Building an app for on-site ZZS and PFAS registration
Since November 2024, all PFAS in the Netherlands have been on the list of substances of very high concern. For many businesses, that meant materials that had been routine for years suddenly fell under a regime with a reporting obligation and a reduction requirement. And that requirement rests on records that can only be made on site.
What is expected of you
For activities requiring a permit, there is a reporting obligation. You must inform the competent authority at least once every five years about your current emissions of substances of very high concern, and about the options and techniques for minimising them further. That latter part is the avoidance and reduction programme: not a snapshot, but an account of what you have done and considered over those five years.
You submit the emission data yourself to the SZS emissions database, after which the competent authority checks and approves it. That makes the quality of your own records the foundation. Anyone who lets the five years run out and only then starts gathering data submits estimates they cannot substantiate, and that is precisely what stands out in an assessment.
The PFAS extension made this urgent. Where it used to concern a manageable list of substances, it now also covers coatings, extinguishing agents, seals and packaging materials that nobody had questioned. The first question is then not how much is released, but where it is in the first place, and the people on the shop floor know that better than the administration does.
Recording on location is half the work. The inventory that tracks the RIVM list and the five-yearly submission are covered on the page about software for the SZS inventory and submission.
How we build this
Recording must happen where the substance is used or released. Anything reconstructed in the office becomes an estimate.
Which substances, in which products, at which point in the process. For PFAS this is the real work, and it starts with safety data sheets and with the people who know the process.
A code at the point opens the correct record. Without fixed points, measurements cannot be compared across years.
Value, time, place and conditions in one step. A measurement without context is useless when the question is about a trend.
Not a collection round in year five, but a series that grows over time. That is also what underpins the reduction plan.
What the app does in practice
The record at the point carries the whole. What else you include depends on how many substances and points you have.
Opening the emission point by scanning
A code at the point opens the correct record with its history. That makes measurements comparable across years rather than isolated.
Measurement with its conditions
Value, time, flow rate and operating conditions. A number without context is worthless when assessing a trend.
Use of substances by location
Which substance, in which product, where applied and how much. For PFAS this is often the hardest part and at the same time the starting point for everything.
Visual record of samples and findings
A sampling point, a leak, a storage location. A photo with a timestamp makes a record verifiable rather than disputable.
Works on site
Outdoors and inside installations, coverage drops out. Everything is recorded locally and synchronised later, preserving the original timestamp.
The five-year series
Measurements build up into a series that carries your reporting. Anyone starting in year five ends up with estimates rather than data.
Who we build for
Where the substances sit varies a great deal from company to company. Four situations.
Chemicals and process industry
Known emission points and existing measurement practice. The gain here lies in replacing loose measurement forms with a single series, alongside your substance inventory. See also chemical industry software.
Metal, coating and surface treatment
This is where the PFAS extension hit hardest: substances that were routinely used for years now fall within the regime. The first question is where they are.
Storage and transshipment
Less process in-house, more products from third parties. Your information then depends on what your supplier delivers, and you want to record that on receipt, through integrations with your procurement system.
Advisers and measurement agencies
You carry out measurements for several clients. A single registration per client saves rebuilding a series each time. See also the inspection app.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
The substance list grows and the reporting format changes. Everything relating to substances, points and reporting fields should be configurable and not hard-coded into the app.
Why Appfront
A fixed point makes a series
We code the emission points. Without fixed points, measurements taken five years apart cannot be compared and the series supports no conclusion.
Five years is a series, not a round
We build the registration as an ongoing series. A collection round in year five produces estimates you cannot substantiate.
Know where it is first
With PFAS, the inventory is the real work. We build that record around the location and the people who know the process.
We do not determine your obligation
Whether and how you fall under the information obligation is a question for your environmental adviser and the competent authority. We build the registration that such accountability rests on.
Security and privacy
A ZZS registration records where which substances are held on your site and what is released. That information touches on your formulation and your environmental position, and you will not want to share it more widely than necessary. We set access by role and by location, give an external measurement agency only its own scope, and log every inspection.
For this subject, the reliability of the series is the whole point. A measurement that can be altered after the fact makes the trend worthless, and that trend is precisely what supports your reduction programme. We record measurements and samples as unalterable, with time, place and person, including when synchronisation takes place later, and make any correction a visible correction alongside the original value. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside come in through our CVD policy.
Frequently asked questions about ZZS and PFAS registration
That abbreviation is not a designation used in this regulation, so we do not use it in substance. The obligations concerned are called the information obligation for substances of very high concern, the avoidance and reduction programme, and the ZZS emission database. If you mean a different obligation, please let us know before you commission anything.
For activities requiring a permit, you must inform the competent authority at least once every five years about your current ZZS emissions and about the options for reducing them further. You submit the emissions data to the ZZS emissions database, after which the competent authority reviews it. Check the exact frequency and format for your own situation with your environmental service.
Since November 2024, all PFAS have been on the list of substances of very high concern in the Netherlands. This means materials that previously fell outside the scope are now covered by the regime: coatings, extinguishing agents, seals and packaging materials. For many businesses, the challenge began with simply working out where these substances are actually present.
Because the data is created on the shop floor. Measurements, samples and the use of substances are recorded at the installation, not at a desk. A reporting package cannot produce a time series from records that don't exist; it can only summarise them.
An accountability report, once every five years, on your current emissions and on what is technically feasible to reduce them further. It is explicitly an evaluation point: not only what is released, but also which alternatives you have considered and why you did or did not opt for a more far-reaching measure.
Yes. Emission points are located outdoors, on roofs and in installations where coverage is lost. Everything is recorded locally and synchronised later, with the original time preserved. The latter matters because the conditions at the time of measurement form part of the measurement itself.
Yes. We give a measurement agency access to its own points and period, so that its measurements land in the same series as your own records. This prevents you from having to merge two sources at the end that use different units and points.
That depends on the number of substances and emission points, whether you already have a measuring practice, and whether integrations with laboratory or environmental systems are needed. Recording at the point of emission is usually quick to put to use and starts building the series straight away; integrations cost more. We'll give you a reasoned estimate after the discovery phase.
Knowing whether your series will be worth something in five years?
Ask for the emission measurements from three years ago for one point and check whether the conditions are recorded alongside them. Without that context there is no trend, and so no sound reduction programme. We build this as a standalone app and as part of a wider app building project.