Table of Contents
Abstract
Revising the EMAS Regulation offered an opportunity and a challenge. The challenge was to maintain the elements of the existing scheme which give EMAS, and those who participate, credibility whilst at the same time provide greater opportunity for more organisations to become involved and create greater flexibility in the way in which environmental information can be communicated. The revised regulation succeeds on both counts.
The long winded revision to the EC Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is finally at an end, following agreement on the text of the revised Regulation by the European Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Publication of the Regulation in the European Commission’s Official Journal is expected in February, after which it will need to be implemented in each Member State. The UK expects to implement the scheme in March 2001.
EMAS has been opened up for all types of organisation to participate. The revised scheme incorporates ISO 14001 as the management system; no longer will EMAS and ISO 14001 be seen as competing. EMAS is the logical next step for those organisations with ISO 14001 who want credibility and recognition. In addition, there will be no limitations on the types of organisation that can become involved as the scheme’s boundaries are being widened from industrial companies to those from any economic sector. This means that the UK’s Local Authority adaptation – LA EMAS and the Distribution Sector scheme will be transferred to the new EMAS and any new sectors, such as tourism, waste management or financial services, will be able to apply directly.
Public reporting of environmental performance sends out a clear message – you’re proud of what you’re doing and are happy to demonstrate this and involve anyone who’s interested. It isn’t just a public relations exercise, the right information targeted at the right interest groups can be a tool for developing positive partnerships, particularly when the information that is reported is backed by truly independent validation. The existing scheme required one environmental statement to meet the needs of all interested parties. In practice, the main beneficiaries have been students. Greater flexibility has been introduced into the scheme to allow different bodies of information, badged with the EMS logo, to be targeted at different stakeholder groups. No longer will organisations be bound by ‘one report will have to suit all’ – separate reports extracted from a body of validated information can be targeted at regulators, financial institutions, shareholders, suppliers, customers and neighbours. Dialogue with stakeholders before writing the statement will help to ensure a more responsive audience. In addition, statements and reports can be produced in electronic format (e.g. web pages or CD ROM) removing the need to have expensive glossy publications (although paper copies must be made available to those who have no other means of getting the information). Validation of changes to the environmental statement will need to be undertaken on an annual basis, except in exceptional circumstances for small organisations.
One of the most innovative aspects of the revised scheme is how participants are able to use the revised EMAS logo. The cumbersome statement of participation has been removed, instead the logo can be used to show that the organisation is registered, or that information about the organisation (or its products, services or activities) has been validated. It is the opportunity to use the logo with validated information that is potentially the most innovative, especially to validate ‘green claims’. It also helps to bridge the information gap between the circumstances under which a product is manufactured or a service is delivered (i.e. within the context of an environmental management system); and the environmental characteristics of the product, service or activity (e.g. a waterless press is used for printing; a paper mill uses 90% recycled pulp).
The logo will be able to be used on vehicle fleets, organisation web sites and company reports. In addition, it will also be able to be used on adverts for the organisation, or for its products / services, provided that the information that the logo is used with has been validated as being reliable, credible and relevant. The logo will not be able to be used directly on products for fear of being confused with the European Eco-Label – which confirms that the product has superior environmental credentials from other similar product types (rather than EMAS which will give a seal of reliability on the information that is presented).
The revision creates an opportunity for corporate EMAS registration for multi-site organisations under one certificate. This again ties EMAS more closely to ISO 14001 in terms of the ‘entity’ that can be registered. However, multi-site organisations will need to demonstrate to the verifier that the regulation’s requirements are being met at all of their ‘sites’ and that the systems and procedures for aggregating and collating data for the corporate environmental statement are sound, reliable and effective. In addition, data for significant environmental impacts at each site will need to be clearly identified in the environmental statement.
Central to EMAS is the focus on environmental performance improvement from those who participate. This focus has been maintained in the new Regulation. Participants must give a commitment to continual environmental performance improvement and, through the environmental statement, report on their results. The scheme recognises that improvement may not occur across all the organisation’s sphere of activity simultaneously, but that the environmental improvement programme should be targeted at it’s most significant environmental aspects. Environmental audits are also required to address the organisation’s environmental performance, not simply whether the right documented procedures are in place.
One of the key tasks in the registration process for EMAS is the check made by the Competent Body with the environmental regulators on legal compliance. This feature is maintained to ensure that, if there are problems of legal compliance, the regulators have an input into whether the organisation’s registration should be refused, suspended or accepted. The EMAS guidance note on breaches is currently being reviewed and is likely to be more closely aligned with the Environment Agency’s enforcement and prosecution policy. Prosecution by the regulator does not necessarily result in suspension from the EMAS register, it will depend on the circumstances of a breach and the way in which the organisation reacts to such a situation.
The role of the regulators in EMAS gives added credibility to registered sites over organisations with ISO 14001 certification. The recent feasibility study by the Environment Agency on a coupled approach to Environmental Management Systems and Regulation (EMSR) has initially proposed that EMAS registration will form one of the entry criteria for being able to participate in the scheme. It remains to be seen whether EMSR comes to fruition and if so, the extent to which EMAS will feature. However, by setting its initial sights on EMAS the Agency is sending a clear signal of its preference when it comes to formal environmental management systems.
As a voluntary instrument, EMAS has to prove attractive to organisations if it is to succeed. There needs to be sufficient incentive for companies to make the step up from ISO 14001 and publish environmental performance information. Early indications are that the disclosure of information will form one of the outputs from the company law review and that the reporting part of EMAS will fulfil this obligation. This is backed up by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, which continues to press companies to report on their environmental performance. The new initiative to allow the EMAS logo to be used with validated information about the products more than meets the DETR’s Code of Practice on Green Claims, and provides the added credibility of having an independent 3rd party validate the information that is published.
Much has been made over recent years of pushing environmental management down the supply chain, often through supplier questionnaires enquiring whether there is an EMS in place, or whether the organisation has an environmental policy. But having an EMS in place tells you nothing about the environmental characteristics of products that are being purchased. EMAS offers the opportunity to provide such information, complete with the logo as a ‘seal’ that confirms its validity. The opportunity is there for more meaningful information to be passed along the supply chain.
New information on how to participate in the revised EMAS scheme is being developed and will be published on the EMAS web site www.emas.org.uk The site will offer tips on implementation, how to use the new logo, together with a register of all those organisations that are registered (including links to environmental statements where these are on-line). The intention is that the web site will be the main source of information about the scheme and how to apply.