# Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2031 of 12 November 2019 establishing best available techniques (BAT) conclusions for the food, drink and milk industries, under Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document C(2019) 7989) (Text with EEA relevance), Division: Applicability

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

For existing plants, the technique may not be applicable due to lack of space and/or due to the layout of the waste water collection system.
BAT 12. In order to reduce emissions to water, BAT is to use an appropriate combination of the techniques given below.
The descriptions of the techniques are given in Section 14.1.
Technique
Typical pollutants targeted
Applicability
Preliminary, primary and general treatment
(a)
Equalisation
All pollutants
Generally applicable.
(b)
Neutralisation
Acids, alkalis
(c)
Physical separation, e.g. screens, sieves, grit separators, oil/fat separators, or primary settlement tanks
Gross solids, suspended solids, oil/grease
Aerobic and/or anaerobic treatment (secondary treatment)
(d)
Aerobic and/or anaerobic treatment (secondary treatment), e.g. activated sludge process, aerobic lagoon, upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) process, anaerobic contact process, membrane bioreactor
Biodegradable organic compounds
Generally applicable.
Nitrogen removal
(e)
Nitrification and/or denitrification
Total nitrogen, ammonium/ammonia
Nitrification may not be applicable in the case of high chloride concentrations (e.g. above 10 g/l).
Nitrification may not be applicable when the temperature of the waste water is low (e.g. below 12 °C).
(f)
Partial nitritation — Anaerobic ammonium oxidation
May not be applicable when the temperature of the waste water is low.
Phosphorus recovery and/or removal
(g)
Phosphorus recovery as struvite
Total phosphorus
Only applicable to waste water streams with a high total phosphorus content (e.g. above 50 mg/l) and a significant flow.
(h)
Precipitation
Generally applicable.
(i)
Enhanced biological phosphorus removal
Final solids removal
(j)
Coagulation and flocculation
Suspended solids
Generally applicable.
(k)
Sedimentation
(l)
Filtration (e.g. sand filtration, microfiltration, ultrafiltration)
(m)
Flotation
The BAT-associated emission levels (BAT-AELs) for emissions to water given in Table 1 apply to direct emissions to a receiving water body.
The BAT-AELs apply at the point where the emission leaves the installation.
Table 1
BAT-associated emission levels (BAT-AELs) for direct emissions to a receiving water body
The BAT-AELs do not apply to emissions from grain milling, green fodder processing, and the production of dry pet food and compound feed.
The BAT-AELs may not apply to the production of citric acid or yeast.
No BAT-AEL applies for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). As an indication, the yearly average BOD5 level in the effluent from a biological waste water treatment plant will generally be ≤ 20 mg/l.
The BAT-AEL for COD may be replaced by a BAT-AEL for TOC. The correlation between COD and TOC is determined on a case-by-case basis. The BAT-AEL for TOC is the preferred option because TOC monitoring does not rely on the use of very toxic compounds.
The upper end of the range is:
125 mg/l for dairies;
120 mg/l for fruit and vegetable installations;
200 mg/l for oilseed processing and vegetable oil refining installations;
185 mg/l for starch production installations;
155 mg/l for sugar manufacturing installations;
as daily averages only if the abatement efficiency is ≥ 95 % as a yearly average or as an average over the production period.
The lower end of the range is typically achieved when using filtration (e.g. sand filtration, microfiltration, membrane bioreactor), while the upper end of the range is typically achieved when using sedimentation only.
The upper end of the range is 30 mg/l as a daily average only if the abatement efficiency is ≥ 80 % as a yearly average or as an average over the production period.
The BAT-AEL may not apply when the temperature of the waste water is low (e.g. below 12 °C) for prolonged periods.
The upper end of the range is:
4 mg/l for dairies and starch installations producing modified and/or hydrolysed starch;
5 mg/l for fruit and vegetable installations;
10 mg/l for oilseed processing and vegetable oil refining installations carrying out soap-stock splitting;
as daily averages only if the abatement efficiency is ≥ 95 % as a yearly average or as an average over the production period.
Parameter
BAT-AEL (daily average)
Chemical oxygen demand (COD)
25-100 mg/l
Total suspended solids (TSS)
4-50 mg/l
Total nitrogen (TN)
2-20 mg/l
Total phosphorus (TP)
0,2-2 mg/l
The associated monitoring is given in BAT 4.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2019/2031/annex/division/1/division/1.7/division/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2019-2031/annex/division-1/division-1.7/division-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.