Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland
This guidance is relevant if your business uses thermal spraying processes for metallic coatings. Thermal spraying uses gases or compressed air to propel heated metal powder towards the component to be coated.
After you have applied the metal powder, you can seal the surface of your component with another coating. Your second coating is usually solvent based.
If you have a permit, licence or registered exemption you must comply with its conditions. Your permit may contain conditions controlling your noise, odour or air emissions. You can be fined or even sent to prison if you do not comply with conditions.
You must also comply with controls on solvent emissions. For further information, see our guidance on solvent emissions.
Your metallic coating activities could cause significant levels of noise from thermal spraying and odour from using solvents. You may have to control noise and odour from your premises.
If your process creates levels of noise, dust, grit, fumes or smoke that could cause a nuisance or harm the health of the surrounding community, your local council can issue an abatement notice that:
Anyone who is affected by the nuisance, such as your neighbours, can apply to the court in Northern Ireland or sheriff in Scotland to issue you with an abatement notice.
You can be fined if you do not comply with an abatement notice, and the local council can take steps to stop the nuisance itself and charge you for its costs.
Noise, odour and other nuisances
You must comply with your duty of care responsibilities when you manage your waste.
You may need to deal with some of your waste as hazardous/special waste, including:
For more information, see our guidance on hazardous/special waste.
Do not discharge to public sewers, surface waters or ground waters without consulting your regulator. You may need a discharge consent or other authorisation. For further information, see our guidance on discharges to water and sewer.
Groundwater in Northern Ireland, DAERA have produced a leaflet to raise awareness about this untapped resource
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