| Abstract [eng] |
Metal processing industry is one of the most advanced in Lithuania. Metal plating and cleaning is a branch of metal processing. The most common it is to clean metal mechanically, but with todays advances of technology more and more metal is cleaned with chemical products. Currently, most of the metal in Lithuania are still covered by the solvent-based paint. Used solvents containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In 2013 more than 60 000 tonnes of volatile organic compound emissions were created in Lithuania. This cause such environmental problems as forming of ground-level ozone, smog. Some of VOCs are dangerous to health, are characterized by CMR properties. In order to reduce emissions of VOCs into the atmosphere, a number of legal requirements were created. Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU) states: all volatile organic compounds possessing toxic properties for reproduction, carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, must be substituted. Analysis of the metal processing company showed, that one of the products contained a substance, which has toxic properties for reproduction. Therefore, the product must be substituted. The company uses paint system, which generates 78 percent of the volatile organic compounds that are generated by the company. Identification of potential alternatives resulted in two proposals. In order to estimate which of the proposed alternatives is acceptable, evaluation of alternatives was applied. It included hazard assessment, compliance with technological requirements, economic assessment and overall environmental assessment of the substitution process. The overall results was that alternatives having lower health and environmental hazards were available on the market; not all of them were suitable due to specific technological requirements. Nevertheless, this will increase costs for the company, but due to the existence of legal requirements, the company will have to implement the substitution. |
