ABSTRACT
The factors which the Commission considers relevant affecting SME’s include inter alia:
• limited access to capital and to research and development, which limits the scope for significant investment in order to comply with environmental requirements;
• lower turnover than larger companies, which makes it more difficult to absorb fixed costs required by environmental regulation;
• the total number of enterprises that taken together generate serious pollution problems. A study is quoted which shows that whereas the European chlor-alkali industry releases 19 tonnes of mercury per year into the environment, 5.3-7 tonnes are released annually to sewer by dental practices.
