The Potteries Response On Maintenance Of The Environment (PROMOTE) LIFE PROJECT is Portmeirion Potteries response to the European Union's policy of contributing to the development of innovative and integrated techniques and methods that protect the environment. The project has been made possible by the provision of a grant from LIFE , which is the European Union's Financial Instrument for the Environment. Without this support the project and its subsequent improvement of the environment would not have happened.

The general objective of LIFE is to contribute to the implementation, updating and development of the European Union's environmental policy and of environmental legislation, in particular regarding the integration of the environment into other policies, and to sustainable development (in its three environmental, economic and social dimensions) in the Community.

For more information on the European environmental policy and on other Community programmes please refer to the EUROPA Web-site at the following address's: http://www.europa.eu.int/ (Home Page)

http://europa.eu.int/comm/life/envir/index.htm (LIFE Environment Homepage.)

http://europa.eu.int/comm/life/whatis.htm (What is LIFE)

LIFE provides financial support from the European Union for three major areas of action: Nature, Environment and Third Countries. While all three areas aim to improve the environment, each has its specific priorities.

LIFE-Nature relates to actions aimed at the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora of EU interest.

LIFE-Environment relates to innovative demonstration actions for economic activities and local authorities as well as preparatory actions to support community legislation and policies.

LIFE-Third Countries relates to technical assistance to third countries bordering the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas.

Portmeirion Potteries' PROMOTE LIFE Project lies in the LIFE-Environment category.

All LIFE-Environment projects must further at least one of the following objectives:

	Land use development and planning: integrate considerations on the environment and on sustainable development in land-use development and planning, including urban and coastal areas.
	Water management: promote the sustainable management of groundwater and surface water.
	Impacts of economic activities: minimise the environmental impacts of economic activities, notably through the development of clean technologies and by placing the emphasis on prevention, including the reduction of emission of gases having a greenhouse effect.
	Waste management: prevent, reuse, recover and recycle waste of all kind and ensure the sound management of waste streams.
	Integrated production policy: reduce the environmental impact of products through an integrated approach to production, distribution, consumption and handling at the end of their life-time, including the development of environmentally products.

The original PROMOTE LIFE proposal was to build a working factory of the millennium, incorporating a Visitor Centre, on a derelict site, of about 1.3 hectares, adjacent to one of its current factories on London Road, Stoke-on-Trent. This site contains a grade 2 listed building and bottle ovens built by the former Goss Pottery Company (1887-1938) The new factory was to have been completely environmentally friendly and would have addressed the environmental issues caused by the ceramic tableware industry.

The plan was to incorporate many of the environmentally friendly projects into the existing factory before construction of the new factory took place. This gave the ideal opportunity for these projects to be evaluated before construction of the new facility commenced. However, following a major review of the Visitor Centre project by independent specialist consultants, the Portmeirion Board of Directors decided to invest in its core business, rather than develop the tourism sector. As a result Portmeirion Potteries has concentrated all its efforts into continuing the environmental revitalisation of the existing factory.

The team is committed to meeting the objectives of the PROMOTE LIFE project within this revised framework, namely "to utilise all known techniques, many as yet unproven, in a working ceramics factory to demonstrate that tackling environmental issues actually saves, not increases costs."