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Promotion of EMAS, EMAS logo, regulatory relief, Competent Bodies, Accreditation Bodies, Verifiers
16/11/05
Greece promotes EMAS to Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs)
The new promotion campaign launched by the Greek government to earn EMAS a stronger place among Greek SMEs, has lead to the registration of 11 new SMEs, ranging from 6 to 200 employees.
The SMEs registered in July and August are:
- ANASTASSIOS FANIS S.A., (manufacture of primary plastics)
- Copper - S.&A. Digaletos (aluminium and copper engineering)
- TSIMIS S.A. (printing)
- VARANGIS AVEPE S.A. (manufacture of furniture)
More information about EMAS in Greece and funding related to the implementation of EMAS are available here.
16/11/05
ÉMI-TÜV BAYERN Minőségügyi és Biztonságtechnikai Kft. and Csaba Bodroghelyi completed accreditation as the first Hungarian verifiers
Hungarian organisations will find EMAS registration an easier process, since two EMAS verifiers have completed the procedures for accreditation with the Hungarian Accreditation Board.
ÉMI-TÜV BAYERN in Szentendre, just a few kilometres north of Budapest, and Csaba Bodroghelyi have undergone training, office and witness audits and have proven capacities for auditing a wide variety of economic activities, including most of the service sectors.
For more information on the Hungarian EMAS verifiers, contact Katalin Moravcsikné (ÉMI-TÜV BAYERN) and Csaba Bodroghelyi. A list of the economic activities in which the verifiers are trained to operate is available here.
13/09/05
EMAS organisations raise the flag
This idea from the Berlin Chamber of Commerce aims to raise the visibility of EMAS all over Germany. Entrepreneurs registered with EMAS are now also able to "raise the flag": a flag with the EMAS logo and the company’s logo outside the organisation’s headquarters. The Chamber of Commerce has offered to coordinate the printing.
Given that there are already about 100 participants, the price
for a flag of 1.40 m x 4.00 m has fallen to 90 €, with an
additional 25-45 € for adding the logo of the enterprise. Jürgen Richter |
 |
15/07/05
More than a million people working under EMAS in Germany
It was recently found that more than one million employees work in EMAS registered organisations in Germany, approximately 2.5% of the total work force.
A statement from the German Environmental Verification Committee (UGA) explains that there are more people working under EMAS-managed work surroundings than previously expected. This is due to the continuously growing number of sites per company registered under EMAS (average 1.3 sites per organisation). This indicator is much higher than expected and demonstrates the important role of the environment in everyday working life in German industry and service sectors.
More information is available from Thomas Kiel at the Environmental Verification Committee (UGA).
17/06/05
Social Enterprise Partnership Quality & Impact Toolkit ranks EMAS as a useful tool
The UK consultancy ‘nef’ - the new economics foundation
- has included a summary of the EMAS regulation in the Social
Enterprise Partnership Quality & Impact Toolkit, provisionally
entitled “Proving and Improving: A Quality & Impact toolkit
for social enterprise”.
The purpose of the toolkit is to help social enterprises and other organisations
in the social economy to decide which tools to choose to improve their performance,
demonstrate their effects or provide accountability to their stakeholders.
The toolkit flags up some of the benefits and limitations of the tool, e.g.
what benefits it is likely to bring and what is not within the tool's scope,
so that readers will be able to focus their time most effectively on the tools
that are likely to meet their needs.
More information about the Social Enterprise Partnership Quality & Impact
Toolkit is available from Lisa
Sanfilippo from Social Enterprise Partnership. You can also visit http://www.proveandimprove.org
17/06/05
Green light for Hungarian EMAS road show
The Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) has now reached the final
stage of a Phare Twinning Light Project for implementation of the EMAS
regulation in Hungary. This includes training of the EMAS institutions,
verifiers and consultants as well as a promotional tour for SMEs.
The aim of the road show is to give information about the benefits of EMAS
and practical advice for implementation. The target group consists of entrepreneurs,
engineers and any other staff, especially from SMEs, interested in environmental
management. The training is based on many years of Danish experience, which
provides the backbone for the seminars and provides valuable input into the
current state of EMAS implementation in Hungary.
The programme for the tour was designed by experts from the Danish Environmental
Protection Agency in co-operation with the Hungarian Ministry of Environment
and Water.
The seminars will cover the capital Budapest and the industrial centres of
Miskolc, Szeged, Pécs, Gyor in the week of 20 – 24 June. The seminars
will cover the following topics:
• EMAS in Hungary
• The principles of environmental management
• What is EMAS?
• Why EMAS? The benefits
• The relationship EMS, ISO 14001 and EMAS
• From zero to EMS
• From EMS to EMAS
For venues and dates of the seminars see the event
page.
17/06/05
Series on EMAS implementing bodies: Competent Body
“Corporate groups highly appreciate the legal compliance and cost effectiveness of EMAS“, says Dr. Hermann Hüwels, current Chairman of the Competent Bodies. The Competent Bodies keep the register of EMAS organisations in each Member State, but their role within the EMAS scheme goes further than that.
The independent and neutral Competent Bodies of each Member State ensure that the EMAS scheme is applied in a consistent manner. By keeping the register of EMAS organisations the Competent Bodies keep track of EMAS development in their country. They meet once a year in Brussels to discuss their views on recent trends. Moreover, they exchange best practices on how to foster the EMAS scheme further. Thus, the Competent Bodies ensure the consistency of procedures relating to the registration of organisations.
Germany has the highest number of EMAS organisations (about 1,600 organisations out of 3,100 organisations registered within the entire scheme). Almost one million employees work in EMAS organisations in Germany which corresponds to more than 2.5 % of the entire working population.
Dr. Hüwels of the DIHK*, the German Competent Body, explains some reasons for the attractiveness of EMAS with German organisations: “About 10 to 15 new organisations join the scheme each month, not only because they receive special funding schemes from the German “Länder” especially for the service sectors, but also because they deem the scheme viable in itself. In particular, large corporations with several sites have compared EMAS with other environmental management schemes available. In most cases, they concluded that EMAS is the best system available for two reasons: the safeguarding of legal compliance and the cost-effectiveness of the scheme.”
Dr. Michael Schemmer, chairman of the Environmental Verification Committee in Germany** and Health, Safety and Environment manager of Bombardier Transportation, also refers to the reliable control of legal compliance: “When it comes to internal or external compliance audits, EMAS registered sites demonstrate far better adherence to legal obligations than sites registered under any other environmental management scheme. This indicates that such separate legal compliance audits would not be necessary in the case of EMAS registered organisations.”
“As to the cost-effectiveness EMAS, one must know that in Germany, due to the different approach to quality assurance there is no minimum time requirement for auditors when auditing the EMS of an EMAS organisation”, explains Hüwels. Other environmental management schemes, such as ISO 14001, set out a minimum time to audit a company, which relates to the company’s size, the number of employees and the expected environmental aspects***. Furthermore, there is no requirement under EMAS for verifiers to come in pairs as under other EMS systems. Therefore EMAS verifiers spend only the actual time necessary on the ground and consequently the bill is lower.
*More information on the DIHK (Deutscher Industrie- und
Handelskammertag, Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce),
is available here. You can search the
German EMAS register on-line on www.emas-register.de.
** Umweltgutachterausschuss (UGA). Please read more on the UGA here.
*** The minimum requirements are laid down in the Guidance 66 of the IAF (International
Accreditation Forum) available for download here.
Please note that this Guidance is not applicable to EMAS in Germany as well
as in Austria and Italy.
17/05/05
Why Italian EMAS grows –four reasons
The president of the EMAS –Ecolabel Committee, Mr. Pino Lucchesi, attributes the current success of EMAS in Italy to four different parameters: Firstly, the initiative of Italian regions to take it onboard, notably Emiglia-Romana and Tuscany.
Secondly, a major promotional impact for EMAS can be expected from the registration of industrial districts, the registration of TOROC, the organising Committee of the Winter Olympic Games 2006, and the Port Authorities of Livorno (www.emaspoli.it).
Thirdly, the current research projects which favour the registration of larger homogenous industrial districts are expected to make it easier for individual companies, present in the industrial area, to participate in the EMAS implementation process.
Last, but not least, the stimulation of the service sectors –including banks and financial services –will bring together political, administrative and industrial forces, when it comes to promoting the benefits of EMAS.
The full article is available in Italian here.
15/04/05
„EMAS protects the environment and saves money“, says German Minister of Environment, Jürgen Trittin
The EU-Nachrichten, the newspaper of the Permanent Representation of the EC in Germany, interviewed the German Minster of the Environment, Mr. Jürgen Trittin, about his appraisal of 10 years of EMAS.
EU-N: How do you assess the development of EMAS?
Trittin: EMAS is a success. In Germany more than 2,000 companies participate
in the European Eco-management and Audit Scheme. The EMAS logo connects the
EMAS users to a community, which features environmental performance, transparency
and credibility.
EU-N: What are the advantages from a company’s point of view?
Following a recent study of the Federal Environment Agency, the most evident
advantage is an “improvement of the organisation and documentation”.
EMAS improves the processes and procedures, which leads to a better environmental
performance in total. By saving resources and costs, EMAS fosters a company’s
position in the market.
EU-N: What will be done in the Ministry to position EMAS in the
public opinion during the anniversary?
During the anniversary we will host several events to recall 10 years of EMAS
and discuss new developments. Step-by-step approaches will be a top priority
in order to facilitate access to EMAS.
EU-N: What are your expectations in the EU legislation and the
economy’s commitment?
Organisations participating in EMAS for several years have reached a very high
standard in environmental management, which decreases potential for new improvements.
Therefore, there is a need to create other incentives for EMAS participants
or even modernize EMAS as an instrument itself. Various legal requirements
allow for deregulation. We will urge the European Commission to include further
deregulation for EMAS registered organisations in EU legislation. It would
be good to privilege EMAS in public procurement as well.
15/04/05
Series on EMAS implementing bodies: German Accreditation Body DAU: the credibility corporation
What is it that makes EMAS the most credible system to improve the environment? Undoubtedly the environmental verifiers play a key role – but do their training, examination and supervision provide the necessary knowledge to help companies identify and stop environmental pitfalls? The German Accreditation Body DAU has handled 234 verifiers in ten years of EMAS. Dr. Markus Racke of DAU explains the background to high-level verification.
“Environmental verifiers undergo a review at the highest level of expertise, in the accreditation exam, the regular supervision and the single case supervision. This procedure, which reviews every single individual, does not exist under ISO 14001,” says Dr. Markus Racke, Managing Director of the EMAS Accreditation Body in Germany, DAU.
At the beginning of a verifier’s career, the DAU arranges a tough examination of competence. Annette Vahr*, 41, studying for the big day, is concerned about the questions the DAU expert panel of three to five leading EMS industry specialists have set aside for her accreditation exam.
Though she has spent most of her professional career with three leading food and beverage manufacturers, the head of the Health/Safety/Environment department has some doubts if she will pass: ”The German EMAS accreditation system is one of the most rigid ones in the EU, only 234 out of 538 candidates have passed the exam" she explains. "In addition, German legislation requires a verifier to have completed a university degree in engineering, science, economics or law, followed by a minimum of 3 years expertise in an independent, practical position. This is not a requirement under ISO 14001.”
During an examination, the jury has to cover all the requirements
stated in Annex 5 of the EMAS regulation to assure a verifier’s
expertise.
“Most of the candidates are accredited for fewer NACE** sectors than they
applied for,” says Markus Racke.
Generally, Racke has detected a tendency for self-improvement in the German accreditation system, mostly through continual training of verifiers and biannual supervision. All 216 verifiers in Germany receive a biannual questionnaire, where they have to list all their verifications in the period, sign a declaration of independence and submit a criminal record. Any change in employment has to be listed; working for an industry company will result in loss of accreditation for the relevant NACE group. In addition, a team of experts checks a random sample of audits and follows a strict procedure in case of deviation which includes a “warning” as a last step before withdrawal of accreditation. Mr. Racke sees the benefits of a harsh code of conduct: “In the 810 samples checked since 1995, only a dozen or so warnings have had to be issued.”
* Name has been changed by the editor
** NACE: 'Nomenclature générale des activités Économiques dans les Communautés européennes', classification of ecomonic activities following Regulation EC 29/2002
15/04/05
Saarland ranks highest in EMAS registrations per inhabitant among Germany's federal states
Saarland has reached the number one position under Germany’s federal states when it comes to the number of companies which have implemented an EMS according to the EMAS regulation: 53 EMAS sites per million inhabitants put Saarland ahead of Thüringen (49 sites per million). The number of sites with an environmental management system registered under EMAS is about more than double the number of Bavaria or Schleswig-Holstein, when calculated by million of inhabitants.
„The environment and the economy work hand in hand in Saarland. Our approach of partnerships for environmental management between regulatory authorities and companies has been successful”, Under-Secretary of State Rainer Grün confirmed. Mr. Grün praised the positive impact of the recently revised „Umweltpakt Saarland“. The Pakt has fostered the implementation of EMS in 76 companies which employ more than 30,000 people. 53 of these have reached the highest level of EMS by registering under the requirements of the EMAS Regulation.
For several years the Ministry of Environment has funded companies which have implemented an EMS in a special programme. Funding depends on the size of the applicant company and may reach up to 75% of the implementation costs. In 2005, a total of 120,000 Euro are set aside for the EMAS funding programme.
More information on the Umweltpakt Saarland and the register of Saarland can be found under www.umwelt.saarland.de.
15/04/05
Italy registers 300th EMAS organisation in March and launches revamped EMAS database
In Italy, the quickest growing market for EMAS in the EU 25, Edison S.p.a has won the race for the highly acclaimed registration number 300 with its thermo-electrical plant at Nera Montoro (Trentino).
Two new websites enable the EMAS community to find interesting information about the latest trends and developments in EMAS in Italy quickly.
The APAT (Agenzia per la Protezione dell’Ambiente e per i Servizi Tecnici) web site now hosts a searchable database for registered EMAS organisations, which enables a quick check for valid registration and easy contact to the registered organisations via web sites and e-mail. Parameters include name, NACE sector, region and verifier. In addition statistics by region, size, sites and sector are included on the APAT site.
The other new Italian EMAS website online can be found under www.emas.it. This site is operated by S.D.S. Servizi di Sistema S.r.l. and offers information on management systems including ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001, legal requirements, funding, and several practical documents for EMAS. A long list of EMAS advantages has been added to the page.
17/02/05
Environmental ministers increase the pressure – EMAS costs will be checked in Germany
The Conference of Environmental Ministers has asked the Federal Ministry
of the Environment to revise the EMAS regulation in Germany. The target
is improving efficiency and cost effectiveness.
The check will focus on how EMAS, which is regarded as the best and most comprehensive
EMS, is to be sustained without further government funding.
This review will have to look into how the German system will become slimmer,
more flexible and most of all more cost effective, without reducing quality
and requirements. A comparison report will be drafted on how the EU EMAS regulation
was implemented in other Member States and which procedures are applied there.
Cost for both implementing and maintaining the system have to be checked.
The German government was formally asked to see to it that the Commission
will cut down barriers from the regulation and open clauses for innovation
in the upcoming EMAS revision.
The report will be discussed in autumn 2005 at the Conference of Environmental
Ministers.
The wording of the decision is available here (in German).
17/02/05
Mediterranean Member States show highest growth in EMAS registrations in 2005
In 2004, Portugal has almost doubled its registered organisations (+91%), followed by Italy (+50%) and Spain (+31%). Of the 396 new registered organisations in 2004, 107 come from Spain and 92 from Italy. Four out of ten new Member States have registered organisations for EMAS since Accession: Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Malta.
06/11/04
Step by step towards environmental management - less formal approaches explored as preparatory steps to EMAS
Systematic environmental management according to EMAS or ISO 14001 is rare among most SMEs. Many have chosen instead to implement only single elements of environmental management systems. On the German market alone SMEs may choose from more than a dozen concepts. Until now an overview of the approaches and an estimation of pros and cons were not available. In addition, it was unknown how they could be combined or appropriate to lead to a systematic environmental management system.
Against this background the Federal Environmental Agency and the German Federal Ministry of the Environment have contracted the trade association "future e.V." to research input and benefits as well as the qualification of less formal approaches to proceed to EMAS.
Together with project partners Adelphi research Ltd., Berlin , and IFOK Ltd, Bernsheim, future e.V. will elaborate a concept enabling SMEs to proceed step-by-step to EMAS. At the same time incentive will be identified preferable to promote EMAS further.
For more information visit www.future-ev.de , www.ifok.de or http://ums-fuer-kmu.adelphi-consult.de.
05/09/04
Green light for EMAS Logo use on tertiary packaging
The Commission has recently clarified that the use of the EMAS logo on tertiary packaging is in line with the requirements of the EMAS Regulation Article 8 and the Guideline for the Use of the EMAS Logo. Under certain conditions, EMAS registered companies may use the EMAS logo on tertiary packaging like bakery paper bags for marketing purposes. The term “tertiary” indicates that the bags/package are generally used to store several different goods, and not to a single kind of product manufactured by the registered organisation.
More information will be published on the EMAS Logo page on the EMAS website in October.
15/07/04
South America submits first EMAS quasi-registration:
CYGSA CHILE S.A.
The Santiago de Chile based consultancy provides construction services and consultancy, and has been guided to implementation by its parent company in Madrid, Spain. Targets comprise the demand for suppliers implementing EMS, too.
For more information contact:
CYGSA CHILE S.A.
Mr Javier Osorio
josorio@cygsa.tie.cl
10/12/03
Italy fastest growing EMAS country
After the Italian registrations came to a hold in May due to crew change at the Competent Body, 19 organisations were registered in the last quarter of 2004. As registration figures grew by 34%, Italy has the fastest growing EMAS community in the EU. The scope of dedicated followers is widening: Terme di Tabiano S.p.A. followed the German spas registered in September, and energy supplier Edison entered his Garaguso gas collection plant.
For more information on Edison’s 10 EMAS sites visit: http://www.edison.it/english/ambiente-rendiconto.html
30/04/03
EMAS Verifier Workshop
The European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment is organising an EMAS Workshop focusing on the challenges and opportunities of the EMAS verification process. The one-day event will take place in Brussels on 24 June 2003.
The purpose of the workshop is to bring together verifiers and other actors in the verification process from across Europe in order to discuss the development of EMAS and the key role verifiers play in ensuring the scheme’s credibility. The workshop is a forum to share experiences and best practices with a view to providing an opportunity to discuss the situation and role of EMAS verifiers as well as key technical verification issues such as verifying SMEs, indirect environmental aspects, multi-site organisations and verification costs. The European Commission will use the results of the workshop for the further development of the EMAS scheme.
The workshop will be opened by the Director-General of DG Environment, Ms. Catherine Day. The two sessions will be chaired by Mr. Charles Secrett, a member of the UK’s Government's Commission for Sustainable Development and Dr. Gerhard Dassow, formerly member of the management board of German Victoria Insurance company. The speakers for the workshop will include verifiers from Austria, Belgium, Germany and the UK, and representatives of EMAS registered organisations as well as Commission officials.
More information on the programme, speakers and registration is published on the EMAS workshop website.
04/02/03
Klaus Töpfer praises environmental awareness in Höxter, Germany
Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) returned to his hometown Höxter in Germany on 7th of January 2003 to award the city council of Höxter an EMAS certificate. The town achieved its first EMAS registration in 1999 and is now using the EMAS environmental management system in 11 sites within the city administration including the town hall, a waste management site and the fire brigade.
With the EMAS registration, the city mayor Hermann Hecker wants to motivate the citizens. “A city administration must give a good example!” he says and sees the certificate as a commitment to environmentally friendly behaviour.
11/12/02
EMAS verifiers suggested for checking progress on fulfillment of environmental agreements
The European Commission has adopted a Communication on environmental agreements at EU level (pdf 68 KB). It explains how the framework set out in the Commission's recently adopted 'Action Plan on the Simplification and Improvement of the Regulatory Environment' can be applied to environmental agreements. Environmental agreements by their very nature, are self-regulatory practices since they do not have legally binding effects at Community level. However, according to its proposals in the Action Plan, the Commission may also encourage or acknowledge them (under self-regulation) or propose the legislator to use them when appropriate (co-regulation). Monitoring and reporting is a crucial aspect for both categories of environmental agreements. In its Communication, the Commission explicitly mentions the well established system of environmental verifiers under the EMAS Regulation which could be used to comply with the reporting and monitoring requirements needed for checking progress on fulfillment of an environmental agreement.
11/12/02
EMAS information campaign in France
In collaboration with the French Ministry of Environment, four environmental
NGOs on the national level (Les Amis de La Terre, France Nature Environnement,
Consommation, Logement et Cadre de Vie and Nature et Progrès)
have started an EMAS information campaign amongst their regional and
local member associations. From May to September 2002, eight local
associations have received training in order to raise their awareness
about the EU scheme (Download the French (pdf
693 KB) or English (pdf 693
KB) version of the slides used at these seminars).
The Ministry of Environment is also elaborating a guide for the drafting
of the EMAS statement and France will be the next host country for the EMAS
in Local Authorities campaign, organised in cooperation with DG Environment
(Amiens, November 20).
11/12/02
EMAS promotion in Austria
The Austrian Competent Body is awarding an EMAS-prize to Austrian organisations with an outstanding marketing of their EMAS participation. The jury will evaluate in particular innovative uses of the EMAS logo in adverts, events, PR and any other promotional activity. The winners will receive their award during the EMAS conference which is organised on 31 October 2002 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and water Management together with the city of Linz and voestalpine Stahl GmbH. voestalpine Stahl GmbH has registered 9 of their sites to EMAS and will participate in the panel discussion on joint public and private initiatives to promote the scheme. For more information on the awards and full guidance for participation contact Armin Pecher. To receive a programme of the conference and for registration contact Doerthe Kunellis. Documents and information can also be accessed via the Ministry's website: http://www.lebensministerium.at/umwelt/ => Öko-Audit.
17/07/02
UK promotion campaign
The UK Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has designed a series of advertisements which will appear in selected environmental publications this year as well as in some prestigious news, financial and marketing magazines. It is planned to produce these ads also in a larger format (A2 poster size) in order to use them in displays at conferences, exhibitions, events or in offices, shops and other buildings. The ads will also be available on the EMAS UK Competent Body web site and may be downloaded and used by organisations to help promote their registration and EMAS activities. The advertisements can be requested from the EMAS Helpdesk.
07/05/02
Logo Working Group
The new EMAS logo, which was created by the revised regulation in 2001, is seen as one of the strongest tools to make the public and stakeholders more aware of the scheme and to promote participation of more and more organisations. It is currently being used in two different versions (depending on the context it is used in) and guidance <link to EMAS documents/Guidance documents - anchor on Guidance on the use of the EMAS logo> on how and where to display it are detailed and explicit in order to avoid confusion with ecolabels. However, the regulation foresees that it should be studied under which conditions the logo might be used in different ways. In addition it also requires that the usage of the logo is to be evaluated after five years. To this aim, an EMAS Logo Working Group has been created. Members of this working group are representatives from those Member States that have shown interest in participating and EMAS registered organisations that would like to test different uses of the EMAS logo in a pilot project. The Logo Working Group has met for the first time in January 2002 and its next meeting is scheduled for the end of May. News on the work and progress of the working group will be published on this section.