CEMEPESkiathos island, June 2007

Business activities in the environmental sector in Greece:

Current status and prospects

E. Kondili1*, J. K. Kaldellis2

1Optimisation of Production Systems Lab, Mechanical Eng. Dept., TEI Piraeus 2 Lab of Soft Energy Applications & Environmental Protection, TEI Piraeus

Objectives of the work

To present the nature and magnitude of the environment-related business activities in Greece today and its prospects,

To make an assessment of the professional specialisations that are necessary for the above business activities, and the implied educational requirements and

To highlight the challenging opportunities that are emerging in the environmental field for businesses, professionals and the education.

Introduction

The imperative environmental protection needs of

the recent years have created significant business

and professional activities in Europe and in Greece,

e.g.

design, construction, operation and maintenance of

environmental protection works,

environmental impact assessment studies,

design, construction and trading of environmental

protection equipment,

development and installation of environmental

management systems

Environmental businesses: Eco-industries

Environmental business: Activities which produce

goods and services to:

measure,

prevent,

limit,

minimize or

correct

environmental damage to water, air and soil, as well

as problems related to waste, noise and eco-

systems.

Environmental businesses: Eco-industries

This includes technologies, products and services that

reduce environmental risk and minimize pollution and

resources consumption” (OECD)

Eco-industries are classified into two broad categories:

pollution management, and

resource management.

Eco-industries in figures

Total EU eco-industry turnover in 2004: €227

billion both from pollution management and

resource management activities

Distribution of total turnover by pollution management and resource management activities EU-25, 2004

Eco-industries: Pollution management

Pollution management consists of nine eco-industry sectors referring to the “end of pipe” technology:

1. Solid Waste Management & Recycling (52.4 billion € )2. Wastewater Treatment (52.2 billion € )3. Air Pollution Control (15.9 billion € )4. General Public Administration (11.5 billion € )5. Private Environmental Management (5.8 billion € )6. Remediation & Clean Up of Soil & Groundwater (5.2 billion € )7. Noise & Vibration Control (2 billion € )8. Environmental Research & Development (0.11 billion € )9. Environmental Monitoring & Instrumentation (1 billion €)

Eco-industries: Pollution management

Breakdown of total turnover for the pollution management activities, EU-25, 2004

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

Pollution Management

M€

Environmental Management(private)

General administration (public)

Noise & vibration

Remediation & Clean up

Solid Waste Managmenent

Wastew ater Management

Air pollution control

Breakdown of total turnover by sector for the pollution management activities, EU-25, 2004

Eco-industries: Resource management

Resource management includes five eco-industry sectors that take a more preventive approach.

1. Water Supply (45.7 billion € )

2. Recycled Materials (24.3 billion € )

3. Renewable Energy Production (6.1 billion € )

4. Nature Protection (5.7 billion € )

5. Eco-construction (40 billion € - a supply-side estimate of eco-construction turnover)

Eco-industries: Resource management

Breakdown of total Breakdown of total turnover by sector for the resource management activities, EU-

25, 2004

Breakdown of total turnover for the resource management activities, EU-25, 2004

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

Resource Management

M€

Nature Protection

Renewable Energy

Recycled Materials

Water supply

Environmental Business Activities in Greece

Started in the middle of 80’s with the construction of a large number of wastewater treatment plants

In 2004 the national environmental market was estimated at approximately 1.5% of the GDP(Min. of Dev.)

The current period is particularly critical for environment-related business opportunities

There are significant opportunities in the air, liquid and solid waste market segments, including investment opportunities and the implementation of new and advanced technologies

Environmental Business Activities in Greece: Driving Forces

EU environmental directives and the associated national legislation

The energy sector liberalization efforts

The gap in solid waste management

The continuously increasing public environmental awareness

The need for environmental equipment and services

Environmental Business Activities in Greece: Driving Forces

With a budget that surpassed $700 million, the National Operational Program for the Environment (EPPER), funded by the Third Community Support Framework Program has been instrumental in shaping environmental policy

Environmental Business Activities in Greece (turnover)

Eco-industry turnover by sector in Greece for 2004

Environmental Business Activities in Greece

Changes in Greece’s environmental laws will eventually create business potential for applied and proven environmental technologies

Today there is a very good established basis of environmental companies, some of them even operating since the 80’s

An Association of Environmental Protection companies, which today counts 82 members, has been created in order to support and promote the professional interests of the companies active in this sector.

Environmental Business Activities Environmental Business Activities in Greece in Greece

The field of activities of the member companies are:

Development and implementation of integrated waste management plants.

Development, implementation and monitoring of environmental management systems.

Technoeconomic feasibility studies of environmental investment solutions.

Resource allocation and cost minimization.

Environmental studies and risk assessment.

Environmental Business Activities Environmental Business Activities In Greece In Greece

Technical studies for environmental infrastructure.

Planning, development, operation and restoration of old

landfills.

Recycling and recovery.

Environmental impact assessment studies.

Participation in national and European R&D programs.

Trading of environmental materials, equipment and

instrumentation.

Operation and management of waste treatment facilities

Environmental professions and Environmental professions and educationeducation

Numerous specializations and professions have emerged during the last years

Integration of different science fields, engineering, politics, law, information technology, project management, business administration, communications, and economics-is at the heart of the new environmental professions

A number of undergraduate and postgraduate environmental engineering and environmental management courses are offered in the Greek universities

The qualifications that environmental professionals are required to have emerge from the changing nature of their job descriptions.

Environmental professions and education

Nowadays, we find in Greece environmental professionals to be involved in various fields, such as:

The engineering and construction sector for the design and implementation of various environmental protection infrastructure projects

Environmental impact assessment studies being a prerequisite for any production activity

Development, implementation, monitoring and auditing of Environmental Management Systems

Trading of equipment and instrumentation

Environmental professions and education

To respond to the market’s need, a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses have been developed and operate in Greece.

New departments and educational courses have been developed in the university education, that have an increasing demand from the students.

In MechEng Department of TEI of Piraeus, there are a number of courses related to environmental technology and engineering that have proved to be very successful, within a purely technical department.

Conclusions

The environmental sector offers continuously increasing opportunities for business activities in Europe and Greece in particular

To cover the needs of the sector, new professional specializations have been created

Significant number of scientists, engineers and other professionals are now involved in pollution management and resource management activities

Conclusions (cont.)

New specialisations in the profession call for flexible and rapidly responding educational structures, that can adapt to the market needs and educate valuable environmental practitioners

Therefore, the environmental studies, possible more than others, need to be able to adjust their curriculum to the real society needs

Furthermore, environmental research is a significant driving force that creates new methods, tools and technologies to face or prevent environmental effects of the production processes.

Acknowledgments

This research has been conducted within the framework of the ARCHIMEDES II Environment Funding of Research Groups, cofunded by the EU and the Greek Ministry of Education