CSM 2274 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Introduction to Environmental Management Systems

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CSM 2274ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENTIntroduction
to Environmental Management Systems
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Importance of Environmental Management Systems
for Business

• as a 'tool for compliance' with legislation
• Guidance on environmental legislation in the UK
  can be found at http//www.netregs.gov.uk.
  Environmental legislation in force in England and
  Wales can be found at http//www.caldicott-morgan.
  co.uk/leg/engwal.html
• as a structure within which to improve energy
  efficiency, minimise waste and cut costs
• green market considerations
• supply chain considerations (customer requirement
  for EMS)
• planning considerations (establish good
  environmental track record)

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What is an Environmental Management System?

• The International Standards Organisation defines
  an environmental management system as
• part of an organization's management system
  used to develop and implement its environmental
  policy and manage its environmental aspects.
• A management system is a set of interrelated
  elements used to establish policy and objectives
  and to achieve those objectives.
• A management system includes organizational
  structure, planning activities, responsibilities,
  practices, procedures, processes and resources.
• (ISO 140012004)
• An EMS enables an organisation to improve its
  operational environmental performance (dont get
  confused with EIA!)

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Approaches to Managing the Environment

• Technological and management approaches
• The waste incinerator (right) provides the
  technology for environmentally safe disposal of
  waste but high temperatures must be maintained to
  minimise harmful emissions. Feeding waste into
  the furnace through the maintenance door like
  this lowers the temperature and allows harmful
  emissions to be released. The technology is good
  but poor management (and lack of staff training)
  undermine its effectiveness. It is important to
  get both the technology and management right!

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Approaches to Managing the Environment

• Informal and formal EMS
• No statutory requirement for an EMS as such
  (statutory requirements related to pollution,
  waste management, statutory nuisances etc.)
• Either informal (that is, developed internally
  and not externally verified) or formal (that is,
  externally verified) EMS can be employed
• Whichever approach is adopted, the minimum
  environmental standard that it enables an
  organisation to achieve is compliance with
  legislation
• In either case, an EMS can be structured as a
  single system for the whole organisation, on a
  site-by-site basis or on a departmental or
  divisional basis

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Informal EMS

• Informal systems can often meet the environmental
  management needs of an organisation
• Ad hoc EMS (responding to environmental
  management issues as they arise)
• Home-made or in-house EMS (structured and
  integrated to greater or lesser extent into
  overall management but not externally verified)

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Formal EMS

• BS 7750 Environmental Management Systems
• the first EMS standard was BS7750 developed by
  BSI in 1991-2 and implemented in 1996
• by 1997, there were about 300 organisations
  registered under BS7750
• ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems
• published in September 1996
• BS7750 subsequently withdrawn (international
  standards take precedence over national
  standards)
• Second Edition November 2004 (ISO 140011996
  withdrawn March 2006)
• Promotional video
• EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)
• EMAS is a voluntary initiative designed to
  improve companies environmental performance
• Initially established by European Regulation
  1836/93 (replaced by Council Regulation 761/01)
• in 2001, ISO 14001 replaced the EMS requirement
  of the EMAS Scheme, making ISO 14001 the
  internationally recognised single EMS standard

The ISO 14001 cycle of continual improvement
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Approach adopted for Imerys china clay
production process in Cornwall

• Worlds largest China clay producer
• History as serial polluter in Cornwall (see
  ENDS Report article on Imerys)
• Formal EMS certification under ISO 14001 for all
  sites and functions in Cornwall and Devon since
  2001
• Structured on a site by site basis
• Blackpool Pit (top right), one of many large
  clay extraction sites Par Docks (bottom), where
  smaller coastal vessels are loaded for the export
  of clay Greensplatt waste tip restoration
  (bottom right)