Are we moving in the right direction?

The positive trend of reduction in releases of hazardous substances continues. This suggests that hazardous substances are being replaced with less hazardous ones. This development is in line with the national goal.

The trend for the different groups of substances varies. The most obvious reduction has been the decline in releases of substances that are harmful to health. In particular, since 2007 there has been a significant reduction in releases of chronic toxic substances. Releases of substances that are harmful to the environment have been reduced since 2005, but the reductions seem to have "stagnated" over the past two years.

Some releases are difficult to stop. These include releases from fuel. Because of the large uncertainties associated with the data, fuel has been taken out of the statistics. Nevertheless, we will work to reduce releases from such sources.