The European IPPC Bureau
Welcome to the European IPPC Bureau (EIPPCB)
10 years in helping to protect the European environment
The European IPPC Bureau is an action of the Sustainable Production and Consumption Unit of the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS). The IPTS is one of the seven scientific institutes of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC).
The European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Bureau was set up to organise an exchange of information between Member States and industry on Best Available Techniques (BAT), associated monitoring and developments in them.
The European IPPC Bureau is an output oriented team which produces reference documents on Best Available Techniques, called BREFs. BREFs are the main reference documents used by competent authorities in Member States when issuing operating permits for the installations that represent a significant pollution potential in Europe. There are about 50000 of these installations in Europe.
In the international context, the European information exchange on best available techniques is considered to be an EU contribution to the global process initiated in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development so that non-EU countries can also reap the benefits of this ambitious work.
The mission of the JRC is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union. Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of special interests, whether private or national.