Environmental Law for Businesses in the Netherlands

Environmental law sets the limit on how heavily your company may burden the living environment. The system is European in origin and Dutch in its delivery. Since 1 January 2024 the rules for activities have been contained in the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) and the Environmental Activities (Living Environment) Decree (Bal). The concept of the establishment (inrichting) has gone; the law now attaches to the environmentally harmful activity. Alongside the specific rules, a specific duty of care applies at all times.

The short answer

Four questions determine your position:

Do you carry out an environmentally harmful activity designated in the Environmental Activities (Living Environment) Decree?
Does a permit requirement apply to it, or are general national rules and a notification sufficient?
Which limit values apply to your emissions to air, water and soil?
Do you work with substances of very high concern (ZZS) and, if so, do you comply with the minimisation obligation?

The answers determine your permit route, your measurement and record-keeping duties and your exposure during inspections.

European and national environmental law

Most Dutch environmental law stems from European directives and regulations. Directives are transposed into Dutch rules. Regulations, such as REACH and the CLP Regulation, apply directly.

Several frameworks weigh most heavily in practice:

Industrial Emissions Directive. It imposes requirements on large installations. The recast, Directive (EU) 2024/1785, had to be transposed by 1 July 2026. The Dutch implementing bill was adopted by the House of Representatives in 2026 and is before the Senate.
Water Framework Directive. The target year is 2027. This leads to stricter assessment of discharges and abstractions, and to pressure on existing permits.
Waste Framework Directive. It sets the waste hierarchy: prevention before reuse, reuse before recycling, recycling before incineration and landfill.
Climate framework. The Climate Act (Klimaatwet) provides that the Netherlands will be climate neutral in 2050. Emissions trading is governed by chapter 16 of the Environmental Management Act (Wet milieubeheer).

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At national level the centre of gravity has shifted to the Environment and Planning Act. The Environmental Management Act retains, among other things, substances and products, waste, emissions trading, public access to environmental information and the environmental liability rules of title 17.2.

Permit requirement or general rules

The old distinction between type A, B and C businesses no longer exists. The concept of the establishment has gone, and the notification under the Activities Decree (Activiteitenbesluit) has disappeared. The law now attaches to the activity.

Most environmentally harmful activities are governed by directly applicable national rules in the Environmental Activities (Living Environment) Decree. A notification or information obligation often accompanies them. For designated cases a permit requirement applies in addition. Chapter 3 of that decree designates those cases.

Two points deserve attention. First, the permit requirement is activity-based. Different activities at a single site may fall under different regimes. Second, the municipality may lay down additional rules in the environment plan (omgevingsplan). Always assess both tracks.

The specific duty of care

In addition to the concrete rules, the specific duty of care in article 2.11 of the Environmental Activities (Living Environment) Decree applies. Anyone who knows, or can reasonably suspect, that an activity has adverse consequences must take measures. That duty has three levels: prevent; if that is not possible, limit or undo; and if necessary, refrain from the activity.

The duty of care is independently enforceable. You can therefore receive an order subject to a penalty payment while complying with every concrete condition. In practice the issue is usually sound management, maintenance and the prevention of foreseeable incidents.

Emissions to air, water and soil

Permit-based activities must apply the best available techniques. For large industrial installations these are set out in European BAT conclusions, with associated emission levels. After new BAT conclusions are published, the competent authority must review the permit of an IPPC installation within four years and amend it where necessary. The installation must comply within that period.

For water, the discharge activity is a separate track. Discharging into national water, into regional water or into the sewer each has its own competent authority and its own rules. For soil there are duties of care and rules on excavation, remediation and the application of soil. Soil-threatening activities require soil protection measures and, depending on the situation, a baseline and closure survey.

Waste

The key question is whether a material is waste. That determines whether the waste regime applies, and who may receive and process the material. Two further questions follow: whether a by-product is involved, and when the waste phase ends.

The Circular Materials Plan (Circulair Materialenplan) entered into force on 30 December 2025 and replaces the National Waste Management Plan (Landelijk Afvalbeheerplan). It pays more attention to the phases before the waste stage, such as design, production and reuse. Competent authorities must take the plan into account in decisions on waste, including permit applications filed before that date but decided afterwards. Rules on producer responsibility and on cross-border waste shipment apply as well.

Substances of very high concern and PFAS

A minimisation obligation applies to substances of very high concern (ZZS). You must prevent emissions to air and water as far as possible and otherwise limit them as far as possible. Designated permit-based activities must also operate an avoidance and reduction programme. That programme must be reported to the competent authority once every five years. The rules are set out in section 5.4.3 of the Environmental Activities (Living Environment) Decree.

Since 14 November 2024 all PFAS have been designated in the Netherlands as substances of very high concern. The minimisation obligation therefore covers this entire group of substances. For companies this means three things: your ZZS inventory must be up to date, your emissions must be mapped, and your reduction programme must be demonstrable. Bear in mind that your permit may be updated on this point.

Enforcement

Supervision usually rests with the regional environmental agency (omgevingsdienst), acting on behalf of the municipality or the province. The competent authority has several instruments at its disposal:

the order subject to a penalty payment, aimed at ending or undoing a breach;
the order subject to administrative enforcement, under which the authority may intervene itself and recover the costs;
withdrawal of the environment and planning permit (omgevingsvergunning);
the administrative fine, in the cases designated by statute.

Criminal enforcement is possible in addition. Breach of a number of provisions is classified as an economic offence under the Economic Offences Act (Wet op de economische delicten). Administrative and criminal proceedings can run alongside each other.

Liability for environmental damage

In the event of an unusual incident (ongewoon voorval) you must inform the competent authority without delay and take measures. That obligation is set out in division 19.1 of the Environment and Planning Act.

For serious cases, title 17.2 of the Environmental Management Act applies as well; it implements the European Environmental Liability Directive. That regime covers damage to protected species and natural habitats, damage to waters, and soil contamination creating a significant risk to health. Designated high-risk activities attract strict liability; other activities attract fault-based liability. The party liable is the operator, that is, the party with actual control over the activity. The costs of prevention and remediation can be recovered from that party.

Civil liability stands apart from this. Local residents or customers can bring a claim in tort under article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. For hazardous substances, article 6:175 of the Dutch Civil Code imposes strict liability on the professional user. A permit does not shield you from that liability.

Frequently asked questions

Is my old environmental permit still valid?
Yes. Under the transitional law, your permit for an establishment under the Environmental Management Act counts as an environment and planning permit for an environmentally harmful activity. The old conditions continue to apply. Some of them now take effect as bespoke conditions (maatwerkvoorschriften), depending on the activities they cover.

Do I still have to file a notification under the Activities Decree?
No. The Activities Decree has been repealed. Depending on your activity, a notification or an information obligation now applies under the Environmental Activities (Living Environment) Decree.

May I claim in my communications that my process is clean?
Only if the claim is accurate, specific and substantiated. See our page on greenwashing and environmental claims.

Contact

Are you dealing with a permit procedure, an inspection visit or an enforcement letter? Our environmental law attorneys assess your position and your deadlines. On permits and the environment plan we work together with our environment and planning lawyer. If you wish to challenge a decision, read first about objecting to an environment and planning permit. Where your environmental performance also features in your CSRD reporting or your wider ESG reporting, we align those accounts. Law & More has offices in Eindhoven and Amsterdam and advises in Dutch and English. Please feel free to contact us.

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Environmental Law for Businesses in the Netherlands