In 2015 the environmental protection expenditure for industry was 1,405 million of euros of which 979 million of euros were investments in equipment and plant for pollution control and special anti-pollution accessories mainly end-of-pipe equipment and 426 million of euros were investments in equipment and plant linked to cleaner technologies (“integrated technology”).
The large enterprises (those with 250 and more persons employed) realized 78.7 percent of end-of-pipe investments and 84.0 percent of investments linked to cleaner technology.
Between 2014 and 2015, the investments on environmental protection of industrial enterprises increased by 25.8 percent.
The investments on environmental protection accounted for 4.1 percent of the total gross fixed investment made by industrial enterprises; the environmental investments per persons employed were equal to 373 euros.
36.5 percent of the environmental protection
expenditure (37.1 percent in 2014) included protection and remediation of soil, groundwater and surface water, noise and vibration abatement, protection of biodiversity and landscape, protection against radiation, research and development, activities leading to indivisible expenditure and activities not elsewhere classified (Other environmental protection activities).
In particular, in manufacturing, the weight of environmental investments to total gross fixed investments was 2.0 percent. The biggest expenditure was made by enterprises in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products resulting from (26.5%).
Overall, industrial companies produced investments above all to remove the pollution after it has been produced, instead of integrating their systems with “clean” technologies, which help to protect the environment from the effects of the production process.
For information
Roberto Nardecchia
ph. +39 06 4673.6180
nardecch@istat.it