The State of EMAS in the Framework of Environmental Performance BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 Loizia Pantelitsa, Voukalli Irene, Antonis A. Zorpas
B.R.A.V.E.R PROJECT www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD (LIFE15/ ENV/IT/000509) The LIFE B.R.A.V.E.R. Project aims to support the full integration of EMAS into the EU environmental legislation, by reducing and simplifying the administrative costs and burdens for EMAS-registered companies. Partners Italy Spain Czech Republic Slovenia Cyprus
B.R.A.V.E.R PROJECT www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD (LIFE15/ ENV/IT/000509) The methodology at the core of the Project foresees the evaluation of existing legislation, the design of new regulatory relief proposals and their feasibility assessment for organizations and institutions through regional and national testing activities.
CALCULATING ENVIRONMENTAL www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD PERFORMANCE - SURVEY The main aims of the survey were the following: Understand how EMAS impacts on environmental performances of EMAS- registered organisations; Understand companies’ opinions about EMAS’s communication strategies; Understand the efgects of EMAS on product and process innovation;
SURVEY STRUCTURE www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD The survey consists of: Section 1: Organisation Details; Section 2: EMAS Performance; Section 3: EMAS and Communication; Section 4: EMAS and Innovation. Most questions employed the 1-5 Likert scale, designed to reduce ambiguity through a range of values to choose from (e.g. ranging from "1 = improved signifjcantly" to "5 = deteriorated a lot", or ranging from “1= none” to “5= very big”).
SURVEY STRUCTURE www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD The survey, uploaded onto an online survey platform, was distributed among EMAS companies from Member States. The questionnaire was available in English, Italian and Spanish and remained online and available from July 2018 until the end of October.
BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD www.envitech.org Czech Republic Slovenia Cyprus Spain Italy 41,38% COUNTRY 4,60% 8,05% 9,20% 36,78% TS RESUL
35 BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD www.envitech.org 31 30 28 25 NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 20 15 13 10 8 TS 5 5 RESUL 2 0 5.000 + 2.500 - 4.999 1.000 - 2.499 250 - 999 50 - 249 1 - 49
With reference to the production unit, how has the environmental performance of your organisation changed over the last years in the following areas? www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD Prevention of risks for (chemical) accidents, improved accident preparedness and response 34% 34% 17% 0% 1% 13% Odours 6% 11% 52% 1% 0% 30% Noise emissions 11% 30% 47% 0% 0% 11% Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions 20% 38% 29% 2% 0% 11% Air emissions 24% 31% 37% 0% 0% 8% Wastewater effmuents 15% 36% 38% 1% 0% 10% Biodiversity/ Protection of soil and groundwater 15% 28% 38% 0% 1% 18% Waste production 29% 52% 15% 2% 0% 2% Water consumption 28% 48% 18% 2% 0% 3% Effjciency in the use of materials (e.g. chemicals, raw materials) 23% 47% 20% 0% 0% 10% Energy Effjciency 38% 40% 15% 1% 0% 6% Improved signifjcantly Improved somewhat No change Deteriorated somewhat Deteriorated a lot Don’t know - Not applicable
How would you rate the following factors in terms of their importance for achieving environmental improvement? www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD Stakeholder pressures and/or expectations 5% 11% 26% 34% 23% Cost (savings) of production inputs 9% 10% 20% 33% 28% Environmental fees and taxes 11% 23% 24% 28% 14% Environmental reporting 1% 11% 25% 40% 22% Monitoring of core environmental performance indicators 0% 13% 18% 43% 26% Environmental management system 2% 8% 20% 46% 24% Competition/image advantages 5% 10% 25% 39% 21% Customer demand 6% 11% 29% 25% 29% Technical progress (technological progress and process innovations) 2% 5% 11% 44% 38% Environmental regulation/public policy intervention 2% 6% 20% 29% 44% 1- not important at all 2 - not very important 3- somewhat important 4- fairly important 5- very important
How high were the cost savings per year by implementing EMAS system in the following areas? www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD Material goods/Raw materials 2% 15% 34% 15% 9% 24% Water/waistewater 5% 10% 40% 13% 9% 23% Waste/Disposal 6% 22% 39% 8% 9% 16% Emissions 7% 17% 28% 14% 10% 24% Energy 7% 28% 30% 11% 9% 15% Very big Big Moderate Small Very small None
Indirect efgects of EMAS www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD Have you ever stopped ordering from a supplier for environmental reasons? 26 61 Are you carrying out environmental on-site audits at the plants of your suppliers? 18 69 Are you monitoring and assessing your suppliers through the collection of data in periodic questionnaires? 47 40 Are you increasing the rate of sustainable materials used in your production process (green procurement procedures)? 55 32 Have you encouraged your suppliers to adopt environmental measures/certifjcations? Do suppliers that are also EMAS registered obtain a 'preferred supplier' status? 49 38 Yes No
CONCLUSION www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD More than 60 companies out of 87 registered a positive and signifjcant change in the environmental performances for what concerns waste production, energy effjciency, water consumption, effjciency in the use of materials and prevention of risks for accidents . About factors that help achieve an environmental improvement , 71 companies out of 87 highlighted the importance of technical progress intended as both technological progress and process innovation..
CONCLUSION www.envitech.org BRAVER LIFE15 ENV/IT/000509 – ENVITECH LTD The legal compliance requirements and a defjned set of objectives and targets are considered the main efgect of EMAS requirements on the company’s performances. Companies that implement EMAS system can count on important cost savings , especially in the areas of Waste/Disposal and Energy. 82% of the companies interviewed communicates environmental innovations adopted and environmental performances within their Environmental Statement . The Environmental Statement is then used as a tool for communication with other stakeholders (74% of the sample). On the contrary, not all the companies fjnd it easy to integrate the Environmental Statement with other existing standards and guidelines
More recommend