An EMS is defined by ISO14001 as "part of an organisation's management system used to develop and implement its environmental policy and manage its interaction with the environment". An environmental management system (EMS) supports your company's commitment to improving all aspects of its environmental impact. By adopting an Environmental Management System you will be in a position to:

• Reduce raw material, waste and energy costs
  It makes financial sense for your business to understand and identify where there are opportunities to be more efficient and save costs.


• Gain environmental creditability
  It is becoming increasingly common for businesses to be asked to prove their environmental credentials both by customers and suppliers and you may be asked for evidence. An internationally recognised environmental standard such as the ISO 14000 or nationally recognised BS 8555 will help meet this requirement


• Be compliant
  An EMS will help your company meet its legislative requirements and will help you anticipate new legislation. This includes your duties and responsibilities for managing waste and other environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions: the government has set demanding national targets for carbon dioxide emissions reductions and this will eventually affect all organisations.


• Be committed
  By regularly monitoring and reviewing your EMS you will achieve and maintain best practice in a competitive market where the benchmark is continually moving.


• Be ready for change
  A successful EMS will ensure that you periodically re-evaluate your environmental impacts whenever there are changes to your business such as moving to a new site or developing new products

To encourage SMEs to adopt an Environmental Management System, Surrey County Council has licensed an e-learning package for use by Surrey SMEs. This can be accessed via the link below.


Further resources:

• Surrey County Council SME EMS training package