Glossary and abbreviations

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EBIT - Earnings Before Interest and Tax: EBIT, an intermediate management figure in a company’s statement of income, is the operating income before restructuring costs and amortization of goodwill.
Eco-design: Eco-design involves taking environmental protection into account in the design of goods and services. It makes it possible to release onto the market products that are more environmentally friendly throughout their entire lifecycle, that is, from the extraction of raw materials through to the waste generated by their manufacture, use and disposal.
Ecosystem: A complex dynamic comprising an environment, plants, animals and microorganisms which, through their interaction, form a whole.
Effluent: Usually refers to household and municipal wastewater (effluent is the infeed at treatment plants) and, by extension, wastewater from industrial processes as well.
Emission credit trading system: The Kyoto Protocol introduced a mechanism by which Signatories who undertook to limit their emissions can take part in an emission credit trading system with the other Signatories. This system aims to provide greater flexibility and ensure improved economic returns for developed countries under a legal obligation to reduce their emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.
EMS Environmental Management System: A system enabling an organization to implement its environmental policy and achieve the associated objectives for controlling any significant environmental impact of its activities and compliance with regulatory requirements.
End-of-life vehicle (ELV): Vehicles of no further use
Energy recovery from waste: Recovery of the energy contained in waste. The calories are recovered from the waste when it is burned. The resultant energy is used to generate electricity and/or produce heat and/or steam. It is used, for example, to heat buildings. Because of its energy potential, biogas is also used to produce heat or steam, generate electricity, for cogeneration (electricity and heat), as vehicle fuel, electric energy and to supply reticulated gas networks.
EPE: French acronym for “Entreprises Pour l'Environnement” meaning Environmental Industries.
Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Program.): Established in 1997, this independent international association provides consumers with a safety performance assessment for the majority of the most popular cars in Europe. Thanks to its severe automobile crash tests, Euro NCAP has rapidly become the driver of major safety improvements to new cars.
European Trade Scheme: European emission credits trading system.
Eutrophication: Enrichment of watercourses and bodies of water in nutrients, mainly phosphorus and nitrogen, that acts as a fertilizer for aquatic plants. It is visible in the excessive proliferation of plants, which breathe at night and then decompose as they die resulting in a notable decrease in the water’s oxygen content. The effects include a drop in animal and plant diversity and disruptions to ongoing use (drinking water and leisure activities). (Source: www.ecologie.gouv.fr.)