EMAS Easy
EMAS Easy
EMAS Easy is an Environmental Management System (EMS) intended primarily for SMEs. The aim is to implement ISO 14001 or EMAS in a way suitable to the size, organisational culture and financial capacities of small companies. EMAS Easy is developed by Heinz Werner Engel.
The SME Corner of the official EMAS website of the EU refers to the EMAS Easy method as a comprehensive methodology on EMAS implementation..[1].
EMAS Easy is also written as EMAS “easy”, EMAS easy and EMASeasy.
History[edit]
The Eco-mapping tool for analysing, managing and communicating the environmental performance of small companies was developed by Heinz Werner Engel in 2002. It was exclusively promoted and distributed by the International Network for Environmental Management[2]
EMAS “easy” for Small and Medium Enterprises in 10 days with 10 people on 10 pages in 30 steps[3] has been created by Heinz Werner Engel a few years later with the support of Directorate General “Environment” of the EU. In EMAS Easy the Eco-mapping tool and its results are the input to 20 more steps to fulfil the requirements in ISO 14001.
In the following years up to 2010 the European Commission was involved in several projects to spread the method in different parts of Europe[4][5][6]. However, it seems that interest has slowed down afterwards.
Both ISO 14001 and EMAS are revised after EMAS Easy was published[7][8]. References to sections in ISO 14001 in EMAS Easy are thus not up to date and some new requirements are to be included[9]. The original toolkit belonging to EMAS Easy is thus not fully fit for its purpose any more and removed from the EU website[10].
Description of the system[edit]
Overview[edit]
The method described in EMAS Easy consists of 30 steps and starts with Eco-mapping. Eco-mapping is a tool plotting environmental aspects on plan drawings or sketches. Social and economic impacts are not part of the scheme, unless they directly effect the environment. In addition the tool consists of an opinion poll among employees about the environmental impact of and effort within the company.
Eco-mapping is visual and is performed on the work floor. This gives opportunities for participation of staff and other stakeholders.
The informal results from the Eco-mapping are then systematically translated and extended to the requirements in ISO 14001 and EMAS. The aim is a comprehensive but complete EMS, developed for continuous improvement using the Plan-Do-Check-Act-cycle. The method intends to avoid the official, for many workers difficult, language in which the ISO 14001 and EMAS standards are presented.
EMAS Easy is seen as suitable for EMS implementation in a group of SMEs sharing a consultant.
The 30 steps in EMAS Easy[edit]
Source: [3]
The following overview shows the intention of the single steps in the EMAS Easy method:
Step 1 to 10 are the informal part of the process:
Step 1: Drawing interactions with the surrounding area and infrastructure in a map
Step 2: Making an overview of material flows in and out of the company
Step 3: Filling out a Weather-map (an opinion poll amongst employees)
Step 4 to 9: Eco-mapping the site, indicating the environmental aspects in sketches or plan drawings over the site
- Step 4: Water consumption and wastewater
- Step 5: Soil and storage
- Step 6: Air, odours, noise and dust
- Step 7: Energy use
- Step 8: Waste management
- Step 9: Risks for employees
Step 10: Organizing the information achieved until now
In step 11 to 16 the information is transferred into a small EMS with reference to equivalent sections in ISO 14001:2004:
Step 11: Sorting the information in a way suitable for EMAS or ISO 14001 implementation
Step 12: Developing an environmental policy
Step 13: Analysing the significant environmental impacts
Step 14: Complying with and going beyond legal requirements
Step 15: Setting clear environmental objectives and targets
Step 16: Establish an environmental action plan
Step 17 to 23 are about implementation and day-to-day management:
Step 17: Distributing responsibilities in a formal structure
Step 18: Training and raising awareness amongst the staff
Step 19: Internal communication about the system: why and how
Step 20: Setting up a document management system
Step 21: Setting up routines for maintaining the document management system
Step 22: Writing the procedures necessary for operational control
Step 23: Preventing emergency situations
Continual improvement is to be established in step 24 to 28:
Step 24: Monitoring relevant environmental performance indicators and legal compliance
Step 25: Setting up a system for non-conformeties and corrective action
Step 26: Recording the data generated by step 24 and 25
Step 27: Internal audit of the EMS
Step 28: Management reviews for continual improvement
Step 29 covers external communication of the EMS and environmental performance
Step 30 describes the external audit and validation of the EMS.
References[edit]
- ↑ "EMAS SME Corner". European Commission - Environment. Retrieved 9 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Engel, Heinz Werner (2002). Ecomapping - A visual, simple and practical tool to analyse, manage and communicate the environmental performance of craft and small companies here and in developing economies. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Engel, Heinz Werner (9 July 2007). EMAS "easy" for Small and Medium Enterprises in 10 days with 10 people on 10 pages in 30 steps. ISBN 978-92-79-01365-2. Search this book on
- ↑ "EMAS Easy Capacity Building of 25 local consultants in the new Member States". INEM. Retrieved 11 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Our responsibilty". Követ. Retrieved 11 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Vereinfachtes Umweltmanagementsystem für deutsche KMU nach europäischem Vorbild - Weiterentwicklung, Qualifizierung und modellhafter Einsatz". Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (in Deutsch). Retrieved 11 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The newly revised ISO 14001 is here". ISO. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "EMAS - Policy". European Commission - Environment. Retrieved 9 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Mapping ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 14001:2004" (PDF). ISO. 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The content you are looking for has moved". European Commission (Original title Toolkit EMAS Easy). Retrieved 11 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Baldarelli, Maria-Gabriella; Del Baldo, Mara; Nesheva-Kiosseva, Ninel (2017). Environmental Accounting and Reporting - Theory and Practice. Springer. pp. 231–233. ISBN 978-3-319-50918-1. Search this book on
- ↑ Stork, Cas (2016). Environmental management systems in medium-sized enterprises - A case study of the Dutch metal industry (PDF) (Master Thesis). Utrecht University. pp. 44–45, 67–68. Search this book on
- ↑ Angéléri, Mathilde (5 June 2009). "ECAP - Labels and Environmental Management Systems: Regional and National Approaches" (PDF). European Commission - Environment. pp. 5–8. Retrieved 9 August 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
External links[edit]
This article "EMAS Easy" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:EMAS Easy. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
