1. The objective of this Standard is to set out Disclosure Requirements (DRs) related to pollution, particularly with respect to the sub-topics specified in paragraph 6 of this Standard. If not all the sub-topics prescribed by this Standard are to be reported following the materiality assessment, paragraph 30 of ESRS 1 General Requirements applies.

2. The sustainability statement shall provide information in relation to ESRS E2 Pollution if this topic relates to material impacts, risks and opportunities. Such information shall cover all the reporting areas listed in paragraph 5 of ESRS 1 General Requirements.

3. The DRs in this Standard complement the provisions in ESRS 2 General Disclosures, which require the undertaking to disclose information about topics related to material impacts, risks and opportunities, in particular:

4. In this Standard, each DR is introduced by a disclosure objective except for policies, actions and targets, for which the provisions in ESRS 2 GDR-P, GDR-A and GDR-T provide the necessary framing for the relevant DRs.

5. This Standard takes account of EU regulatory frameworks, including: the EU Action Plan 'Towards a Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil'; the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability 'Towards a Toxic-Free Environment'; the Kyiv Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers; the E-PRTR (Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 on the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register) and the IEPR amendments (Regulation (EU) 2024/1244 on the Industrial Emissions Portal); the IED (Directive 2010/75/EU on the Industrial Emissions Directive) and the IED 2.0 amendments (Directive (EU) 2024/1785 on the Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions); the REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) and REACH-SPM amendments (Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 on Synthetic Polymer Microparticles); and the CLP (Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on the Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures).

6. This Standard sets out DRs with respect to the following sub-topics: pollution of air, pollution of water and pollution of soil; microplastics; and substances of concern (SoC), including substances of very high concern (SVHC).

7. Pollution of air, pollution of water, and pollution of soil refer to the undertaking's emissions to air, water and soil, as well as to the prevention, control and reduction of such emissions. Emissions to water include emissions to freshwater and to seawater.

8. DRs on SoC, including SVHC, set disclosure requirements to provide users with an understanding of the related actual impacts or potential impacts, also considering possible restrictions on their production, use, distribution and commercialisation.

9. Context-specific considerations are particularly important in relation to pollution. If material impacts, risks or opportunities are related to specific geographies, it is important to consider appropriate aggregation or disaggregation of the reported information, e.g. by site, area with water stress or other level in accordance with ESRS 1 General Requirements, Chapter 3.3.2 Level of Aggregation, Disaggregation.