Many companies require an environmental permit. This describes the standards with which the activities of the company must comply.

Martin Mathys pursues sustainable values and therefore resolutely draws the card of the future. In order to meet the standards of today and tomorrow, we as a company want to renew our environmental permit and continue our current activities with broad support.

As an honest, sustainable company, Martin Mathys considers it important to be able to continue doing business with solid support. That is why we communicate openly about this. In this way we continue to build a relationship of trust and we can continue to create economic and social added value in the future.

Our current licence expires in 2025. Since we - like many companies - need an environmental licence, we are now applying to renew this document for the future.

This creates a sustainable support base to continue our operations and continue making economic added value.

It is important to remember that nothing actually changes in practice. Admittedly, with a renewed environmental licence, we ensure the application of the latest developments and compliance with current laws and regulations.

1. Compliance with laws and regulations
Therefore, we are planning some improvements on our site to comply with applicable obligations. For instance, we will partly soften the car park, provide parking spaces for less-able visitors and plant additional trees and plants.
We are also building some new canopies for rainwater recirculation. The current existing container changing rooms will be replaced with sustainable ones. In addition, we will install an extra fence around the premises.
Moreover, the new application no longer includes conditions for the discharge of waste and cooling water. We currently have our waste water processed externally and our cooling water flows in a closed circuit. This means we operate differently than before and this is also reflected in the permit application.

2. Innovating of our production
Renewing our environmental licence therefore allows us to comply with the most up-to-date legal provisions. In addition, it also allows us to continuously optimise our production and meticulously innovate our processes.
We also take this into account in the renewed environmental permit application. This includes an administrative expansion of the installed motive power. Does this mean we will actually expand?
Certainly not. However, it is necessary to ensure we maintain the quality of our production. After all, this is done in batches. That means we work step by step, in specific production lines. Each linehas its own assigned steps. For instance, there are separate lines for pre-mixing, dispersion, grinding, finishing and filling.
The most important factor to remember is that these production processes are not continuous.
You can read more about it in the answer to the question Martin Mathys has an extensive and varied machine park. An increase in production is not insurmountable, especially for a company that wants to make a profit. However?

3. Ensuring safety
Lastly, the permit application describes how we create a safety cushion between the business activities and the residential environment in which we have been operating for almost two centuries. How we do this, you will find out, among other things, in the answer to the question How does Martin Mathys ensure that guarantees equivalent to the 50 meter rule are offered?

The road from application to renewed permit roughly consists of 3 phases:
1. Phase 1: Recognition of our current operation
Martin Mathys will remain active in the future on the basis of the operation that is possible today. To confirm this situation, we submit an application to the Flemish Government. This will happen at the end of April 2023. The outcome will be known after 150 days. In the meantime, we will also discuss this with the local residents.

2. Phase 2: application for the actual environmental permit
Once the current situation has been confirmed, we will submit the application for the renewed environmental permit. We will do this between September and December 2023.

3. Phase 3: decision on the new environmental permit
There is a maximum of 120 days between application and decision. During this period we naturally involve the people who live and live around the company again. This way we can continue for the future with sustainable support.

There is approximately 1 year between the application for recognition of our current operation and the decision on the new environmental permit. We will start in April 2023. From then on we will communicate clearly about the procedure. In this way we continue to build a stable basis of trust for the future.

Your trust is essential to Martin Mathys. As a company, we are locally anchored in the village and region in which we do business. That is why we continue to build a lasting relationship. Clear communication is important in this.

You will therefore find regular updates on this webpage. We will also keep local residents and residents of Zelem informed at the appropriate time. This is done, among other things, via WhatsApp and Facebook groups. We are happy to take the time to answer all questions.

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We also organize an information moment for local residents at the start of the procedure. At the same time, we are also happy to take the time to speak to you personally. So feel free to contact us for an information moment by appointment.

The application for the renewal of our environmental licence has now been submitted. There are a maximum of 180 days between application and decision. During that time, the public enquiry also takes place. This has now started and takes a total of 30 days.

We will inform everyone in Zelem about the permit application through a newsletter that will arrive in every letterbox.

In addition, we are planning some personal information moments on Thursday 28 March between 10am and 8pm.
You can register for these via https://martinmathys.eu/

We will also publish regular updates on further progress via this webpage.
 

It is important to remember that Martin Mathys wants to continue working in confidence. Expansion is not an issue at all. At the same time, the distance between the commercial buildings and the residential zone is less than the prescribed 50 metres.

That's the way it is now: we shouldn't be silly about that. The first step towards a permit is therefore an application to deviate from the 50 meter rule.

The 50 meter rule was created to create a certain buffer between business activities and the living environment.

Martin Mathys has been doing business for decades as a paint producer in an industrial zone surrounded by a residential area. With a renewed environmental permit, we retain our local roots as an economic stronghold.

As a future-oriented company, we also take our responsibility for this. For example, our actions to avoid nuisance offer the same certainty as the 50-metre rule. This has just been confirmed by independent odour, noise and safety studies.

Martin Mathys is proud to be part of the village in which it operates. We want to do business responsibly in confidence for Zelem, Halen and the region. Safety and caution are paramount here. This is also the conclusion of independent odor, noise and safety studies by external experts. What do the results say?

• Martin Mathys complies with the applicable noise standards. And we will continue to do that. That is why we monitor the noise level of our fans several times a year in collaboration with an external expert. In addition, we always have the necessary spare parts in-house to quickly resolve any defects in installations.
• Based on measurements taken at several moments during production, experts did not detect any paint odors outside the company premises. At the same time, we carry out new analyzes every two months. If necessary, we immediately replace our filters to exclude any risks. This is how we closely monitor everything.
• We impose strict safety requirements on ourselves. Although we are not or will not be a seveso company, we do strive for the same strict safety criteria. Incidentally, an independent investigation confirmed that we already comply with these regulations. In addition, collection and buffer facilities, together with an internal sewerage system, ensure that no products or substances end up in the environment.

Safety comes first. Although we are not or will not be a seveso company, an independent investigation confirmed that we still comply with these regulations.

As a future-oriented company, we therefore take our social responsibility. We take the necessary measures to prevent products or substances from ending up in the environment.

In the actual renewal application that will be submitted in the autumn, we also provide for reducing the amount of stored products that may entail risks. That is not required by law. And at the same time, we think it is important to continue working in confidence in the industrial zone surrounded by residential areas in which we have been doing business for decades. This is how we lay the foundation of a sustainable, constructive relationship. We take our responsibility for that.

• In reality, expansion is not an issue in the permit procedure.
• What the renewal of the environmental permit is really about is the continuation of the current activities of Martin Mathys as a producer of high quality paints for more than 1000 distribution, wholesale and retail partners. This makes us a strongholder, creating economic and social added value for Zelem, Halen and the region.

• Most importantly, Martin Mathys works to high standards. We produce high quality paints. And for that it is necessary to have advanced machines that are capable of the best performance. This equipment theoretically has a large production capacity. In practice, it never happens that all installations run simultaneously: that is practically impossible, and our actual consumption also shows this.
• In addition, we take all kinds of actions to reduce nuisance.
o It is important to remember that Martin Mathys complies with the applicable noise standards and that we monitor the noise level of our fans several times a year in collaboration with an external expert.
o Another good thing to know in this context is that experts have not observed any paint odors outside the company premises. At the same time, we carry out new analyzes every two months.
o It should also be emphasized that an independent investigation confirmed that we already meet the same strict safety requirements as seveso companies, while we are not and will not be.
• This allows us to carefully maintain our current production activities.

• We are a paint manufacturer. And a paint manufacturer simply needs specific products to manufacture such paints.
• At the same time, we ensure that no products or substances end up in the environment.
• In addition, we impose strict safety requirements on ourselves. Because although we are not or will not be a seveso company, an independent investigation confirmed that we still comply with these regulations.
• In the actual renewal application that will be submitted in the autumn, we also plan to reduce the amount of stored products that may entail risks. This will be included in the renewal application, although it is not required by law. At the same time, we believe it is important to offer certainty and to continue working in confidence.

The Flemish Government granted our request and confirmed that the equivalent measures we undertake to reduce nuisance offer the same guarantees as the 50-metre rule. Independent odour, noise and safety studies previously pointed in that direction.

For the full overview, be sure to take a look at the answer to the question: As part of the derogation and permit application, Martin Mathys wants to evaluate its operation. To this end, the company commissioned independent studies. What are the results of these studies?

Based on this decision, we are further preparing the application for the renewal of our single permit.

We are aiming for submission by the end of this year. The decision is scheduled for spring 2024. After this, we can continue working in confidence and continue to create social and economic added value for Zelem, Halen and the region.

Martin Mathys is intertwined with the past, present and future of Zelem, Halen and the entire region. This also entails responsibilities, which we as a company are happy to take on.
 
• As a sustainably growing company, we have an economic impact of xx euros. This is also thanks to the constructive collaborations with xx distribution, wholesale and retail partners and xx suppliers. Their operation is inextricably linked to that of our company.
• This also applies to our 190 employees. They keep our engine – as one of the largest and oldest companies in the region – running. Incidentally, about 70% of these people live in the vicinity – about 30 in Zelem itself. We are also concerned about their future. The conclusion that Martin Mathys employs a remarkable number of employees from the same family is therefore a nice boost for us. Thanks to their efforts, we can continue to work at the highest quality standards. We are happy to take our responsibility for them.
• We also take on this responsibility for Zelem and the environment in which Martin Mathys operates. We are therefore happy to give oxygen to local club life. We support about xx initiatives for this. Yours too?
• Zelem is the home port of Martin Mathys. We therefore do what is necessary to maintain a constructive relationship with the municipality and its residents. We therefore commissioned a series of independent studies. In this way we assure ourselves of support to continue to work certified. The results of a noise, odor and safety study point in that direction. We can also take targeted actions based on this.
• In addition, we naturally also focus on the world. We therefore make various efforts for the climate. For example, we are making significant savings on water, we are focusing on circular production and we are shifting up a gear in terms of environmentally friendly mobility. Do you see our employees driving into the business park? Then there is a good chance that this is in an electric car.

The installation of the filling line for paint spray cans at Martin Mathys in Zelem is definitely off the track. Find out why we can continue to operate based on today's capacity.

Martin Mathys continues to carefully continue production activities. Expansion of this is not at all an issue.

Will a renewed environmental permit change anything about the current operation of Martin Mathys in Zelem?

In fact nothing changes. This is a renewal of our existing environmental permit. The permit procedure does ensure that our operation is thoroughly re-evaluated.

In fact nothing changes. This is a renewal of our existing environmental permit. The permit procedure does ensure that our operation is thoroughly re-evaluated.