Certification as a tool for environmental management

Transcription

1 Certification as a tool for environmental management D. Andreis & M. Panzieri Rina SpA, Italy Abstract Certification following different International Standards and Regulations is widely spreading both among public administrations and private activities as a fundamental tool to apply sustainable development principles. The aim of this paper is to present, through real experiences, the different schemes of certification that can be applied by different types of organizations existing inside a city. Environmental certification of Italian public administrations such as the City of Forte dei Marmi and the Province of Siena certified against the international standards ISO [1] or the City of Varese Ligure certified against the European EMAS [2] regulations are shown. Applications of ISO and EMAS, together with other types of certification, such as EPD (Environmental Product Certification) following ISO [3] international standard, or quality and social certifications following respectively ISO 9001 [4] and SA 8000 [5] international standards are presented for industrial activities such as waste disposal societies, agricultural systems such as wine production, tourist activities such as hotels and camping, consulting societies, banks, etc. The paper shows how different schemes of certification, able to consider economic, environmental and social factors, employed contemporarily by the different organizations operating inside a city, can help to plan future development in order to make the city sustainable. Keywords: environmental certification, ISO 14001, EMAS, ISO 9001, SA 8000, OHSAS 18001, EPD, sustainable development.

2 166 The Sustainable City III 1 Introduction In order to meet sustainable development principles, environmental management, cannot be actuated without considering social and economic factors: environmental management is necessarily involved with economic and social management for a long-term development. In the last years certification of management systems against different international standards and regulations is widely spreading all over the word, taking place both among private activities and public administrations. Given that adhesion to certification is a voluntary act, an organization which intends to certify can choose among a relevant variety of certification schemes, depending on different necessities; if the main target is to obtain the environmental performance improvement, environmental certification will be chosen, if the main target is quality and customer s satisfaction improvement, the reference scheme will be quality certification, if demonstration of ethic principle respect is researched, social certification will be the choice, if safety improvement is the target, safety certification will be chosen. An important aspect connected to certification is visibility to stakeholders, a factor which often pushes organizations to certify in that it implies an improvement of the organization image and can offer an economic return, thus contributing to sustainability. 2 Certification schemes involved in environmental management Here we will briefly describe the main types of certification schemes which are involved with environmental management or, more exactly, with sustainable management in that, dealing with environmental management, not only environmental certification, but also other types of certification focused on other aspects (i.e. social, economic, safety, etc.) are directly connected. It needs to be underlined that adhesion to every certification scheme is completely voluntary and can be obtained by every organization without limitations of type, dimension, nationality, etc.. Two types of certification can be applied to environmental management systems: ISO [1] and EMAS [2] (Environmental Management and Audit Scheme). ISO international standard requires an organization to continuously improve its environmental performance further than law and regulations limits. Starting from an initial environmental analysis of its environmental status, an organization defines an environmental policy, environmental targets and objectives and develop environmental programs to get them. EMAS is the European regulation for environmental management systems certification; in addition to ISO requirements, it requires the validation by a certification body of an official document compiled by the organization: the environmental declaration. This document is very important for certification visibility, in that it is public and reports synthetically all the information and up-

3 The Sustainable City III 167 to-date data about the organization environmental performance, programs and policy. The management system of an organization can also satisfy quality and safety requirements and can be certified against ISO 9001 [4] or OHSAS [6] standards respectively. It must be underlined that many safety and quality certification requirements are the same as environmental certification. The specific aim of ISO 9001 certification is the continuous improvement of the quality of the products or services of an organization and to satisfy customers expectations. Social accountability certification against SA 8000 [5] can be obtained by those organizations which intend to control the correct application of law and ethic principles such as no children employment, adequate employers retribution, legal time schedule, etc.. Another type of environmental certification is lately taking place: the EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) against ISO [3] standard, which consists in a environmental product declaration based on life cycle analysis and validated by a certification body. It is very important in that it permits to compare, using a scientific method, products of the same type and to make a sort of classification based on their environmental character. It is thus clear how getting this certification could make an organization stronger in the market and improve its image among stakeholders. 3 Certification in a sustainable city To be sustainable a city needs the activities inside its territory to be sustainable. This means that each activity should have a management system considering at the same time environmental, social and economic factors. Thus the optimum should be, in theory, to have all the organizations inside its territory certified against the different standards introduced in the previous paragraph. At present time, of course, mainly due to economic factors, it is unthinkable to have a city and all the activities inside certified against environmental, social, quality and safety standards. Starting from our experience working inside Rina Spa, founded in Genoa in 1861 as shipping classification body, and now the biggest Italian Certification Body, we want to report some relevant experiences of Italian certified organizations. An increasing number of public administrations (about 50) in Italy have decided to get environmental certification and to promote certification of activities inside their territory; relevant examples are the Province of Siena (ISO 14001), The Port Auctority of Livorno (ISO and EMAS), the cities of Varese Ligure (ISO and EMAS), Forte dei Marmi (ISO 14001), Vado Ligure (ISO 14001), Laigueglia (ISO 14001), Cavriago (ISO and EMAS), Quattro Castella (ISO 14001), etc.. A good example of sustainable city, surely one of the best in Italy and probably in the international today landscape, is Siena (Italy), where the Provincial Administration was certified in 2003 against ISO and will soon

4 168 The Sustainable City III get EMAS validation. Inside its territory the Province is promoting certification together with the Camera di Commercio (Market Chamber) in accord to different schemes. The city of Montalcino in the province of Siena was certified ISO in 2003; the biggest waste disposal society in the province, Siena Ambiente spa and all its plants (selection, thermoincynerator, compost, depuration) and its services (differential wastes collection) are certified since 2001 both against ISO and 9001, intends to get OHSAS in 2004 and then to get EMAS; one of the most important Italian banks, Monte dei Paschi di Siena spa, based in Siena, is certified against ISO 9001 and ISO and intends to get SA 8000 and OHSAS 18001; the University of Siena, one of the oldest Italian University, has already obtained ISO 9001 certification for one of its department, and intends to get ISO too. Metalzinco srl, a zincage industry in the south of the province, after ISO 9001, ISO and EMAS, is now getting EPD certification. The public transport company, Train spa, is already certified against ISO 9001, ISO 14001, SA 8000, OHSAS In addition to these, other organizations, are going to start certification iter: wine productions are working for EPD, while tourist activities are interested in getting quality and environmental certification. In the total province of Siena, more than 200 organizations are already certified against ISO 9001 and almost 20 against ISO but this data are more relevant if we consider the importance of the certified organizations and the standards they got: the most relevant provincial waste company, an activity with a high pollution potential, is certified for environment, like the University, the Bank, and the Province. In addition to this it must be underlined how certification of public administrations, has basic importance for directing development of all the organizations (private and public) operating inside the territory. Concerning this it must be regarded the role of Spin-Eco Project developed by the Province and the University of Siena and financed by the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation, which, after certification of the Province, will take to ISO and EMAS certification the cities inside the province. Furthermore cooperation of Chamber of Commerce with the Province is developing to promote certification of organizations inside the territory. 4 Results and conclusions This paper demonstrated how certification can be used to control different aspects of management systems focusing on different viewpoints. The case of Siena Province should be an example to follow for other territories, both in Italy and all over the world. The harmony of the landscape, the pure air and the uncontaminated environment show by themselves to anyone who visits Siena, the correct environmental management of the territory. This management, as demonstrated, is the result of multiple certified management systems operating inside the province. Thus today certification can be rightly considered as the most powerful available tool for environmental management and sustainable development. It would be hoped for future sustainable development of our cities and of human society, to have management systems which consider both

5 The Sustainable City III 169 economic, and quality, environmental, safety and social aspects, that it means organizations should aim to have integrated management systems certified against multiple standards. References [1] UNI EN ISO 14001, Environmental management systems, specification with guidance for use, ISO/TC 207, [2] EMAS (Environmental Management and Audit Scheme) CE n.761, [3] UNI EN ISO 14040: Life Cycle Assessment, Geneva, Switzerland, [4] UNI EN ISO 9001, Quality management systems, requirements, ISO/TC 176, [5] SA 8000, Social Accountability International SA 8000, SAI, [6] OHSAS 18001, Occupational health and safety management systems, BSI, 1999.