1. Introduction to Environmental Management Systems
Dr Colin Sage
Department of Geography, University College Cork

2. Introduction Pressures of running a food & drink SME
Finding orders, making product, paying wages
Environmental Management? You must be joking!
2015: Hottest year for 140K years. CoP21.
EU targets will become inc stringent & IRE will be under  pressure to conform – incl agriculture
Likely that SMEs will find EM a necessity that will be increasingly difficult to do without

3. EU environmental legislation that affects food and drink businesses
EU Directives used to harmonise national laws but are piecemeal:
Energy and climate change policies
Packaging and packaging waste
General waste legislation
Integrated pollution prevention and control
Sustainable consumption and production
Likely to become much more integrated and comprehensive – Circular Economy

4. European Commission’s Circular Economy
Europe to be more competitive, resource-efficient economy
Targets for recycling 75% of packaging waste by 2030, 10% to landfill etc
Eco-design: product design, production process, greater use of renewables
Packaging: to reduce use of plastics / development bio- plastics: marine pollution
Renting, leasing of appliances – not ownership. Ray Anderson.
Food waste: SDG 2030; EC to examine Best Before dates

5. Direct Impacts
Company
Product
/service
impacts
Supply chain
impacts

6. How does the environment impact food businesses?
Legal pressures
European – National legislation
Compliance with regulations: licencing etc
Financial pressures
Lenders & insurers: EMS as important as cash flow manag’nt?
Operational costs: energy, waste, transport costs 
Market pressures
Reputation, branding
Social pressures
Staff, the local community, wider public

7. Environmental management tools
Environmental policy
Environmental management systems
Environmental auditing
Environmental indicators
Life cycle assessment
Environmental labelling
Environmental reporting

8. Environmental policy
Important first step towards achieving effective EM.
Comprises:
A short 1-2 page statement
Clearly identifies the main environmental impacts across the entire business
Identifies regulations that apply - & compliance
Outlines realistic & achievable targets
Sources of information for developing policy:
Other companies' environmental policies;
Your employees; other relevant stakeholders;
Environmental management system (EMS) schemes
Disseminating and Implementing your policy

10. Keswick Brewing Environmental Policy
To promote good environmental practices our Policy aims:
To identify the significant environmental impacts of our activities.
To develop suitable objectives and targets and implement changes minimising our significant environmental impacts during normal, abnormal and emergency conditions.
To comply with relevant legislation, regulation and other requirements relating to our significant environmental impacts.
To prevent pollution, minimise our use of water, electricity & resources. To minimise emissions to the atmosphere, effluents and all waste; endeavouring to re-use, recover or recycle materials wherever possible.
To ensure that environmental responsibilities are defined, communicated and understood at all levels within our organisation and provide appropriate training where needed.
To ensure that suppliers & contractors understand Company Policy & encourage them to develop a responsible approach to environmental issues.

11. Environmental Management Systems
Developed in 1990s for businesses to have effective systems in place & demonstrate compliance
A planned and systematic way to improve the enviro- nmental performance of a company
Assists in licensing; improves operational efficiency & controls costs; new market opportunities/ public image
There are two main EMS certification schemes:
ISO 14001: The international environmental management system standard
EMAS: The EC’s eco-management and audit scheme
Both are globally-recognised accreditation schemes
Origin Green a purely national scheme

12. EMS procedures

13. EMAS = ISO

14. EMS: EMAS and ISO 14001

15. Investing in EMS
Implementing EMS involves internal & external costs: consultancy support, human resources to implement and follow-up measures, inspections, registration fees
Reviewing the company's environmental goals to produce an environmental policy
Setting environmental objectives and targets & putting in place measures to meet them
Monitoring, measuring, recording
Working with employees to ensure their engagement
Reviewing progress of the EMS & making improvements
Periodic auditing to ensure functioning as it should.

16. Potential costs & savings: EMAS
Organisation
size
Potential annual
efficiency savings (€)
Implementation costs of EMAS in Year 1 (€)
Annual costs
(€)
Micro
22 500
10 000
Small
38 000
22 000
Medium
Up to
40 000
17 000
Large
Up to
67 000
39 000

17. Other EM Tools Environmental auditing:
Both EMS require periodic auditing to monitor environmental performance & compliance
Can use consultants or train staff to conduct
Life Cycle Assessment:
To assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life from cradle to grave
Involves compiling inventory of energy & material inputs and environmental releases (incl packaging)
Environmental labelling (eco-labels) eg organic, FT
Environmental reporting: demonstrate your green credentials to your customers & suppliers

18. Conclusions
No escaping from environmental change & the need to make business more resilient
Inescapable that EM will become a requirement
Input costs (energy, water) & waste streams can be reduced through EMS
Food packaging waste of particular concern: smart eco- design principles
Also ensure that food waste minimised with surpluses redistributed (Bia Food Initiative, FoodCloud)
Educate your customers: raise their expectations & enjoy a green dividend!