How can EMAS benefit you?

EMAS provides

1. Enhanced credibility, transparency and reputation
   • continuous improvement of environmental performance is verified
   • independently validated reporting through environmental statement
   • an opportunity to stand out from the crowd with a premium instrument, leading to increased business opportunities in markets that prioritise green production processes
   • better relations with customers, the local and wider community, and regulators
   • EMAS logo as a marketing tool
2. Enhanced environmental risks and opportunities management
   • guarantee of full regulatory compliance with environmental legislation
   • reduced risk of fines related to environmental legislation
   • regulatory relief
   • access to deregulation incentives
   • access to public contracts
3. Enhanced environmental and financial performance
   • high quality environmental management
   • resource efficiency and cost savings
4. Enhanced employee empowerment and motivation
   • improved workplace environment
   • enhanced employee commitment
   • greater team-building capacity

Check out the 3x3 Good Reasons for EMAS brochure to learn about this premium environmental management instrument and how it supports tackling key management challenges, helps with risk & opportunity management and the disctinctive features that make EMAS unique.

• General publications
• 2 December 2022

EMAS - good reasons for EMAS

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Useful:

• EMAS benefits fact sheet 

• General publications
• 2 December 2022

EMAS - Benefits Factsheet (EN)

English

(455.86 KB - PDF)

Download

• Compendium of EMAS Promotion and Policy Support measures: regulatory relief available for EMAS organisations, financial support, promotional activities
• Fact sheet on the differences between EMAS and ISO 14001
• Study on the Costs and Benefits of EMAS to Registered Organisations

If your organisation is interested in registering with EMAS we encourage you to contact your national Competent Body. Your national Competent Body is there to help you with any questions you may have on your way to EMAS.

As the only environmental management tool  requiring publication of an annual, independently validated environmental statement with detailed core indicators, EMAS provides registered organisations with a high degree of transparency.

EMAS registered organisations can use their environmental statements  and the official EMAS logo  to give their clients and customers a clear signal of their commitment to environmental performance,  backed up by real data.  

These efforts are recognised not only by customers, but also by regulators in the Member States. Several national and local regulators accept the EMAS registration and environmental statement as proof of an organisation's legal compliance or to fulfil other reporting requirements.  This recognition can lead to many benefits  for EMAS registered organisations, including fewer inspections  and less administrative work. Examples:

• France's Grenelle II CSR reporting requirement - Section 225 states that EMAS registered organisations do not have to submit environmental information in their CSR report, as the EMAS environmental statement serves as a substitute.
• Germany’s Waste Management and Product Recycling Act allows EMAS registered waste disposal organisations to follow “privileged rules” that eliminate waiting periods and other requirements  as long as the organisation’s environmental statement contains detailed information on waste.
• Germany's 2015 Federal Act on Energy Services introduced a new obligation for large companies to conduct an energy audit meeting the specifications of DIN EN 16247-1 every four years. The new rule affects all organisations in the manufacturing  and service sectors  with more than 250 employees and more than € 50 million annual turnover. EMAS registered organisations now automatically meet the requirements of the energy audit and must only prove their EMAS registration status.  An ISO 14001 certification, which does not contain a guarantee of legal compliance or a mandatory environmental statement, is not sufficient.
• In 2012, the Italian region of Lombardy reduced inspection fees by 30 %  for EMAS registered organisations, based largely on their transparency and independently verified legal compliance. Organisations with only ISO 14001 received a 20% discount.
• In Sweden, public authorities must report their work with their environmental management system and the associated direct and indirect impacts to the Swedish government  and to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency on a yearly basis. EMAS's reporting requirements make it easy  for the public authorities there and in other countries with reporting requirements to produce the necessary data.

Unlike other EMS certifications, the EMAS regulation requires legal compliance with all relevant environmental legislation. This compliance is determined by third-party auditors and ensured by government supervision.

In a 2014 survey of over 400 EMAS registered organisations in Europe, a majority of respondents identified "improved legislative compliance" and "reduced risk of environmental sanctions" as the top benefits they received from EMAS.  

EMAS can help organisations to identify, evaluate and comply with ever-changing and more demanding environmental regulations - and even to go beyond them in a cost-effective manner!

A number of Member States give benefits to EMAS organisations in recognition of their high level of legal compliance. Examples:

• Primarily because of EMAS's requirement for independently certified legal compliance, Austria's Federal Procurement Agency gives EMAS registered organisations extra points in certain bidding evaluations  in comparison to ISO 14001 companies or non-certified companies.
• France exempts EMAS registered organisations under the Industrial Emissions Directive from environmental inspections  provided they have demonstrated legal compliance in their environmental statements. Other Member States, including Poland, Malta and Spain, have either reduced or are in the process of reducing inspections  for EMAS registered organisations under their laws transposing the IED.
• Tuscany’s Law 79/2013 on the reorganisation of tax cuts for businesses affecting the regional tax on productive activities (IRAP) reduces the IRAP tax for EMAS organisations by 0.6 %.
• Based on EMAS’s guarantee of independently verified legal compliance through a government-approved verifier,  Poland exempts EMAS registered organisations from the fee required to enter the country's mandatory waste registry. This discount is only available to EMAS registered organisations and not those with other certified EMS.
• Portugal has accepted EMAS registration as proof that EMAS registered nature tourism organisations meet ecological criteria  required by national law.
• Environmental permits for Greek EMAS registered manufacturing organisations are now valid for 14 years rather than 10, based on EMAS’s transparency and legal compliance. Those with only ISO 14001 have inspections every 12 years.

Be environmentally friendly AND save money?

EMAS offers organisations the management tools to save resources of all types  – from trees to euros. With EMAS, organisations can quantify their resource use and develop plans to improve their environmental performance, reaching environmental goals  while coming up with new, more efficient management processes.

In a survey of German EMAS registered organisations, 67% of respondents reported having achieved (very) high or medium energy cost savings. Emissions^[1]  rank in second position among cost savings, followed by savings in the areas of waste and disposal as well as water and wastewater.

Across the EU, organisations report similar benefits with the help of EMAS. The scheme requires them to make continual performance improvements  and provides many support mechanisms. At national level, EMAS Competent Bodies in the Member States have guidelines for EMAS implementation  in certain sectors (for more information, please get in touch with your national Competent Body ).  At an EU level, the EMAS Best Environmental Management Practice documents  help organisations to fulfil the EMAS reporting requirements.

Examples of organisations achieving substantial resource and cost savings include:

• The Gloria Palace Hotel Amadores in Spain now obtains 22% of their energy consumption from renewable sources  which they operate themselves. Total cost savings since then have been approximately €300,000 annually  - so the investment has already more than paid for itself.
• The Polish public organisation Regional Centre for Water and Wastewater Management Co. (RCGW S.A.) has developed a method for using processed waste  from the food industry to produce biogas. By 2015, their biogas production exceeded their energy consumption by 50%. RCGW invests the revenues gained from this excess into innovation research and projects to support the local community.
• COMEXI Group Industries S.A.U. from Spain have developed a new type of printer  that eliminates the use of solvent based inks in the printing process, eliminating the emission of VOCs. This makes the printing process more energy efficient, consuming 40% less energy  than current printing systems. It also significantly reduces CO₂  emissions by eliminating the need for end of pipe air emission treatments.

1. Cost savings in the area of emissions can be considered primarily as savings relevant to emissions trading or to emissions-related approvals (e.g. in accordance with BImSchG). However, it is not clear whether the (overall very high) cost savings from emissions reported here result entirely from the factors mentioned, or whether the respondents added other savings, such as in energy costs, to the area of emissions

Employees of EMAS organisations can feel like they are really making a difference.

EMAS's employee involvement requirement means that all employees have the opportunity to really influence environmental management processes and make their own environments greener.

Businesses are increasingly realising the important role of corporate social responsibility measures . People working for an organisation that involves its employees tend to be happier and more productive in their jobs. EMAS is one step ahead because it has encouraged employee involvement from the beginning.

Sometimes the ideas of these involved employees can even lead to eco-innovations that save both resources and money!

Examples of how organisations have benefited from their employees’ involvement:

• After the UK Environment Agency urged its staff to think up ways to reduce their carbon footprints, employees came up with the idea of using methanol fuel cells to power the agency's fish counting equipment. Since the batteries no longer have to be changed so frequently, employees save 1.5 tonnes of CO₂ per year per fuel cell, totalling more than 50 tonnes of CO₂ every year. The cells paid for themselves within six months, while the agency continues to save all associated travel costs!
• An engaged employee of a small Swedish company, HR Björkman Entremattor, invented an oxygen pump that made water purification more efficient, allowing the company to introduce a washing system that reduced water consumption by half between 2009 and 2013. The company saved resources and won a 2014 EMAS award for this eco-innovation.
• In 2015, Metallbau Haslinger GmbH, a medium-sized German business producing steel constructions and overhead cranes, achieved carbon neutrality despite its energy-intensive processes. Its business model is highly successful due to the motivation and engagement of its employees, who see themselves as “sun welders”. They work in shifts from sunrise to sunset in order to make maximum use of the photovoltaic power produced throughout the day.
• La Page Original, a Spanish graphic design and visual communications studio, has only three employees. Yet their engagement has had an impact far beyond the business itself. EMAS has helped them communicate and put into practice their ambitious environmental goals. With this clear message, they have been able to green the buying behaviour of their clients and attract new customers.
• The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Berlin enjoys a high level of recognition for its strong committment to environmental protection and social responsibility. The hotel produces its own honey from beehives on the roof and organises local community projects. Employees feel proud to be a part of the enterprise, which has had a very positive impact on their customer service.