Environmental Management
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ISO 14000
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Environmental Management Systems
Implementing an environmental management system is always connected
with a number of benefits for the company in question. These benefits
may be characterized by the following keywords: improved image,
economic and competitive advantages as well as protection against
environment-related risks through improved organisation of corporate
environmental protection.
Historically speaking, the development of environmental management
systems was based on the idea that, when it comes to handling and
preventing potential environmental risks, a “required/actual“
comparison is not sufficient, because the companies would also have to
restructure. On the basis of international proposals drawn up in the
summer of 1993, a draft version of ISO 14001 “Environmental
Management Systems“ was published in 1995. This standard was
subsequently passed the following year, officially recognised by
the EU Commission in March 1997, and last revised in 2004.
The standard ISO 14001 contains the requirements for the company’s
environmental management system and thus helps the companies/plants to
improve substantially over the long term in the field of environmental
protection. It consists of the binding text of the standard and three
appendices for information. The essential elements according to ISO
14001 are as follows: environmental policy, planning, implementation
and application, inspection and corrective measures and, finally,
management review. Each of these main elements is subdivided into a
number of more specific categories.
The external inspection and verification of the successful
introduction of an environmental management system, i.e. the so-called
‘Certification’, is performed by auditors from a certification
body authorized by an Accreditation Body (e.g. UKAS in the United Kingdom).
This is done on the basis of the following procedures: employee
surveys, observation of working procedures, visual inspection of
environment-related plants, equipment and preventive actions and,
finally, the review of records and documents. These procedures
altogether ensure that the environmental management system is suitable
and efficiently applied.
Members of the TÜV NORD Group have been accredited by various Accreditation Bodies
(e.g. RvA, TGA, etc) to carry out certification according to ISO 14001.
Your contact
TÜV UK Ltd
Surrey House
Surrey Street
Croydon CR9 1XZ
United Kingdom
Ms Jackie Phillips
Tel: 0044-(0)20-8680 7711
Fax: 0044-(0)20-8680 4035
E-Mail: enquiries.uk @ tuv-nord.com
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EMAS
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EC Regulation 1836/93 (EMAS)
Implementing an environmental management system is always connected
with a number of benefits for the company in question. These benefits
may be characterized by the following keywords: improved image,
economic and competitive advantages as well as protection against
environment-related risks through improved organisation of corporate
environmental protection.
Historically speaking, the development of environmental management
systems was based on the idea that, when it comes to handling and
preventing potential environmental risks, a “required/actual“
comparison is not sufficient, for the companies would also have to
restructure. The 1992 British standard BS 7750 Specification for
Environmental Management Systems was the first standard in this field.
Due to its influence and that of the then ISO 9000 series of standards,
Council Regulation 1836/93 was passed on 29 July 1993 regarding the
voluntary involvement of commercial (i.e. manufacturing) companies in
a common system for environmental management and environmental
inspection. This Regulation, whose English title is Eco Management and
Audit Scheme (abbreviated EMAS), came into force on 13 July 1998.
With the Extension Regulation that came into force in February 1998
companies from the service sector, i.e. from the hotel/catering trade,
commerce, the insurance and the finance industries, could take part in
EMAS for the first time.
The external verification of the successful introduction of an
environmental management system, i.e. the so-called ‘Validation’,
is performed by environmental assessors of a Certification Body approved by
a European Accreditation Body (e.g. UKAS).
This is done on the basis of the following procedures: employee
surveys, observation of working procedures, visual inspection of
environment-related plants, equipment and preventive actions and,
finally, the review of records and documents. By applying these
procedures the suitability and effective implementation of the
environmental management system is ensured.
If a validation according to EMAS is planned, an environmental audit,
i.e. a documented initial recording of the current status, and an
environmental declaration have to be drafted in addition to the
procedures listed above.
As far as EMAS is concerned, the TÜV NORD Group have the necessary resources
and approval by through DAU (German Accreditor); the accreditation also covers
some of the most important sectors of the so-called Extension Regulation.
Your contacts
TÜV UK Ltd
Surrey House
Surrey Street
Croydon CR9 1XZ
United Kingdom
Mr Peter Blackwell
Tel: 0044-(0)20-8680 7711
Fax: 0044-(0)20-8680 4035
E-Mail: enquiries.uk @ tuv-nord.com
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Scrap Vehicle Ordinance
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At present between 1.3 and 1.5 million scrap vehicles are disposed of
every year in Germany. If the vehicles are not disposed of in the
correct and proper way, serious environmental problems result. For
this reason, the "Ordinance regarding disposal of scrap vehicles
and the approximation of regulations pertaining to road traffic
law" (in short: Scrap Vehicle Ordinance) was announced in the
German Law Gazette on 10.07.1997. The Scrap Vehicle Ordinance entered
into force on 01.04.1998.
This ordinance requires that vehicle recycling plants are certified by
officially recognised independent experts. TÜV NORD has many years
of experience in the technical inspection of companies. Specialist
independent experts are also available to certify your company.
Your contact
TÜV UK Ltd
Surrey House
Surrey Street
Croydon CR9 1XZ
United Kingdom
Ralf Thomsen
Tel: 0044-(0)20-8680 7711
Fax: 0044-(0)20-8680 4035
E-Mail: enquiries.uk @ tuv-nord.com
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Specialist Waste Disposal Facilities
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Inspection According to § 52 KrW-/AbfG
The purpose of the new law on waste disposal and closed-loop materials
economy (‘Kreislaufwirtschafts- und Abfallgesetz’; KrW-/AbfG) is
twofold: on the one hand, it contributes to promoting the closed-loop
materials economy in order to protect the natural resources, and on
the other hand it serves to make sure that the disposal of waste is
handled in an ecologically harmless manner. Thus this law is intended
to effect a reorientation with regard to the waste disposal law and,
hence, the waste management industry.
It is against this background that the German Federal Government is
empowered on the basis of § 52, section 2 to lay down legal
requirements for specialist waste disposal companies. The term
‘specialist waste disposal company’ designates two kinds of
companies: on the one hand, companies entitled to bear the quality
label of a waste management association recognized according to § 52,
section 3; on the other hand, companies having entered into a
surveillance contract with a technical inspection organization which
provides for at least a one-year inspection. The statutory order on
specialist waste disposal companies regulates the inspection and
certification of such companies by a technical inspection organization
on the basis of a surveillance contract.
It is laid down by the statutory order on specialist waste disposal
companies that any company or operating unit which deals with
collecting, transporting, storing, treating, utilizing or disposing of
waste and which has been certified by a technical inspection
organization is entitled to become a specialist waste disposal
company.
TÜV NORD constitutes an independent and neutral organization of
specialists with many years of experience in the field of technical
inspections. Why not choose TÜV NORD as your competent partner for
inspections according to § 52 KrW-/AbfG
(“Entsorgungsfachbetriebe“)? Following certification by TÜV NORD the
company is entitled to use TÜV NORD’s logo for specialist waste
disposal companies (‘Entsorgungsfachbetrieb’).
Your contacts
TÜV UK Ltd
Surrey House
Surrey Street
Croydon CR9 1XZ
United Kingdom
Ralf Thomsen
Tel: 0044-(0)20-8680 7711
Fax: 0044-(0)20-8680 4035
E-Mail: enquiries.uk @ tuv-nord.com
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