FAQ on Europe's Eco-Management and Audit Scheme
October 1, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
With the successful completion of a pilot project to extend the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) to more European Commission (EC) facilities, the EC issued an updated frequently asked questions (FAQ) document on Sept. 23.
EMAS has been in effect in the European Union (EU) since 2001.
What is EMAS?
EMAS is a system forenvironmental management in the workplace. It incorporates tools for evaluating,reporting and improving environmental performance.
The scheme, implemented by Regulation No. 761/2001, includes the international environmental management standard ISO 14001, but is stricter. It requires a demonstration, through external verification of regular environmental statements, of the following:
- Legal compliance of local, national and EU environmental rules and regulations.
- Continuous improvement actions taken to manage and reduce environmental impact.
- Involvement of all staff and public reporting, in the form of publication of the "environmental statement."
Due to the legal compliance obligation, EMAS is site-specific and the certification bodies are in the EU member states.
EMAS is the strictest international environmental certification scheme available: the publication of regular statements verified by independent auditors ensures transparency and the scheme requires active communication both with staff and externally.
Employees receive training in EMAS and their commitment and enthusiasm play an important role in the success of the scheme.
How long has EMAS been applied in the EC?
Following the extension of the EMAS scheme to public and privateorganizations in 2001, the EC made the decision in September 2001 to implement EMAS gradually to the whole institution. It was a natural progression from the "green housekeeping" scheme that was set up in 1997 bystaff members.
EMAS was first applied in 2002 through a pilot project in four Brussels departments: Secretariat-General, Personnel and Administration Directorate-General (DG), Environment DG and the Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels.
The first EMAS certificate was awarded to these departments in December 2005 and initially covered eight buildings. The pilot project has come to a successful close after including five departments (DG Informatics was added to the first four departments) and a total of 23 buildings (or 45% of the EC's office space in Brussels).
Thanks to the pilot project, there is now experience and best practices examples available for other departments, as the scope of EMAS is extended.
What does it mean to extend EMAS to the whole EC in Brussels and Luxembourg?
The decision taken in September 2001 to implement EMAS to the whole institution stipulated that implementation would start with a pilot phase and then extend to all EC services after evaluation.
In October 2008, the EMAS Steering Committee (composed of the heads of the participating services) acknowledged the successful completion of this pilot phase and recommended that the implementation of EMAS be extended to all EC directorates and buildings, not only in Brussels but also in Luxembourg. This represents about 35,000 employees and over 70 buildings. Activities of the executive agencies and of the Joint Research Centre are currently excluded from the scope of EMAS.
Official registration of EC activities by the competent national authorities should be achieved in 2012. The registration of the premises in Brussels should be achieved in 2014. A global registration plan entailing the progressive inclusion of the EC buildings in Luxembourg will be presented.
How does EMAS work in practice?
Like other management schemes, EMAS is based on a four-step "plan-do-check-act" cycle:
- An initial environmental review establishes significant impacts and provides the basis for management to set an environmental policy for the organization. The policy then gives rise to specific actions plans.
- Implementation follows, supported by training and awareness-raising to all staff.
- Continuous progress and improvements are evaluated by internal evaluations and reported in regular management reviews, where adjustments are made, as appropriate.
- An environmental statement is drawn up that is verified by independent auditors. Upon approval, the organization is registered for the first time with the competent authorities in the member state and thereafter for each annual statement.
EMAS activities are included in the EC's normal action plans; staff go about their daily business as usual, but are trained to include EMAS, particularly in their planning and reporting.
What progress has been made since EMAS was launched within the EC?
Since the EC already had an environmental management system in place since 1997, EMAS grew in fertile ground. The scheme has registered a number of successes in reducing the environmental impacts of the EC's daily activities. These are divided into four goals:
- Reduce CO2 emissions.
- Promote efficient use of natural resources.
- Promote waste prevention, reuse and recycling.
- Promote sustainable consumption and production.
Below are some concrete examples of successful actions based on these goals.
Buildings
Savings per person since 2002 in 19 office buildings (for comparison reasons, only the 23 buildings currently included in the EMAS scope in Brussels are considered):
- 7% less CO2 emissions per m2 (-5 kg/m2)
- 14% less electricity per m2 (-23 kWh/m2)
- 23% less water per m2 (-132 l/m2)
Total savings achieved only in the Berlaymont since 2005:
- 26% less CO2 emissions per m2 (saving 3,710 tons)
- 21% less combined use of gas and electricity (saving 12,477 MWh)
As of August 2009, the EC contracted to buy 100% green electricity for high voltage, which represents 95% of its total electricity consumption for the Brussels offices.
Transport
Working closely with the Brussels region, the EC supported initiatives in recent years to promote the use of public transport and to encourage the use of other sustainable means of transport, bicycles in particular. A mobility plan for EC staff in Brussels has existed since 2006, although various actions of this nature have been taken already since 1999.
A 2008 survey regarding daily commuting by EC employees in Brussels confirmed the positive impact of EC actions to promote sustainable transport. Following are the main results for the period 1998-2008:
- Private car use reduced from 50% to 29%
- Public transport use increased from 32% to 50%
- Walking and cycling increased from 17% to 18%
Over one-third of respondents declared that the means made available by the EC changed their habits.
The EC has a park of some 300 service bikes, which were used for more than 26,000 trips in 2008, an increase of 12% over the previous year. Facilities for cyclists, such as bicycle racks as well as changing rooms and showers, are developing rapidly. As a result of its efforts in this field, the EC received the 2008 "Bike Parking Gold Prize," delivered by Brussels city.
In terms of public transport, the EC subsidizes two bus routes in Brussels, provides free bus travel passes to staff in Luxembourg and reimburses business travel by metro and tram in Brussels.
Given the international nature of the EC's work, a certain amount of business travel is inevitable; nonetheless, video and teleconferencing facilities are increasingly available at all EC sites, offering a low-cost, energy-efficient alternative to traveling.
Waste reduction
Fifteen different types of waste are collected in the EC, ranging from paper to used cooking oils from the kitchens. In 2008, 294 kilograms (kg) per person were generated in total, compared to 331 kg in 2002. Even though there was a 34% increase of staff during this period, the total amount of waste has increased only by 20% (7,328 tons in 2008 for the whole EC).
Some 54% of all waste collected is recycled, and 98% of paper is recycled, as are 64% of toner cartridges. Over 60% of decommissioned computer equipment is donated to charity for reuse or recycling.
Paper
The amount of office paper used per person - eco-label recycled paper - has fallen by 41% since 2003, dropping from 88 sheets per person per day to 51 sheets per person per day. This represents a savings of 435 tons of paper per year, and can be attributed, in part, to the development of double-sided printing and copying as well as awareness campaigns directed towards employees.
Important efforts were also made concerning offset paper used in the print shop - in particular, through the stricter control of color printing and the use of lighter paper. Volume decreased by 48% from 2002 to 2008, a savings of 343 tons of paper per year.
Sustainable consumption
Information and communication technology is another area in which the implementation of the EMAS scheme has led to significant and recurrent energy savings. This is achieved through a "green procurement" policy, where environmental criteria are included in the technical and financial selection of hardware.
A striking example is provided by the purchase of desktop PCs: when the EC applied environmental criteria in 2007, the selected model of PC became both cheaper and more powerful than the previous three choices, while consuming less energy than the PCs bought in 2003.
Steady progress has also been recorded in the area of office automation, where more environment-friendly devices have been selected and made available to users for their daily work. For instance, the installed base of paper-demanding devices is gradually being replaced with multifunctional networked photocopiers/printers/scanners, which are set to automatically print double-sided. Another example is monitoring the activity and use of desktop PCs and printers, so as to optimize their energy consumption.
A full 100% of hardware contracts prepared by the Informatics DG include environmental criteria.
What are the challenges to applying EMAS in the EC?
The management of over 70 buildings of varying ages, more than 25% rented, and with a multitude of technical installations means that technical services cannot take a "one size fits all" approach.
To take one example, a mixed-use building like the Berlaymont is a special case, not comparable to other buildings.
Also, the EC obviously cannot interfere with how staff travel to and from work - including bringing children to school on the way. Moreover, being centrally located in a major European city entails dealing with the usual problems of a congested city center.
Is EMAS implemented in other European institutions or bodies?
Since EMAS is a Europe-wide scheme, a great number of different organizations participate. For instance, the European Environmental Agency in Copenhagen was EMAS-registered in 2004, as was the European Parliament in 2007 for its three sites in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. The Committee of the Regions as well as the European Economic and Social Committee are also implementing EMAS and are expected to be registered in 2010.
All organizations' environmental statements are available on the EMAS web site.
Source: European Commission (EC).