EMAS benefits
Energy and resource savings- Increase revenues by reducing resource use, environmental impacts, and operating costs, leading to improved competitiveness.
- Enjoy energy and material savings that exceed the costs of implementing and maintaining EMAS, benefiting organisations of all sizes.
Employee involvement- Engage employees with innovative solutions, improved performance, and enhanced loyalty and create a positive work environment.
Expanded market opportunities- Retain existing customers and win new business by showcasing your EMAS registration. Fulfil environmental management requirements in public procurement and streamline business-to-business procedures.
Publicly available environmental statement- Use your validated environmental statement to demonstrate and promote your environmental accomplishments and progress to customers and suppliers.
Environmental compliance- Ensure compliance with environmental regulations, building positive relationships with regulatory authorities.
Stronger stakeholder relations- Build trust with stakeholders, particularly in public administration and service sectors.
Regulatory relief- Gain advantages like simplified reporting obligations, fewer inspections, reduced waste fees, and longer permit renewal periods.
- Discover the Compendium of EMAS promotion and incentives in the Member States
EMAS logo
- Display the EMAS logo to showcase your dedication to environmental improvement. The EMAS logo serves as a powerful visual communication and marketing tool.
- Find out more about the use of the logo in the EMAS User’s Guide.
- Generate your own logo:
Follow these steps to generate the EMAS logo with your registration number in various image formats:
1. Download the logo generator, a compressed file (.zip)
2. Extract the file
3. Run the Logo Generator
4. Follow the instructions to create your EMAS logo.
EMAS Costs
The costs of implementing EMAS can be grouped into three main categories:
- Internal fixed costs (including validation and verification fees, and registration fees);
- Internal variable costs (related to the internal resources required for implementation, influenced by organisation size and number of employees);
- External costs (such as hiring consultants for EMAS implementation and reporting).
The actual costs can vary based on the size, type, and region of your organisation. Find a summary of the registration costs in the EMAS Member States here.
Who is EMAS for?
1. Which organisations can participate in EMAS?
- EMAS benefits organisations of all sizes, from large multinational companies to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited resources and expertise in environmental management.
- EMAS is open to organisations across all economic sectors, both public and private, and uses NACE codes to identify different types of economic activities.
How can an organisation with multiple sites register with EMAS?
- EMAS allows organisations with multiple sites in different Member States to apply for a single corporate registration.
- The application for a single corporate registration should be made to the Competent Body of the EU Member State where the organisation's headquarters or management centre is located.
Can organisations apply jointly to EMAS?
- Yes, organisations considering EMAS registration are encouraged to collaborate with other organisations to share their experiences, address challenges and reduce costs by pooling resources like consulting or coaching services.
- Some regions and Member States provide support for collaborative EMAS projects and may even award a certificate of recognition from the Competent Body.
- Contact your Competent Body to ask about available programmes in your country/area and explore the potential benefits of participation.
2. What is the geographical scope of EMAS?
- The EMAS Regulation applies to all 27 EU Member States, the 3 European Economic Area Member States (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and European Union Accession Countries.
- EMAS Global allows non-European organisations and European organisations operating in third countries to participate in the scheme. National Competent Bodies have the option to register organisations located outside the EU.
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Equivalence of national management schemes to EMAS
- The EMAS Regulation (Article 45) provides recognition for existing environmental management systems, allowing organisations to leverage their prior work to meet specific EMAS requirements and achieve EMAS registration.
- Competent Bodies may seek recognition of national and regional labels under their jurisdiction under Article 45 of the EMAS Regulation. The decision was published in the Official Journal of the European Union
Step by step to EMAS
- Phase 1: Plan and Prepare
Lay the foundations for effective environmental management under EMAS.
- Define Environmental Management System (EMS) scope: Consider internal and external factors, compliance obligations, organisational units, activities, products, services, and monitoring.
- Decide which entities to register with EMAS: Include co-working spaces and 'ghost kitchens'. Highlight the cluster-based approach and conduct an environmental review to establish your EMS.
- Perform an environmental review: Analyse your organisation's environmental aspects, impacts, and performance in relation to its activities, products, and services.
- Ensure transparency: Declare EMAS implementation, register entire sites, provide clear descriptions of the registered entities for verifiers and Competent Bodies.
- Multi-site considerations:If your organisation operates in multiple sites, decide whether to register sites individually or as a single organisation, considering criteria based on product/services and management systems.
- Phase 2: Define environmental policy
Develop a clear framework and establish commitment for environmental protection within your organisation.
- Establish environmental policy: Outline your organisation's commitments and approach towards environmental protection. Include commitments to legal compliance, pollution prevention, and continual improvement.
- Involve top management: Define your organisation’s core identity for environmental protection. Ensure successful implementation and alignment with your corporate culture.
- Phase 3: Develop environmental programme
Set up a comprehensive plan to improve your organisation’s environmental performance.
- Set clear objectives: Define specific environmental goals that align with the organisation's mission and values, ensuring they are measurable and focused on improving environmental performance.
- Identify relevant measures: Determine practical actions and initiatives that address key environmental aspects, considering best practices, industry standards, and legal requirements.
- Establish implementation framework: Assign responsibilities, allocate necessary resources, and develop a timeline for implementing measures, while establishing a monitoring and review process to track progress and make adjustments as needed.
- Phase 4: Establish and implement environmental management system
Systematically identify, manage, and improve your organisation's environmental performance, ensuring compliance with applicable regulations, reducing environmental impacts, and promoting sustainability.
- Define roles and responsibilities: Clearly define the tasks, authority, and resources required for effective environmental management.
- Determine compliance obligations: Identify and evaluate legal and environmental requirements to ensure compliance.
- Engage employees and provide training: Involve employees at all levels, assess training needs, and promote environmental awareness.
- Establish communication procedures: Develop internal and external communication channels to share information, engage with stakeholders and publish environmental statements.
- Phase 5: Internal audit
Assess the organisation's environmental management system and performance to ensure compliance, identify areas for improvement, and provide management with necessary information for evaluation.
- Establish an internal environmental audit procedure: Develop a documented procedure for systematically evaluating the organsation's environmental performance and management system.
- Conduct systematic evaluations: Perform objective and periodic assessments of the organisation's environmental performance, ensuring compliance with EMAS requirements and proper implementation of the management system.
- Set up an audit program: Establish a plan outlining the scope, frequency, and methods of internal audits, allocating necessary resources, and identifying preventive measures.
- Perform regular internal audits: Carry out audits on a yearly basis to assess significant environmental aspects, identify weaknesses or instances of non-compliance, and propose corrective actions.
- Document findings and propose corrective actions: Record the findings of the environmental audits, summarise them in a report, and suggest appropriate measures to address the issues identified and improve environmental performance.
- Phase 6: Create environmental statement
Provide a transparent overview of your organisation's environmental performance and promote accountability and continuous improvement in environmental management.
- Prepare environmental statement: Compose a comprehensive document that outlines the organisation's activities, environmental impacts, and implemented measures to mitigate those impacts, effectively communicating the organisation's environmental performance.
- Minimum requirements for the environmental statement: Ensure compliance with regulatory authorities' minimum requirements by including key information such as energy consumption, waste generation, and greenhouse gas emissions in the environmental statement.
- Core indicators and other relevant environmental performance indicators: Include essential metrics like water usage, carbon footprint and air emissions as core indicators in the environmental statement. Additionally, consider incorporating other pertinent environmental performance indicators that align with the organisation's specific activities and environmental impacts.
- Phase 7: External verification
Assess and validate your organisation's compliance with EMAS requirements, legal regulations, and environmental performance improvements.
- Determine accreditation requirements based on NACE codes: Understand the specific criteria for accrediting environmental verifiers that match the organisation's NACE code.
- Select an accredited verifier specialised in the organisation's NACE code: Choose a certified environmental verifier who has expertise in the organisation's specific NACE code.
- Collaborate with the verifier to ensure compliance and prepare for assessment: Work closely with the verifier to develop the assessment and audit programme, provide necessary documents, and ensure compliance with EMAS and legal requirements.
- Verify compliance, address non-conformities, and validate the environmental statement: Conduct the verification process to confirm compliance with EMAS and legal requirements, address any identified non-conformities, and validate the accuracy of the environmental statement.
- Phase 8: Join the EMAS Register
Provide official recognition and documentation of an organisation's compliance with the EMAS Regulation and its commitment to environmental management.
- Submit the application to the Competent Body: Submit your application for registration to the locally responsible Competent Body, providing all required documents and information.
- Verification and evaluation by the Competent Body: The Competent Body checks the submitted documents, verifies the implementation of the environmental management system, and ensures compliance with EMAS requirements. The Competent Body also reviews any relevant complaints or possible breaches of legal requirements.
To understand the detailed steps involved in the EMAS registration process, please refer to the comprehensive EMAS User Guide.