SORTED Guide to Sustainability in Further Education – Part 5 - Estates and Operations – 5.1 Using Environmental Management Systems

Dealing with environmental management is an increasingly complex activity, covering areas as diverse as energy, waste, transport, biodiversity, all to be integrated within the principle activity of the Learning and Skills Sector to provide education and training. Good environmental management can help to ensure a more efficient and effective approach for staff and learners alike:

• Identifying all relevant environmental issues and assigning responsibility for dealing with them.
• Developing and implementing standard procedures for managing them.
• Achieving continuous improvement through target setting and other means.
• Provide data to encourage colleagues to participate in sustainability at college.

The business case for implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS) can provide a number of benefits, including:

• Driving continuous improvement.
• Managing and reducing risks, both within and external to the FE organization.
• Commitment from all levels of participants.
• Greater accountability for delivery actions.
• Help towards prioritising actions.
• Achieving cost savings such as in energy and water.

An EMS is a framework that assists an organisation to manage their environmental impacts, both in terms of reducing and ameliorating significant negative impacts and improving positive impacts. It often has positive implications for improving an organisation’s image as well as its bottom line.

It is a system of procedures and documentation to manage the environmental impacts of an organisation. It should be appropriate to the organisation, and need not be long or complex.

Developing an EMS starts with an understanding of an organisation’s impact on the environment. An environmental policy statement is a clear statement of objectives outlining an organisation’s intentions to minimise its impact on the environment. It demonstrates commitment and provides a starting point for action. An audit of existing consumption and management of energy, waste and water sets out an organisation’s understanding of its impact on the environment, and identifies objectives and targets for improvement, with a view to implementing an effective EMS or adopting a sound sustainability policy.

An EMS is a voluntary undertaking that can be both informal and formal. The formal route involves external verification and accreditation. In the UK, BS EN ISO 14001 is the most widely used standard and the most popular within the UK, followed by the Eco Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS).

Join the EAUC's ISO 14001 Community of Practice for those wanting to facilitate sharing of ideas, experience and best practice related to ISO 14001.