EMAS

The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a voluntary EC Regulation with a key aim of encouraging organisations to manage their impact on the environment and to publicly report progress on their environmental performance.

Verification to EMAS is one way in which you can meet the growing expectations from your stakeholders – financial institutions and investors, local communities, customers, employees and consumers – for verified environmental reporting.

How can EMAS benefit my organisation?

A key aim of this voluntary Regulation is to recognise those organisations that go beyond minimum legal compliance and continuously improve their environmental performance. It is therefore ideal for those wanting to demonstrate credibility in the environmental field.

The Regulation, revised in April 2001, offers organisations significant benefits:

• Based on ISO 14001 – making it easier for ISO 14001 certified organisations to progress to EMAS
• Public disclosure – transparency and regular provision of environmental information are key elements in differentiating EMAS and helps you respond to growing market expectations for verified environmental reporting
• Independent assessment – validation of the environmental statement by an accredited verifier – such as LRQA – gives stakeholders additional confidence in the reliability of the information being reported
• Improved communications – increased flexibility in targeting relevant information to stakeholders
• Compliance with legislative and other requirements – demonstrates they have identified the implications of all relevant legislation and have made provision for compliance
• Continual improvement – demonstrable commitment to continual improvement of environmental performance
• Use of distinctive logo – to symbolise your commitment in the environmental field
• Applicable to more organisations – the revised version is now open to all types of organisation

What services can LRQA provide me with?

LRQA have a range of service options for organisations wanting verification to EMAS which you can discuss more fully with one of our business advisors on 0800 783 2179. Our gap analysis is an optional service and will allow you to identify those areas that need more time spent on to give assurance that your systems are ready for assessment. We have three service options for your formal verification:

• A complete EMAS verification and validation for those organisations that have implemented an EMS but not yet had it assessed. LRQA verifiers will undertake at least a two-stage assessment, usually on site, to examine conformance of the management system with the EMAS requirements, including the organisation's compliance with relevant legislation and in addition, to validate the information within the environmental statement.
• Verification and validation to EMAS together with certification to a recognised environmental management system - normally ISO 14001.
• Verification and validation to EMAS following certification to a recognised environmental management system, normally ISO 14001 and usually as part of an extended certificate routine surveillance visit.

Background to EMAS

As part of the action programme 'Towards Sustainability' in the early 1990s, primarily focusing on promoting environmental responsibility, continual improvement and public accountability in industrial/manufacturing sectors, the EU developed the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Regulation. The Regulation is binding on member states but voluntary on industry/manufacturing organisations.

The development of the original EMAS commenced in late 1990, was adopted by the EU Council of Ministers in June 1993 and came into force in April 1995.

The key points of EMAS are:

• third party verification and validation
• provision for compliance with legal requirements
• managing significant environmental impacts
• continually improving environmental performance
• provision of validated information to the public

The latter point differentiates EMAS from the environmental management systems.

For additional information on EMAS visit the IEMA website at: www.emas.org.uk

A member of the Lloyd's Register Group ©LRQA 2010 Page last modified on 17 June 2009