Sectorial Report

Environmental Technology

Overview

The Portuguese market for environmental technologies and services is estimated at £3.3 bn between 2000-2006. The largest market sector is water and wastewater treatment (WWT), valued at £2.5 bn, followed by waste management (WM), at £303 m. The EU will be contributing with over £1.5 billion of the total amount.

Prospects for UK environmental suppliers within the Portuguese market are exceptionally favourable, with all of the main drivers in place. In particular:

• An increasing emphasis on enforcement as a means of correcting the poor standards of pollution control and waste management applying throughout Portuguese industry.
• An accelerating programme of privatisation, aimed at bringing in both the capital and expertise needed to provide adequate environmental infrastructure.
• The availability of EU funding for major environmental infrastructure projects.
• A weak domestic supply base, reliant on foreign technologies and companies.

Characteristics of Market

Some important features of the Portuguese market are:

• A small, but steadily growing market, driven primarily by the requirements of EU legislation.
• Increasing attention to enforcement, within (by southern European standards) a relatively coherent framework of environmental legislation.
• The relatively low levels of environmental infrastructure, with major investment still needed in WWT and WM.
• Relatively low levels of industrialisation and the economic importance of agriculture and tourism.
• The availability of substantial EU funding for environmental infrastructure projects from the Structural and Cohesion Funds.
• A weak domestic supply base, reliant on foreign technologies and, to a lesser degree, on foreign companies.

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Useful Links:

UK

Government

• National Assembly for Wales
• Environment Agency for England & Wales
• Scottish Environment Protection Agency
• Scottish Executive
• UK Department for Transport
• UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• UK Department for Trade and Industry
• Joint Environmental Markets Unit (DTI)
• National Land Use Database (NLUD)
• Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme (EEBPP)
• Prime Minister's Strategy Unit
• National Non-Food Crop Centre

Useful services

• Biffpack
• Building Materials Information Exchange
• Centre for Sustainable Design
• ContamLinks
• Environment & Energy Help Online
• The Environment Exchange PRN trading site
• Earthworks Jobs database

Institutes

• Institute of Air Quality Management
• Institution of Chemical Engineers
• Institution of Civil Engineers
• Institute for Environmental Management
• IPPR
• Royal Institution

Non-profit / academic organisations

• The UK Foresight Natural Resources & Environment (NRE) Panel
• National Environmental Research Council
• British Geological Survey
• British Antarctic Survey
• Design Council
• Environment Council
• Freshwater Biological Association
• Groundwork Wales
• Manufactured Aggregate Research Centre
• Watersave
• Waste Aware Scotland

Trade/professional organisations

• Chemical Industries Association
• Environmental Industries Commission
• EARA - Environmental Auditors Registration Association
• The Environmental Network Ltd
• Construction Industry Research and Information Association
• Renewable Energy Association

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Europe

EU Bodies

• European Commission - Environment
• European Court of Justice
• European Environment Agency

EU Parliament

• Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy
• Committee on Regional Policy, Transport and Tourism
• Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy

EU Information

• European Environment Bureau
• European Union Legislation
• European Environmental Law Homepage

European Trade/Professional Organisations

• Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging
• Euro Chlor
• Eurosolar
• Europen - packaging & environment
• CEPI - paper

EU Projects

• CLICOFI - effect of climate on fish
• ICAROS - atmospheric modelling
• LIFE - protecting the environment
• PEOPLE - air pollution monitoring

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