4. Conclusion

Liquid industrial effluents from surface treatment activities may contain organic or mineral chemical pollutants. These effluents cannot be discharged directly, and require pre-treatment or specific treatment to comply with regulatory limits.

There are a number of applicable regulations, the main ones being :

• the French Environment Code, in particular Article L110-1, which defines the following four principles: the precautionary principle, the principle of preventive and corrective action, the polluter-pays principle and the principle of participation;

• ICPE (Installations classées pour la protection de l'environnement) regulations, in particular heading 2564 "cleaning, degreasing, pickling of surfaces (metals, plastics, etc.) by processes using organohalogenated liquids or organic...