1. to look up http://www.gemi.org/
What is GEMI: Global Environmental Management Initiative.
"Improving environmental performance and promoting corporate citizenship contribute to finacial success and shareholder value."
GEMI Value Flow Model
Economic Value pathway: direct, tangible, value divers, such as cos reductions.
Intangible Value Pathway: intangible drivers, such as supply chain efficency, that directly impact economic performance
Stakeholder Value Pathway: environmental and social value drivers that result indirectly in imporved business outcomes.
Noted companies: Abbot, Cabury, Anheuser Busch, CocaCol, 3M, freakin JohnsonDiversey!!
2. Environmental Management Systems: http://www.epa.gov/ems/
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a set of processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency. This Web site provides information and resources related to EMS for businesses, associations, the public, and state and federal agencies.
Basic Information
n EMS allows an organization to systematically manage its environmental and health safety matters. This page provides an overview of how to develop an EMS and why organizations should develop and EMS.
How to Develop an EMS
An EMS is a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing and improving the processes and actions that an organization undertakes to meet its business and environmental goals.
Plan, Do, Check, Act
Most EMS are built on the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" model. This model leads to continual improvement based upon:
Plan
Planning, including identifying environmental aspects and establishing goals
Do
Implementing, including training and operational controls
Check
Checking, including monitoring and corrective action
Act
Reviewing, including progress reviews and acting to make needed changes to the EMS.
Why Develop an EMS?
Benefits
EMS can result in both business and environmental benefits. For example, an EMS may help you:
- Improve environmental performance
- Enhance compliance
- Prevent pollution and conserve resources
- Reduce/mitigate risks
- Attract new customers and markets (or at least retain access to customers and markets with EMS requirements)
- Increase efficiency
- Reduce costs
- Enhance employee morale and possibly enhance recruitment of new employees
- Enhance image with public, regulators, lenders, investors
- Achieve/improve employee awareness of environmental issues and responsibilities
- Qualify for recognition/incentive programs such as the EPA Performance Track Program.
Costs
Developing and implementing an EMS may also have some associated costs, including:
- An investment of internal resources, including staff/employee time
- Costs for training of personnel
- Costs associated with hiring consulting assistance, if needed
- Costs for technical resources to analyze environmental impacts and improvement options, if needed.
Learn more about the costs and benefits of developing an EMS.
For more information about EMS, see the Frequently Asked Questions About EMS.
Elements for Improving Environmental Performance and
Compliance
This document lists 10 elements that are compatible with many EMS models in use,
including ISO 14001. This list is not meant to be a new or competing system. Instead, it is
intended to provide a simple way of checking whether existing or planned EMSs include
elements to help users meet public policy needs of regulatory compliance and environmental
performance that moves beyond compliance. Each user would make its own decision as to
the extent to which it needs to augment its existing or planned EMS by incorporating these
elements. However, users of this guidance document are encouraged to include all 10
elements in their EMSs to achieve maximum environmental benefit.
1. Environmental Policy. The EMS should be based upon a documented and clearly
communicated policy. This policy should set out the organization's commitment
towards a cleaner environment. It should include:
· provision for compliance with environmental requirements;
· commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance,
including in areas not subject to regulation;
· commitment to pollution prevention that emphasizes source reduction;
· commitment to continuous reduction of environmental risks;
· commitment to sharing information with external stakeholders on
environmental performance against all EMS objectives and targets.
2. Environmental Requirements and Voluntary Undertakings. The EMS
should provide a means to identify, explain and communicate all environmental
requirements and voluntary undertakings to all employees, on-site service providers
and contractors, whose work could affect the organization's ability to meet those
requirements and undertakings. Environmental requirements include statutes,
regulations, permits, enforceable agreements. Voluntary undertakings include any
EMS Guidance Document
June 2000 3
environmental principles or industry norms that an organization may choose to adopt.
Examples include voluntary codes of practice for safety, risk management and energy
efficiency issues, where applicable, or sectoral and international environmental
principles such as the CERES principles or the International Chamber of Commerce
Charter for Sustainable Development, among others. The EMS should include
procedures for ensuring that the organization meets these environmental requirements
and voluntary undertakings. The EMS should also specify procedures for anticipating
changes to environmental requirements—including new requirements that may apply
as a result of changes in operations—and incorporating these changes into the EMS.
3. Objectives and Targets. Users of this guidance document should ensure that the
EMS establishes specific objectives and targets for:
· achieving and maintaining compliance with environmental requirements;
· environmental performance demonstrating continuous improvement in
regulated and non-regulated areas;
· pollution prevention that emphasizes source reduction;
· sharing information with external stakeholders on environmental
performance against all EMS objectives and targets.
The EMS should establish appropriate time frames to meet these objectives and
targets. These should be documented and updated as environmental requirements
change or as modifications occur in activities and structures within organizations in
a manner that affects environmental performance. The Enforcement Working Group
encourages organizations that are already performing or seeking to go “beyond
compliance” to report on their progress towards continued environmental
performance and leadership, including reporting on voluntary undertakings.
4. Structure, Responsibility and Resources. The organization should ensure that
it is equipped with sufficient personnel and other resources to meet its objectives and
targets. The EMS should spell out procedures and steps for achieving those objectives
and targets. For example it should define the compliance roles and responsibilities of
environmental protection personnel, specify how they and management will be held
accountable for achieving and maintaining compliance, and describe how
environmental performance and compliance information will be communicated to
relevant employees, on-site service providers, and contractors. The EMS should also
establish procedures for receiving and addressing concerns raised by these personnel
regarding environmental performance and compliance.
5. Operational Control. The EMS should identify and provide for the planning and
management of all the organization’s operations and activities with a view to
achieving the EMS objectives and targets. For example, facility maintenance may be
an important aspect in achieving and maintaining compliance and enhancing
environmental performance.
6. Corrective and Preventive Action and Emergency Procedures. The
organization, through its EMS, should establish and maintain documented procedures
for preventing, detecting, investigating, promptly initiating corrective action, and
reporting (both internally and externally, in accordance with the country’s applicable
laws) any occurrence that may affect the organization's ability to achieve the EMS
Commission for Environmental Cooperation
4 June 2000
objectives and targets. Such measures should pay particular attention to incidents that
may have an effect on compliance with environmental requirements as well as on
environmental performance in regulated and non-regulated areas. Examples of such
situations include equipment malfunctions, operator errors and accidental releases of
hazardous substances. The EMS should also establish documented procedures for
mitigating any adverse impacts on the environment that may be associated with
accidents or emergency situations and for ensuring that similar incidents are avoided.
The EMS should include procedures for tracking any preventive and corrective
actions that are taken. If the environmental violation or incident resulted from a
weakness in the system, the EMS should be updated and refined to minimize the
likelihood of such problems recurring in the future. The EMS should also, to the
extent possible, provide for the testing of emergency procedures.
7. Training, Awareness and Competence. The EMS should establish procedures
to ensure that all personnel (including employees, on-site service providers, and
contractors) whose job responsibilities affect the ability to achieve the EMS objectives
and targets, have been trained and are capable of carrying out these responsibilities.
In particular, the training should highlight means to enhance the ability of personnel
to ensure compliance with environmental requirements and voluntary undertakings
affecting the organization.
8. Organizational Decision-making and Planning. The EMS should describe
how these 10 elements will be integrated into the organization’s overall decisionmaking
and planning, in particular, decisions on capital improvements, product and
process design, training programs, and maintenance activities.
9. Document Control. The EMS should establish procedures to ensure maintenance
of appropriate documentation relating to its objectives and targets and should also
ensure that those records will be adequate for subsequent evaluation and improvement
of the operation of the EMS. For example, it should document the organization’s
state of compliance with environmental requirements as well as environmental
performance relating to non-regulated aspects. All records should be maintained in
accordance with relevant laws for document retention and protection.
10. Continuous Evaluation and Improvement. The EMS should require periodic,
documented and objective auditing of the organization’s performance in achieving
these objectives and targets and on how well the EMS assists the organization in
achieving those objectives and targets. The goal of the review should be to allow
management to bring about overall improvements. The scope and frequency of the
review should depend upon the size and complexity of the organization and other
factors that are determined relevant in each organization and country.
3. http://www.greenbiz.abag.ca.gov/,
The Bay Area Green Business Program verifies that businesses meet higher standards of environmental performance. Our partnership of government agencies and utilities helps local businesses comply with all environmental regulations and take actions to conserve resources, prevent pollution, and minimize waste. We offer motivated businesses and agencies an easy-to-use framework for improving environmental performance. Over 1,000 businesses and public agencies have been certified since 1997. The Program was developed by Bay Area local governments in collaboration with US EPA, Cal EPA Department of Toxic Substances Control and the business community. The Association of Bay Area Governments coordinates the Program, which is implemented by Green Business Coordinators in 9 participating counties. The regional and local programs are funded by their partners, including local and regional government agencies, utilities, special districts and nonprofit organizations that promote environmental compliance, pollution prevention and resource conservation. Some funding also comes from government and non-profit foundation grants.
Review Better: http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp
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