Fth stage Environmental Management Dr.

Sabreen Lateef

Lecture 2:

Environmental Policy:

An environmental policy is a document prepared by the company which clearly

sets out its overall aims and intentions with respect to the environment.

Developing an environmental policy is often the first step taken by

firms/companies who wish to undertake environmental management. .

‫تنفيذ‬. ‫السياسة البيئية هي وثيقة تعرض بوضوح االهداف العامة والمعاني التي تحددها الشركة بالنسبة للبيئة‬

‫السياسة البيئية هي الخطوة االولى التي تقوم بها الشركة للمباشرة بنظام االدارة البيئية وتشير السياسة البيئية‬

.‫الى االلتزام باالدارة البيئية واالستعداد لتحقيق المزيد من فعاليات االدارة البيئية‬

Why produce one?

There are a number of reasons for producing an environmental policy:

 Producing a policy is an important first step towards achieving effective

environmental management.

Setting out your aims and intentions with respect to the environment is an

important first step towards achieving effective environmental management.

Having done this, your company can then take the measures necessary to achieve

them. By taking appropriate measures - i.e. by carrying out effective

environmental management - your company can gain the benefits that such

management brings.

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 It provides important information to your external stakeholders on your

aims and intentions with respect to the environment.

Having an environmental policy can enhance your company’s reputation with

your external stakeholders such as your customers and the local community.

Environmental Management Systems:

A system can be thought of as a number of interrelated elements functioning

together to achieve a clearly defined objective.

An environmental management system (EMS) consists of a number of

interrelated elements that function together to achieve the objective of effective

environmental management.

An environmental management system (EMS) enables a firm to manage its

environmental affairs in a planned and systematic way and thus identify those

ways of improving its environmental performance that most benefit its business

performance.

The environmental management practice has evolved into a system called

environmental management system (EMS). The EMS quickly spread among

various organizations in developed countries , mainly the UK, the Netherlands

and the Nordic countries .

The Business Council for Sustainable Developments had made a request for the

standardization of the environment management practices to the United Nation

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committee on environment and development which is turn passed the request to

the international organization for standardization (ISO) in April 1991.

ISO is the International Organization for Standardization. It is made up of

national standards institutes from countries large and small, industrialized and

developing, in all regions of the world. ISO develops voluntary technical

standards which add value to all types of business operations. They contribute to

making the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services

more efficient, safer and cleaner. They make trade between countries easier and

fairer. ISO standards also serve to safeguard consumers and users in general of

products and services and to make their lives simpler.

Technical Committee (TC) 207 were formed in June 1993 to standardize the

EMS, the resulting documents are the ISO14000 series .

The first ISO 14000 series standards was published in September 1996 which
include
1. Environmental Management Systems (EMS ISO 14001)
2. Environmental Auditing (EA ISO 14010)
3. Environmental Labelling (EL ISO 14020)
4. Environmental Performance Evaluation (EPE ISO 14031)
5. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA ISO 14040)

Although each standards in the ISO 14000 series has its own application , all the

standards in ISO 14000 series can be classified in two main categories based on

the application targets :

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One : is for the system standards (14001,14010,14031)

Two: is for the product standards (14020, 14040)

EL are the ultimate application of the ISO 14000 series for the corporation .

EA,LCA and EPE standards are situated in between. This indicates that they serve

as a bridge between EMS and EL. EA is needed to ensure proper implementation

of EMS, as is EPE .

LCA is used to identify key environmental aspects of product or service such that

the LCA results can be both used for the identification of key issues and for the

implementation of EMS and EL.as shown in fig (1).

EA

EMS LCA EL

EPE

FIG (1): Relationship between the ISO 14000 series of standards.

Environmental Management System –Overview of elements (EMS) (ISO

14001):

The ISO 14000 Environmental Management System is a management system that

is compatible with the ISO 9000 Quality management system .

Many of their elements are similar in concepts, however the ISO 14000

Environmental Management System (EMS) is based on the Plan, DO, Check

and Act management model .

The Plan, DO, Check and Act (PDCA) concepts form the basis of ISO 14000.

The PDCA cycle can be put as a procedure which requires organizations to ask

themselves the following questions:

1- Where are you now?

2- Where do you want to go?

3- What is the gap between where you are and where you want to go?

4- How do you close the gap and get there?

5- What do you need to close the gap and to go there?

6- How do you know you have arrived?

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Fig (2): The PDCA cycle

The ISO 14001 is guided by the five principles :

 Principle 1: Commitment and Policy:

Environmental policy: Develop a statement of your organization’s commitment

to the environment. Use this policy as a framework for planning and action.

 Principle 2: Planning:

Environmental aspects : Identify environmental attributes of your products,

activities and services. Determine those that could have significant impact on

the environment.

Legal and other requirements : Identify and ensure access to relevant laws and

regulations, as well as other requirements (trade association, local government

initiatives, etc.) that your organization must meet and follow.

Objectives and targets : Establish environmental goals for your facility,

consistent with your policy, environmental impacts, and the views of

interested parties.

Environmental management program: Create plans of action necessary to

achieve your objectives and targets.

 Principle 3: Implementation :

Structure and responsibility : Establish roles and responsibilities for

environmental management and provide appropriate resources. (Resources

include human resources, technology and financial resources.)

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Training, awareness and competence : Ensure that employees are trained and

capable of carrying out their environmental responsibilities under the EMS.

Communication: Establish processes for internal and external communications

on environmental management issues.

EMS documentation (EMS Manual) :Maintain information on your

organization’s EMS. Define, be consistent, and provide an overview of your

EMS’s key policies, procedures, and related documents.

Document control : The firm must establish procedures for controlling all the

documents required by ISO 14001 to ensure, for instance, that they can be located

and that they are periodically reviewed, revised as necessary and approved by

authorized personnel.

Operational control : Identify, plan and manage your operations and services in

line with your policy, priority environmental issues, and objectives and targets.

Emergency preparedness and response : Identify potential emergencies and

develop procedures for preventing and responding to them.

 Principle 4: Measurement and Evaluation:

Monitoring and measurement : The firm must establish and maintain

documented procedures to monitor and measure on a regular basis, those areas

covered by the objectives and targets in order to see if the objectives and targets

have been met. The firm must also establish and maintain a documented procedure

for periodically evaluating compliance with relevant environmental legislation

and regulations.

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Nonconformance and corrective and preventive action: Identify and correct

problems and prevent their recurrence.

Records : Maintain and manage (access, retention, disposition) EMS records

(training, audits, performance, etc.).

EMS audit : Periodically verify, internally and/or through a third-party, that your

EMS is operating as intended.

 Principle 5: Review and Improvement:

Management review: periodically review your EMS with an eye to continual

improvement.

Fig (3): ISO 14001 Principles