Project

In recent years, concepts and strategies have been developed at EU, federal, and state levels to substantially reduce discharges of trace substances into the environment and water bodies. The complexity of these discharges – including their diverse sources, emission patterns, and path-ways – means that several regulatory domains are involved, which have so far been poorly or only partially coordinated. Under these conditions, voluntary measures can provide a useful means of reducing pollutant discharges while engaging relevant stakeholders in line with the precau-tionary and polluter-pays principles. Effective and targeted coordination between voluntary measures and statutory requirements is essential to harness the respective strengths of both approaches.

The project investigates how stakeholders’ willingness to adopt voluntary measures to protect water bodies from trace-substance discharges can be strengthened. It first examines the conditions under which voluntary measures can succeed and derives corresponding assessment criteria. Specific examples are then used to identify both the potential and the limitations of such measures, thereby highlighting areas in which additional action is required. The project also examines the circumstances under which statutory requirements may be more effective than voluntary measures in reducing trace-substance discharges. A further component is the development of instruments to raise awareness of trace substances in water bodies among relevant stakeholders and the wider public.

Based on these findings, the project will develop practical recommendations specifying the conditions under which voluntary measures are effective and how participation can be encouraged. The process may involve a broad range of stakeholders, including companies that manufacture or formulate substances, relevant professional groups, water and wastewater associations, environmental organizations, consumer protection organizations, and members of the public.

The project is closely aligned with European initiatives designed to prevent pollution-related harm to human health and the environment. As part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission has adopted the Zero Pollution Action Plan and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.

2023 to 2026

• German Environment Agency (UBA). The project receives technical guidance from the German Centre for Trace Substances (SZB).

• IKU GmbH