The environment in a company: what you must comply with

The environment in a company: what you must comply with

Most companies assume the environment does not concern them because they have no chimney and no wastewater treatment plant. Yet every company produces waste. And with waste come records, reporting and inspections by the district authority or by the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate.

This article is about what an ordinary company actually has to comply with in the environmental area.

Waste

If your activity generates waste, you are its producer and Act No. 79/2015 Coll. on waste applies to you. Several things follow from it at once.

You must classify the waste correctly under the Waste Catalogue, that is assign it a catalogue number and determine whether it is hazardous or other waste. You must collect it separately, in a marked place and in a way that does not endanger the surroundings. Hazardous waste has a stricter regime, including identification sheets.

You may only hand it over to a person authorised to handle it. Keep the handover documents.

Records and the annual report

Waste records must be kept continuously, from the first gram, on a record sheet. The report on the generation of waste and its handling is submitted to the district authority by 28 February for the previous calendar year. The duty arises if during the year you handled more than 50 kilograms of hazardous waste or more than one tonne of other waste, or if you generated waste listed in Annex 3 to the decree, regardless of quantity.

Below 50 kilograms of hazardous waste the report is therefore not submitted, but the records are always kept.

Packaging

If you place products in packaging on the market, extended producer responsibility applies to you. That means registration, a contract with a producer responsibility organisation and reporting of quantities. It also applies to companies that import goods themselves from abroad.

Air

If you operate a source of air pollution, for example a boiler room above a certain output, a paint shop or machining with extraction, you need the consent of the air protection authority, you keep operating records and report data once a year. This is governed by Act No. 146/2023 Coll. on air protection.

Water

Act No. 364/2004 Coll. on waters deals with the discharge of wastewater, the handling of hazardous substances and the handling of substances that may endanger water quality. If you have a store of diesel, oils or chemicals, you need an emergency plan and regular checks of the storage facilities.

What gets checked most often

Missing waste records, or records written up retrospectively. An annual report that was not submitted. Waste handed over to a company without authorisation. Hazardous waste in an unsecured, unmarked container. A missing emergency plan where oils or diesel are stored.

How we help with it

We keep the waste records, prepare and submit the annual report, draw up the emergency plan and the consents, and attend inspections with you. Details are with the service environmental protection. If you are not sure what applies to you, write to us.