Introducing EMAS

EMAS - the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, is a voluntary initiative designed to improve companies’ environmental performance. It was initially established by European Regulation 1836/93, although this has been replaced by Council Regulation 761/01.

Its aim is to recognise and reward those organisations that go beyond minimum legal compliance and continuously improve their environmental performance. In addition, it is a requirement of the scheme that participating organisations regularly produce a public environmental statement that reports on their environmental performance. It is this voluntary publication of environmental information, whose accuracy and reliability has been independently checked by an environmental verifier, that gives EMAS and those organisations that participate enhanced credibility and recognition.

Environmental management has become a core business issue for many organisations. Minimising the amount of waste that is produced, reducing energy consumption and making more efficient use of resources can all lead to financial cost savings, in addition to helping to protect and enhance the environment. EMAS is strongly backed by Government and the environmental regulators - organisations who participate are recognised as making strong commitments to the environment and to improving their economic competitiveness.

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/emas

The following link will access the EMAS toolkit for Small and Medium sized businesses (SMEs)

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/emas/toolkit/