EMAS (Eco Management and Audit Scheme)

EMAS helps organizations to improve their internal environmental protection autonomously and continually. EMAS stands for “Eco-Management and Audit Scheme”, which is also known under the keyword “Eco-Audit”. EMAS yields the following comprehensive benefits:

• increasing credibility and transparency towards the public in issues relating to environmental protection
• increasing legal certainty
• securing the organization’s future on a long-term basis
• competitive edge enabled by the improvement of the organization’s image among customers, employees, subsuppliers and public authorities
• enhancing the employees’ identification with the organization
• increasing productivity and cost savings
• reducing operating cost by saving energy and raw materials and avoiding waste
• consolidation of administrative decisions and permits based on the Environmental Management Act
• simplification of administration

EMAS focuses on the organizations’ autonomy:

• maintenance and documentation of legal compliance
• documentation of environmental performance in the environmental statement
• identifying and eliminating ecological and economic weaknesses
• reducing costs by saving material or energy

EMAS shall be open to the participation of any organization dedicated to improving its overall environmental performance and internal environmental protection. Companies, craft businesses or business establishments, public institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can also use EMAS as a management system.

According to the EMAS Regulation, the environmental management system does not only have to meet the requirements of Clause 4 of ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System Requirements) but also has to fulfil the following minimum criteria:

Legal compliance
The environmental verifier will declare the environmental statement to be invalid if s/he states during verification, e.g. in the course of sampling, that the organization fails to comply with legal regulations.

Improvement of environmental performance
Organizations shall commit themselves to the continual improvement of their environmental performance.

External communication and relations
The environmental statement is one important communication tool. Furthermore, there should be an open dialogue with the public and other interested parties. This shall be demonstrated to the environmental verifier in the course of an environmental audit.

Employee involvement
The organization shall demonstrate that the employees are actively involved in the design process for sustainable improvement.

Requirements placed by EMAS:

• establishing an environmental management system in order to define, deploy, implement, review and continue environmental policy
• carrying out an internal environmental review
• carrying out an internal environmental audit
• drawing up an environmental statement
• sending the environmental statement to the registration body (competent body)

Quality Austria - Trainings, Zertifizierungs und Begutachtungs GmbH is accredited as competent body by the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK- "Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie").

ISO 9001, ISO 14001, SCC, ISO 45001, Sustainability Reports, eccos^22®, ONR 192500

• Flyer EMAS - pdf (2 MB)