Critical of Environmental Statements - Literature review Example

?Critical Review of Environmental ments Table of Contents Introduction 3 Methodology 3 Aims 3 Evaluating Environmental ment Published In Accordance With the EMAS Regulation 4 Environmental Compliance Issues Faced by Park Communication 6 Legal Compliances Regarding the Environment 6 Objectives and Targets of the Company 6 Performance Data 7 Core Indicators 9 Accompanying Statement of Conformance 10 Conclusion 11 Recommendations 12 12 References 13 Bibliography 14 Appendix 15 Introduction Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a technique designed for organisations to manage and enhance their environmental activities. In the preparation of these schemes, certain factors such as the information needs of the stakeholders or how the organisations could be able to meet those needs would have to be considered. Implementing the EMAS system in the organisation indicates that there is a desire to assess and develop environmental competencies and to enlighten the general public along with other associated parties about liable management practices implementation and efforts made towards sustainable economic growth. A few of the key factors of the EMAS would include openness, periodic provision of the environmental information and transparency. These factors are also vital for the companies to build a confident relationship with the interested entities (EMAS, n.d.). Methodology In the entire evaluation process a primarily qualitative approach will be used. It would intend to evaluate the EMAS environmental statement of Park Communication based on certain benchmarks such as company performances in accordance with EMAS regulations, core indicators of company performances and the organisational goals which is expected to render an in-depth understanding of the environmental compliance practices by Park Communication. Furthermore, using statement checklist the report would present an accompanying statement of conformance that would justify the evaluation. The aspect related to the conformance of environmental statement with the prescribed guidelines will be evaluated from the EMAS environmental statement of Park Communications. Aims This report aims to conduct a critical evaluation of an environmental statement published in accordance with the EMAS regulation. The report would be presented to the Environmental Manager of an organisation i.e. Park Communications. Evaluating Environmental Statement Published In Accordance With the EMAS Regulation This report reviews an EMAS environmental statement of an organisation i.e. Park Communications. In this regard, the report considers the EMAS environmental statement of Park Communications, which sets the objectives for the year 2011. Park Communications is a United Kingdom based organisation which provides ‘one-point-of-contact’ services to translate, distribute and store literature of the people. The company also performs functions such as print reports and accounts, marketing literature, financial prospectuses and government publications among others (Park Communications, n.d.). It has been observed that the company has been quite committed towards the employees, customers, local environment and global environment along with taking every step by considering all these aspects. The company is aware of the fact that whatever it does would certainly have an effect upon the environment, directly as well as indirectly. In this regard, the company has taken a step further and introduced the system of EMAS in the organisation. Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is an initiative designed to enhance the environmental activities of companies. It further aims to identify and reward organisations to take a step further to improve its performance. According to this scheme, companies would have to present reports publicly on a regular basis that could show how they are improving their environmental activities (Park Communications, 2011). Park Communications aims at managing its business in a way that would have less effect on the environment. It has been observed that the company regularly evaluates the effects of its activities to the environment. It applies the principles of reduce, reuse along with recycle in its operations. Moreover it has also been learnt that the company monitors as well as controls its entire process to reduce and prevent pollution. Additionally, the company is also engaged in providing training to its employees and staff about environmental requirements of the company. Moreover, it has been noticed that the company holds regular meetings with its suppliers and conveys them the importance of environment for the company so that they are complying with the environmental responsibilities. The company seems to continuously review the effects of its activities to the environment so that it can improve its environmental performance. Environmental issues have a vital importance for the company. It is using a quality management system that is certified to ISO 9001 and an environmental management system certified to ISO 14001. Both these systems are quite active and aim at continuous improvements. The EMS of the company offers a framework that has the capability to control the effect of the products, services and other activities of the company to the environment. The EMS is observed to be coordinated by a full time information technology (IT) manager. The framework of the EMS of the company is given below (Park Communications, 2011). Environmental Compliance Issues Faced by Park Communication It has been learnt that while determining the environmental effects of the company, it considers several aspects of the operations of the company. The aspects of the business are ranked according to their environmental damage, interested parties and their frequency during normal operating circumstances. It has been learnt that there are three important aspects for the company that are ranked higher which include emission of greenhouse gases, report dust and solvent gases. In regard to direct impact, the company attempts to prevent pollution related to water, air, land as well as the natural resources and production of waste. The company also monitors the impact of the duct and noise in the local community. Indirectly, the company also recognises that practices of suppliers as well as subcontractors which also may impact the environment. Therefore, for this reason, the company continuously encourages its suppliers as well as customers to equally participate in reducing the negative environmental impacts (Park Communications, 2011). Legal Compliances Regarding the Environment Additionally, the company also follows all the legal regulations regarding the environment. Water Act is one of them. According to the Water Act, companies are allowed to use only 36000 litres of water of per day but the company (i.e. Park Communications) only uses 50% of it. Again in terms of the environmental permitting regulations, companies are allowed only 25 tonnes of volatile organic compounds (VOC) with regard to any sheet feed and litho printing activity but Park Communications’ VOC release falls much under that limit. Moreover, the companies are also allowed only 50 tonnes of threshold but the company (i.e. Park Communications) is using only a little amount of that (Park Communications, 2011). Objectives and Targets of the Company Park Communications is aiming to use the EMAS more effectively and develop its environmental performance. The company would also intend to minimise the use of natural resources like energy consumptions and water use among others in their operations. Furthermore, the company would reduce the use of the materials which are seen as detrimental to the environment. It would also aim at recycling the waste through monthly monitoring waste of report, polythene and cardboard to the utmost level to decrease the volume of landfills. The company would also further like to maintain and monitor the objectives with regard to the environmental effects to substantiate the legal compliance. Moreover, the company would target to maintain the low use of water in the coming years. Furthermore, the company would also attempt to maintain the low use of ink and would also aim at using environment friendly ink (Park Communications, 2011). Performance Data The performance of a company could be measured from what the company has done in the preceding year. The company collects data both quarterly and annually to measure its environmental performance. Measurements would be based on the combination of incurred expenditure, consumption or the emission data. The following table would show the difference of the performance of the company in 2009 and 2010 (Park Communications, 2011). Source: (Park Communications, 2011) The obtained data, in relation to the environmental compliance initiatives performed by the organization, revealed that irrespective of such extensive initiatives taken by Park Communication, the competitiveness of the company has been declining. Apparently, the company was able to apply effective waste management strategies, which reduced its landfill wastes from 312 units to 172 units. Alongside, the company was also able to increase the amount of its recycled wastes and simultaneously decrease the proportion of solvent wastes substantially. However, the company had to witness significant rise in its energy usage which also gave rise to its carbon footprints by a substantial extent. This particular finding reveals that the company needs to improve its performances in balancing its energy usage and wastes generated to comply with the environmental standards (Park Communications, 2011). Core Indicators Source: (Park Communications, 2011) Overall, it can be observed that the year i.e. 2011 was a challenging one for the company. It has tried hard to provide the maximum level of performance in terms of the environmental issues. The company would intend to maintain its steady environmental performance in the succeeding years. Accompanying Statement of Conformance The overall review of the EMAS environmental statement of the company depicts that the company is having a good set of environmental policies which would up to an extent facilitate the company to improve its environmental performance. It can be recognised that a basic EMAS environmental statement has to be quite clear and precise (Hunter & Muylle, 1999). In this regard, it is has to be said that the company (i.e. Park Communications) has complied with such terms. According to a standard EMAS environmental statement, companies should have to implement the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in their operations to improve their environmental performance. It has been observed that. Park Communications is effectively implementing the EMAS in their operations. The company also has clear set of environmental policies along with commitments towards the legal compliances. It also endeavours to maintain constant improvement of its environmental performance which is similar to what is required for a standard EMAS environmental statement. Moreover, the company also adheres to all the different rules and regulations regarding the environmental issues. It has been recognized that the company is implementing the environmental management system (EMS) for determining as well as implementing its environmental policies, which is observed to be a crucial aspect for any standard EMAS statement (Wenk, 2005). It can be said from the entire evaluation of the EMAS statement of the company (i.e. Park Communications) that it is quite concerned about the environmental issues. The company monitors its resources and operations in such a way that it has a least effect to the environment. The company has also been involved in encouraging its employees, suppliers as well as customers to reduce detrimental activities that may affect the environment (Tyne Tunnels, 2009). However, there are still certain aspects that are to be included in the EMAS environmental statement of the company. The statement of the company does not mention the number of employees or members that work towards the improvement of the environmental performance of the company. This aspect also has to be included in the EMAS environmental statement. The statement of the company would also have to be clear about how they would achieve the set targets regarding environmental issues. Moreover, the company should also intend to provide the steps followed in the production process and what special care it is taking concerning this aspect to avoid hazardous effect to the environment. Also, the company would have to be more precise about what they spend or the expenditure that occurs in maintaining the environmental performance of the company. It should also have to mention what it does to protect the natural resources. The statement provided by the company is not quite apparent regarding what the company does to make aware the customers and the suppliers as well as the different people associated with it, about its responsibilities towards the environment. The company would have to be more precise and lucid about such aspects. An example of a good EMAS environmental statement would be the one that includes or considers all the environmental issues. It also has to be reliable and effective. It should have a clear environmental policy that would depict what the company intends to achieve in order to enhance its environmental performance. Companies should also need to mention the number of employees or people working towards the accomplishment of the environmental goals. A good environmental statement would also need to have proper planning. Targets could only be achieved when there is a sustainable plan to achieve those aims (South Tipperary County Council, 2010). Conclusion From the overall analysis of the report, it can be summarised that environmental performance of companies is quite important. It has been observed that companies are going a step further to enhance their environmental performance. This report evaluated the EMAS environmental statement of the company, Park Communications of a particular year i.e. 2011. It has been observed from the statement that the company is quite serious and concerned about its environmental performance. The company develops an impressive set of environmental policies with prior commitments towards legal compliance. The company also properly monitors its activities and attempts to use less natural resources and detrimental materials in its operations. However, there are certain aspects that the company should consider in its further operations. From the overall analysis of the report, it can be concluded that EMAS environmental statement is quite significant and it shows the environmental related performance of companies. Companies have to provide their EMAS statement publicly so that everyone could see how they tackle environmental issues. Recommendations From the overall analysis of the report, it has been observed that the EMAS statement of the company could have been more efficient in certain areas. Thus, a few inputs can be recommended to the company for future reference. The company would need to mention the number of employees or people that are involved in shaping the environmental performance of the company. Moreover, it has also been viewed that the approach to achieve the environmental targets of the company is not clearly mentioned in the statement. It is significant to include this aspect. Also, the statement would have been more efficient if the company would have mentioned the steps or processes of production or how they tackle environmental issues while production. These aspects would need to be considered in order to ensure complete conformance with the guidelines. References EMAS. (No Date). Guidance on the EMAS Environmental Statement. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://idec.gr/etiv/documents/Guidance%20on%20the%20EMAS%20environmental%20statement.pdf Hunter, R. & Muylle, K. J. (1999). European Community Deskbook. Environmental Law Institute. Park Communications. (No Date). About Us. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://www.parkcom.co.uk/home.html Park Communications. (2011). EMAS environmental Statement. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://www.parkcom.co.uk/pdf/Park_EMAS_2011.pdf South Tipperary County Council. (2010). EMAS Environmental Statement. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://www.southtippcoco.ie/newenvironmenthome/en/media/EMAS%20statement%202010%20Final.pdf Tyne Tunnels. (2009). A Public Environmental Statement for the Financial Year April 2008 – March 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://www.tt2.co.uk/upload-files/EMASStatement.pdf Wenk, M. S. (2005). The European Union's Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Springer. Bibliography Johnson, D. & Turner, C. (2006). European Business. Routledge. Muntons. (2012). Environmental Statement. Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://www.muntons.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Environment-Statement-2012-1.pdf Visser, W., Matten, D., Pohl, M., Tolhurst, N., Bohmer, K., Ghebremariam, A., Hennigfeld, J. & Huble, S. S. (2010). The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility. John Wiley & Sons. Appendix Evaluation Checklist Part A Points evaluation Criteria Evaluation Weighting factor Score Comments A Individual Elements A.1 General site/company information A.1.1 financial information, number of employees, products/product groups, production processes 1 The information about the financial performance, employees as well as the production process is not satisfactory. A.1.2 history of environmental protection in the company 3 The history of the company’s environmental protection was clear and described well. Calculation of score 2 5 10 A.2 Environmental policy/guidelines A.2.1 statement from management 5 The statement was quite clear and was easy to understand the environmental policy of the company. A.2.2 environmental guidelines/principles 3 The company follows the environmental guidelines and the principle efficiently. Calculation of score 4 5 20 A.3 Environmental Management System A.3.1 overview/organigram, responsibilities for environmental management 3 Responsibilities were explained in the environmental statement. A.3.2 information, involvement and training of employees 1 Training of the employees towards reduction of the environmental impact was not satisfactory. Calculation of score 2 5 10 A.4 Site-specific information on material and energy flows A.4.1 information on main material and energy flows 3 Information regarding the materials and energy flows is satisfactory and could be considered good. A.4.2 systematic review and presentation of inputs and outputs 3 Review and presentation of input and output is done quite well. A.4.3 description of data collection methods and scope 1 The data collection method was not specifically mentioned. Calculation of score 2.3 10 23 A.5 Environmental features of products and services A.5.1 overview of products/services 3 Description about the products and services is good. A.5.2 treatment of significant aspects of product life cycle 3 The company was quite concerned about the aspect of the product life cycle. A.5.3 presentation of significant aspects of product development 1 Not described clearly. Calculation of score 2.3 15 34.5 Points evaluation Criteria Evaluation Weighting factor Score Comments A.6 Analysis and evaluation of environmental problem areas A.6.1 comparison with legal obligations, reference to and analysis of accidents and environmental fines 3 This section is understandable and described clearly. A.6.2 comparison over time and analysis of trends and developments 3 The statement seemed reasonably well given in this regard. A.6.3 use of environmental indicators 1 This aspect of the statement could be considered unsatisfactory. A.6.4 other qualitative evaluation of data 0 No explanation found. Calculation of score 1.75 10 17.5 A.7 Environmental programme and objectives 75% 15% A.7.1 realisation of objectives over time period to which report refers 3 The explanation was quite reasonable. A.7.2 description of objectives 5 Clear and commendable. A.7.3 description of measures 5 Clear and commendable. Calculation of score 4.3 15 64.5 A.8 Economic aspects of environmental protection A.8.1 expenditure and savings 3 Mentioned and explained reasonably well. A.8.2 evaluation of market situation and potential 1 Not satisfied with what mentioned. Calculation of score 2 5 10 A.9 Communication with target groups A.9.1 presentation of past and future activities with target groups 3 Good description. A.9.2 company address, contact person, request for feedback 1 The statement was not satisfactory in this regard. A.9.3 offer of further information and cross reference 0 Not found. Calculation of score 1.33 5 6.65 Result part A 196.15 Evaluation Checklist Part B Points evaluation Criteria Evaluation Weighting factor Score Comments B. Overall quality of content B.1 Credibility B.1.1 Audits 3 Reasonably fine and satisfactory. B.1.2 statement from/recognition of external party 1 Not much was mentioned regarding this section. B.1.3 reference to unsolved problems 1 Not much was made apparent regarding this section. Calculation of score 1.66 5 8.3 B.2 Relevance and clarity B.2.1 focus on important quantitative and qualitative aspects 3 In this regard the statement was quite good. B.2.2 comprehensibility of information 5 The statement was excellent in this regard. B.2.3 clarity and easy to follow presentation and structure 5 All the points were mentioned and explained precisely. Calculation of score 4.3 5 21.5 B.3 Continuity and comparability B.3.1 continuity of report structure, data and evaluation methods 5 Clear and excellent. B.3.2 comparability over time and within specific sector 3 Reasonably good. Calculation of score 4 5 20 Result part B 49.8 Evaluation Checklist Part C C. Quality of communication C.1 Text/language C.1.1 information value of headings 3 Precise and clear. C.1.2 lively style 3 Easily understandable. C.1.3 quick overview of content 3 Calculation of score 3 5 15 C.2 Visual design C.2.1 general attractiveness 3 Reasonably good. C.2.2 quality of pictures 5 Excellent. C.2.3 quality of graphs 5 Clearly mentioned the overall environmental condition of the company. C.2.4 typeset 5 Calculation of score 4.5 5 22.5 Result part C 37.5 Overall Checklist Overall evaluation Score % of total score possible A. Individual elements 196.15 375 max. B. Overall quality of content 49.8 75 max. C. Quality of communication 37.5 50 max. Total 283.45 500 max. Read More