European solvent VOC emission inventories based on industry-wide information

Abstract

The European Solvents Industry Group (ESIG) has established volatile organic compound emission inventories for solvents for individual countries or groups of countries within the European Union for 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2015. A top-down approach has been adopted starting with EU-wide solvents industry sales data as supplied by solvent manufacturers, to which atmospheric release factors were applied for each solvent use sector. ESIG total solvent emissions for the EU ranged from 2159 thousand tonnes year−1 in 2008 to 1981 thousand tonnes year−1 in 2015. Comparison with internationally-agreed solvent emissions suggests that official estimates of total solvent emissions across the EU are over 30% too high by comparison with ESIG estimates and showed too high a trend with time. Using official statistics on chemical exports and imports for each country, ESIG has been able to compile solvent emissions for each European country or groups of countries. The over-estimation by the internationally-agreed solvent emissions compared with the ESIG estimates for Europe as a whole was mirrored in the individual country estimates for 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2015. No simple, uniform relationship between national solvent emissions and per capita population for either total or domestic sector solvent emissions was found. Assumption of uniform solvents emission factors on a per-head of population basis, has led to the introduction of inaccuracies in internationally-agreed solvent emission inventories. More detailed work with Member States has shown that non-solvents are also being included in the official solvent VOC inventories-indeed these VOC inventories are for ‘solvents and other product use’.