14. Integrated Pollution Control

This chapter focuses on Integrated Pollution Control (IPC), a form of environmental regulation that was developed in the EU in the early 1990s. IPC takes a holistic view of the environment, acknowledging that ecosystems draw on interconnected and interdependent elements of the living and non-living environment. The chapter critically assesses the incorporation of holistic understandings of the natural environment into environmental law. First, it traces the elusive policy idea of holistic environmental regulation and decision-making, and draws attention to the early emergence of ideas of integrated pollution control in Victorian environmental law in Britain. Second, the chapter maps the application of holistic understandings of the natural environment through IPC regimes in both the EU and the UK, in particular the EU Directive on Industrial Emissions and its implementation through the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.