Environment

Environmental protection plays a vital role at ETH – be it in research, in teaching or in daily operations. In this area, ETH distinguishes between operational environmental protection and operational environmental management.

Operational environmental protection includes the implementation of environmental laws, in particular with regard to water protection, air pollution control, and avoidance/disposal of hazardous waste, respectively. Core tasks incorporate industrial/chemical wastewater, process/chemical exhaust air, hazardous waste disposal, storage of hazardous substances, extinguishing water retention, and fright terminal safety. Unlike operational environmental management, operational environmental protection is subject to numerous legal requirements. This means, for instance, that hazardous waste must be minimised, that the quantity of radioactive waste must be kept at a low level, and that no chemicals are to be released into the environment via wastewater or exhaust air.