What is an EMS?

• An EMS is a framework that assists an organization in achieving its environmental goals through regular review, evaluation, and advancement of its environmental performance.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a framework that assists an organization in achieving its environmental goals through regular review, evaluation, and advancement of its environmental performance. The presumption is that this regular review and evaluation will pinpoint opportunities for improving and executing the environmental performance of the organization. The EMS itself does not dictate a level of environmental performance that needs to be attained; each organization's EMS is customized to its own particular objectives and targets.

Basic EMS

An EMS helps an organization tackle its regulatory demands in a structured and cost-effective way. This approach can help lower the risk of non-compliance and improve health and safety practices for employees and the community. An EMS can also help tackle non-regulated issues, such as energy conservation. It can encourage greater operational control and employee stewardship. Fundamental elements of an EMS include the following:

• Reviewing the organization's environmental goals;
• Analyzing its environmental impacts and legal requirements (or compliance obligations);
• Establishing environmental objectives and targets to lessen environmental impacts and comply with legal requirements (or compliance obligations);
• Developing programs to meet specified objectives and targets;
• Observing and tracking progress in achieving the objectives;
• Verifying employees' environmental awareness and competence; and,
• Examining progress of the EMS and making improvements.

What are the benefits of implementing an EMS?

• There are numerous potential benefits of implementing an EMS.

Potential benefits of implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS) include the following:

• Lower costs — It improves operating efficiency, environmental compliance, monitoring costs, reduces energy and waste disposal costs, and raises employee productivity.
• Market advantages — An EMS expands a company’s “green” image. Many consumers are seeking out environmentally friendly companies and green products. It is strongly recommended in some markets, and this gives a competitive edge.
• Better credibility — Often times cities, counties, and state governments have annual awards for facilities with strong environmental management practices in places. These awards and mentions allow recognition by local communities, environmental regulators, employees, and environmental groups.
• Enhanced regulatory compliance — It adds consistency and stability to improve control over environmental issues. Companies can better anticipate and control upsets.
• Better environmental performance — Systematic identification and continuous corrections through audits make sure an EMS is current. It helps to measure social, economic, and environmental impacts of operations which improves overall environmental performance.
• Improved employee morale — Employees from all areas of a company can contribute to EMS decision making. Using employees from all operation levels helps ensure an integrated plan that includes all the business’ processes. When employees feel they have a say in day-to-day operations it allows them to take more pride in their work and have a greater sense of company purpose.

What are the main elements of an EMS?

• There are 10 main elements of an EMS.

The following are the 10 main elements of an Environmental Management System (EMS):

1. Environmental policy — Mirror how the organization feels about the environment. Identify environmental impacts of facility processes and goods.
2. Environmental initiatives — Identify practices that affect the organization’s ability to meet requirements and work with programs to promote pollution prevention.
3. Objectives — Develop objectives that are specific to the organization, set timeframes for these objectives, and update them as requirements evolve.
4. Structure, responsibility, and resources — Make sure the organization has the staff and resources to meet objectives.
5. Operational control — Set a procedure to ensure resource management is followed. Create easy procedures to measure and report environmental impacts of processes and goods.
6. Corrective and preventive action — Document methods to identify, fix, and prevent mistakes. Input emergency procedures to lower environmental impacts connected to accidents or emergencies.
7. Training and awareness — Train workers and make sure they can perform necessary duties.
8. Decision-making and planning — Use life-cycle analysis to pinpoint the impact products have on the environment.
9. Recordkeeping — Document steps taken to hit objectives. Consider using electronic documentation to help improve record management.
10. Ongoing review and improvement — Perform periodic objective-based audits of the organization’s performance. Use these to assess the success of pollution prevention efforts.

Environmental Management System (EMS) goals

• Every goal should have a timeline, be specific, and be measurable.

An important part of an Environmental Management System (EMS) is to set goals and create an action plan that will allow your business to achieve ongoing improvement in environmental performance. Every goal should have a timeline, be specific, and be measurable to drive change and track achievements, improvements, and reductions.

The following are tips related to developing goals:

• Ensure that the goals are realistic and fit the organization’s mission and the overall business strategy of the company.
• Decide how to measure performance and identify how each goal relates to the company’s environmental policy. Note that the company needs baseline data (which may need to be developed) to compare progress.
• Set an action plan for achieving these goals.
• Communicate to the EMS team the reasons for picking each goal.
• Measure and monitor progress toward goals regularly.

This is an example of environmental performance goals:

EMS roles and responsibilities

• Top management should designate a management representative.
• Different roles throughout a company must support an EMS for it to be successful.

All Environmental Management System (EMS) responsibilities should be assigned to a certain individual. Assign someone for:

• EMS implementation,
• Training,
• Corrective action, and
• Monitoring environmental performance and compliance.

To start, some businesses find it helpful to designate an EMS management representative, an EMS coordinator, and an EMS team with members from each process area, and then to define the responsibilities of these individuals. As the EMS progresses, responsibilities should be assigned for all EMS-related tasks as they are added. An employee must be competent enough to carry out their assigned responsibilities. An employee also must receive proper training to do EMS-related tasks. This doesn’t have to be a structured training class. A quick chat once a week between a manager and a front-line person on their EMS duties may be more effective than a formal EMS training class. Managers must ensure that any employee assigned an EMS task has enough authority and resources—including time—to carry out the task.

The dynamics of the business will determine who should be responsible for implementing the EMS. Key concepts concerning the assignment of responsibility include:

• Managers must make it clear to employees that they consider EMS activities worthwhile and important. Management leadership is vital to the success of an EMS.
• One person alone cannot develop and implement the entire EMS. An EMS involves everyone.
• All managers must reinforce the importance of the EMS tasks assigned to their employees.
• Those who are given EMS responsibilities must feel confident that management will back them when they are doing EMS tasks.
• If a task is important enough to assign to someone, then enough authority and resources should be made available to that person to get the job done.
• Each person assigned EMS duties should be periodically evaluated on those duties. Include EMS duties in your employee performance plans and compensation policy
• EMS assignments should be documented.

EMS planning

• An EMS should be flexible, results-oriented, and incorporate existing systems.

Keep the following points in mind while planning an Environmental Management System (EMS):

• Make the EMS results-oriented. The EMS should reduce risk and help the company be more compliant while improving environmental performance.
• Be flexible. Design the EMS so that as time goes on, it will adapt. The EMS should change and improve with the business.
• Select a suitable level of detail. Take into consideration the size of the business while planning an EMS. Typically, the larger the company, the more detailed the procedures.
• Incorporate existing systems. If a company already has a system for documentation, create the EMS manual to include that system.
• Start small. A company does not need to tackle every single environmental aspect available. It is fine to pinpoint smaller environmental improvements in specific areas and grow from there over time.
• Think about what would help the business comply with laws, regulations, and permit requirements. Make a list of all the environmental regulations that apply to the company.

EMS audits and evaluations

• All EMS parts should be audited at least annually.

Who does the reviews and why?

A team of two or three managers or employees can conduct an internal assessment. They should not conduct the assessment of their own work area to prevent bias. The results should be organized into a clear format and presented to the owner or president of the company. Evaluating the EMS on a regular basis enables a company to determine what parts of the Environmental Management System (EMS) work well and what needs tweaks. Results should show progress toward goals.

How are EMS evaluations done?

The whole audit process revolves around planning, executing, and reporting. An audit of any kind is the comparison of actual conditions to expected conditions. It is a determination as to whether one is in conformance or not. As a company, conduct annual internal assessments and management briefings. Those doing the assessments should include employee interviews, observations, and documentation.

In the EMS report consider including the following helpful measures of progress:

• Percent of goals achieved;
• Money saved;
• Reductions in number of spills or accidental releases;
• Reductions in air emissions, waste generated, wastewater generated or discharged, or pollutants in wastewater;
• Reductions in energy usage or water usage;
• Reductions in violation notices (if applicable); and
• Overall improvement in compliance history.

Lifecycle analysis

• Materials have environmental impacts throughout their lifecycles.
• Applying a life cycle perspective can help identify opportunities and lead to sustainable solutions that help improve environmental performance, societal image, and economic benefits.

How society uses materials is fundamental to our economic and environmental future. Global competition for finite resources will intensify as world population and economies grow. More productive and less impactful use of materials helps society remain economically competitive, contributes to prosperity, and protects the environment in a resource constrained future.

Both U.S. and global consumption of materials has been increasing rapidly. People have consumed more resources in the last 50 years than all previous history. And of all the materials consumed in the U.S. over the last 100 years, more than half were consumed in the last 25 years. This increasing consumption has come at a cost to the environment, including habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, overly stressed fisheries, and desertification. Material consumption is also associated with an estimated 42 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Failure to find more productive and sustainable ways to extract, use, and manage materials, and change the relationship between material consumption and growth, has grave implications for our economy and society.

By looking at a product’s entire lifecycle, humans can find new opportunities to reduce environmental impacts, conserve resources, and reduce costs. For example, a product is re-designed so, it is manufactured using different, fewer, less toxic and more durable materials. It is designed so that at the end of its useful life it can be readily disassembled. The manufacturer maintains a relationship with the customer to ensure best use of the product, its maintenance and return at end-of-life. This helps the manufacturer identify changing needs of their customers, create customer loyalty, and reduce material supply risk. Further, the manufacturer has a similar relationship with its supply chain, which helps the manufacturer respond more quickly to changing demands, including reducing supply chain environmental impacts.

Materials have environmental impacts throughout their lifecycles. The major stages in a material’s lifecycle is raw material acquisition, materials manufacture, production, use/ reuse/maintenance, movement or transport of materials, and waste management.

Applying a life cycle perspective can help identify opportunities and lead to sustainable solutions that help improve environmental performance, societal image, and economic benefits. Businesses do not always consider their supply chains or the use and end-of-life processes associated with their products. Government actions often focus on a specific country or region, and not on the impacts or benefits that can occur in other regions or that are attributable to their own levels of consumption. Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is researching lifecycle perspectives in the following areas of application:

• Nanotechnology,
• The Li-ion battery project,
• Biofuels,
• Consumer products,
• Impact assessment,
• Energy analysis (Note: Energy is a measure of all the direct and indirect energy of the material, services, and information required to make a product or sustain a system.), and
• Sustainable materials management.