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  About the Programme

About the Programme

What is ETV?

The EU ETV Programme was launched in 2011 as a voluntary scheme to increase the marketability of innovative environmental technologies and raise confidence in ecoinnovations by providing independent and credible information on the performance of environmental technologies.

More specifically, the Programme is one of the tools in under Ecoinnovation Action Plan - Action 4 aimed at mobilising support to SMEs in order to improve investment readiness, networking opportunities as well as market confidence in eco-innovation.

Beside Poland, countries participating in the EU ETV program include: the Italy, Denmark, Finland and United Kingdom.

Breaking into the market with innovations can be a significant problem, because innovations by definition cannot show a successful track-record. Without credible information about innovative technologies, potential buyers are unsure whether or not to trust the claims made about their performance. Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) addresses that problem. It is a scheme that provides for third-party verification of the performance claims made by technology manufacturers in business-to-business relations. By issuing a Statement of Verification, which is the product of a successful ETV process, ETV provides credible information on the new technology. Market access for innovative environmental technologies is significantly enhanced and the technological risk for technology purchasers (whether private or public) reduced. The information contained in the Statement of Verification summarises the actual performance of the verified technology as well as the results of the tests performed. With proof of performance credibly assured, along with information about the design of the tests, innovations can expect a larger market share.

Under EU ETV technologies can verified by verification bodies accredited for compliance to ISO 17020 for inspection body type A to perform verifications under the EU ETV for a specific technology area.

Verification consists in providing objective evidence that the technical design of a given environmental technology ensures the fulfillment of a given performance claim:

  • in a specified application of a technology,
  • under specified operational conditions
  • taking any measurement uncertainty and relevant assumptions into consideration.

The EU ETV Programme is coordinated by European Commission. In Poland the EU ETV is coordinated by the Ministry of Environment.

Verification is based on robust procedures set out in the General Verification Protocol UE ETV as follows:

JWTS

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ETV objectives

  • Increase the trust of investors in innovative environmental technologies
  • Give more credibility to developers of innovative technologies
  • Enable technology users to benefit of innovation and select technologies meeting their needs
  • Reduce the risk for investors and purchasers investing in new technologies
  • Facilitate or accelerate the diffusion of eco-innovation on regional, national and international markets

Who benefits from ETV and how?

Manufactures 

  • ETV provides objective and reliable evidence on the performance of technologies they are bringing to the market, in order to convince investors and customers about the benefits they can gain from their use
  • helps avoid costly demonstrations for the needs of individual clients
  • data from verifications can be used as proofs in public tenders

Innovative enterprises may be particularly interested by this approach to differentiate their technologies from that of larger competitors.

Policy makers/regulators/insurance companies

  • ETV facilitates the implementation of public policies and regulations by providing citizens, regulators and decision-makers with solid information on the level of performance achievable by new environmental technologies ready for the market
  • ETV helps better assess investment and technological risks related to the implementation of a technology and thus the relevance of the investment
  • ETV supports meeting the requirements of due dilligence procedures.  

Purchasers (public & private) planning investments in technologies:

  • ETV supports purchasers who need to base their buying decisions on sound information, widely recognised as scientifically valid and acceptable as proof of evidence in tendering and purchasing procedures
  • ETV helps reduce investment and technological risks

Information provided by ETV enables making useful comparisons and identify technologies fitting best users’ needs.