Environmental Management

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a management tool that a business can use to help it manage the environmental aspects of its operation. EMS can help you to manage many aspects in a structured co-ordinated way while at the same time implementing change. Environmental management can also be used to manage your impact on climate change.

In Ireland there are two EMS standards in operation:

• ISO 14001

• EMAS

EMS in Ireland is certified by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) and more information can be found on their website. EMS does not necessarily make you more environmentally friendly, but it does provide you with a system within which improvements can more easily be planned and implemented.

Enterprise Ireland

Enterprise Ireland offer a number of services to SMEs to help them improve their environmental performance.

Envirocentre.ie is an environmental information portal from Enterpise Ireland, designed to enhance environmental awareness and improve performance in Irish industry, with particular emphasis on SMEs.

The Environment and Green Technologies Department provides an information and advice service for industry on many aspects of environmental management including eco-design, waste management, climate change, energy, EMS and REACH.

European Institute for Environment and Sustainablity

The European Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES) has published a guide on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Conducting a LCA will provide insights into the principal environmental issues with a business's product or policy. By following the IES guide, businesses will be enabled to improve the environmental credentials of their products. In the current era of environmental awareness and conservation, this will gain the business a competitive advantage on the market as well as having a positive impact on the environment.  

Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER)

BIER provides an environmental guidance document for companies operating in the beverage industry, entitled Beverage Industry Sector Guidance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting, Version 2.0. It is based on The Greenhouse Gas Protocol and Publically Available Specification 2050. Some of the appendices included in the GHG guidance document are beverage retail and home refrigeration, transportation logistics and product distribution, and recycling allocation.