emission Directive 2010/75/EU (IED) covers a wide range of solvent-using activities, such as printing, surface cleaning, painting and coating activities, dry cleaning and manufacture of footwear, and pharmaceutical products.

The IED establishes emission limit values for VOCs in waste gases and maximum levels for fugitive emissions for solvents, including chlorinated solvents because of their overall hazard profile.

For Surface Cleaning, the directive is driving the use of closed cleaning machines by setting tight emission limits to the environment, which also reduces to a high extent the risk of worker exposure. Proper implementation is supported by ECSA as a basic element for the sustainable use of chlorinated solvents.

ECSA provided information on recommended closed cleaning machinery with integrated recycling units to minimise emission, exposure and overall used volume of the solvents. These are

For surface cleaning:  

Perchloroethylene             20mg/m3 (stack emissions)

Trichloroethylene              2mg/m3 (stack emsisions)

For dry-cleaning:  

Perchloroethylene             20g/kg garment (Expressed in mass of solvent emitted per kg of product cleaned and dried).

(for details on emission conditions and fugitive emission limits please consult the directive)

Read more on

The IED-Directive.

The ECSA Guidance on the Industrial Emission Directive for Chlorinated Solvent Users document (pdf).