Glossary & Abbreviations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Accreditation/ Accreditation bodies: Accreditation
is the process by which a certification body is authorised to assess
a management system against a particular standard, such as ISO 14001.
Accreditation does NOT apply to certification itself! Accreditation
involves checking that the certification body's formula for assessing
a company is in line with the relevant ISO guidelines. In other words,
an accreditation body is tasked with checking that certification bodies
are capable of providing accredited certification. Accreditation bodies
are also subject to scrutiny and are overseen by the International
Accreditation Forum.
Attribute (environmental performance): An attribute is an overall category to describe environmental performance and it can consist of a number of factors.
B
BAT: Best Available Techniques to minimise environmental impact and improve performance as detailed in the BREF notes and defined in Article 2 (11) of the IPPC Directive.
BOD: Biochemical Oxygen Demand
BREF: BREF (Best available technology REFerence) notes are produced by the European IPPC Bureau to provide reference information for permitting authorities to take into account when determining permit conditions.
BS 8555: This standard may be used by all types of organisations, but is of particular interest to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). It provides a route to ISO 14001 accredited certification, and EMAS registration, through a series of defined phases, each of which can be supported with focused training and auditing. Although developed as a British Standard, there is interest in its application in a number of European countries and in the Far East. This new standard was developed as the result of work done under Project Acorn which was supported by the UK Department of Trade and Industry.
C
Certification/ Certification bodies: Certification is the process by which a company’s system/s is assessed for its conformity in relation to an officially-recognised standard such as ISO 14001. The companies who perform these external assessments (sometimes referred to as audits) may, or may not be, authorised or accredited to do this by an independent accreditation body - which is frequently appointed by government. A certification company issues a ‘certificate of conformity’ to ISO 14001 which should indicate whether it is accredited or not. Only if a certificate has been awarded by an accredited certification body, will a company have achieved ‘accredited certification’ to the appropriate standard – e.g. ISO 14001.
Competent Body: The Competent Body is the government-appointed independent body or organisation responsible for registering organizations to EMAS – i.e. it is responsible for issuing the EMAS registration certificate and entering an organisation’s details onto the EMAS register. In some countries there is one competent body only, but in others there are two or more. Sometimes the Competent Body and the Accreditation Body are governmental organisations, and sometimes they are from the private sector. In other cases, the Competent Body may be a designated authority comprising a mix of public and private sector. All EMAS - appointed competent bodies are required to undertake the tasks set out in the EMAS regulation.
Compliance: This is the process of checking that the conditions of a permit (or law) are met. A regulator assesses whether a company is complying with the conditions of a permit. There is currently no European criteria or guidance on compliance. Companies can also check compliance.
Conformance: This is the process of checking if
a business/firm’s activity conforms with a particular standard
- e.g. the certifier checks conformance to ISO 14001.
D
E
Element (EMS): EMS elements are those identified in BS EN ISO 14001: 1996 EMS specifications and supplemented by the public statement requirements of EC Regulation 761/2001 on EMAS.
EMAS: The European-wide Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is just this – a registration scheme. It is not a different version of ISO 14001 or a separate standard. It is a further way for a company to demonstrate its green credentials, and ISO 14001 certification is a compulsory element. But to qualify for registration, a company must go beyond this and publicly report on, and be accountable for, its environmental achievements, by publishing a regular Environmental Statement. This must be verified by an independent third party (an EMAS verifier). Only after complying with these requirements can a company can formally apply to be registered under the scheme. EMAS differs from ISO 14001 (and other standards) in that a company must comply with legislation – i.e. assurance must be sought from the regulator.
ENAP: ENAP is a two-year Dutch initiative launched in 2002 as part of the European dialogue on Exploring New Approaches in Regulating Industrial Installations. The programme is exploring and sharing new approaches to cost-effective environmental performance contributing to sustainable development.
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Enforcement: Enforcement action is taken by a regulator to ensure an activity that is non-compliant returns to compliance.
Environmental management system (EMS): This is the part of a company's overall management system that includes organisational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining an environmental policy.
Environmental performance: The effectiveness of an site’s actions in reducing any adverse environmental impact arising from its activities.
EU Member States: Current Member States are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
F
G
GJ: Gigajoule, unit of energy equal to 277.77 kWh
GWh: Gigawatt hour, 1,000,000 kWh
H
I
Indicator: An indicator is a quantitative or qualitative performance metric against which one specific aspect of environmental performance can be measured e.g. kg NOx per tonne of product per annum
IPPC: IPPC stands for Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, the requirements for which were set out in 1996 in EU Council Directive 96/61. IPPC aims to control the effects of wide range of industries on the environment by preventing, or where that is not practicable, reducing emissions to air, water and land. It also promotes careful use of resources such as water and electricity.
ISO 14001: This internationally-recognised standard, produced by the International Organization for Standardization, sets out the different elements of an EMS and how they relate to one another. Conformity against the requirements of ISO 14001 can be demonstrated through: self declaration, external certification, or independently accredited external certification.
J
K
KPI: Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
kWh: Kilowatt hour, unit of electricity consumed in an hour.
L
M
Member States: Current Member States are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Monitoring: This may be measurement of direct emissions into or abstractions from the environment, as well as the impacts of those emissions and abstractions.
N
O
P
Permit: Permit is used to mean any set of criteria issued by a regulator or set down in regulations that require a site or activity to operate in a particular way.
Portland Cement Equivalent (PCe) Portland Cement Equivalent (PCe) is a factor used to calculate the equivalent cement tonnage if all the material produced in the cement-making process (clinker) was ground to produce cement. It is defined by the following relationship:
Portland Cement Equivalent (PCe) =
Tonnes of Clinker Produced x
(Tonnes of Cement from grinding/Tonnes of Clinker used in grinding)
Q
R
Regulator: This is the public body responsible for implementing and enforcing legislation. The regulator provides guidance to politicians in relation to that country’s current and future environmental legislation. The activities of regulation (i.e. writing permits; making inspections to check compliance with permits and/or laws; taking enforcement action) vary across Member States. In some countries, regulation is the job of one single body, in others it is distributed and coordinated throughout a number of organisations. The only activity specified at a European level is inspection (under a minimum criteria).
remas: The remas project is investigating whether companies and organisations that have implemented an environmental management system (EMS) achieve improved environmental performance.
S
Site: Those covered by the IPPC regime. The site boundary is defined as the physical site boundary, rather than the IPPC installation boundary.
T
U
V
Verifier: An environmental verifier is the person (or company) responsible for carrying out an external audit of a company as part of the process towards EMAS registration. The verifier’s task is to validate a company’s environmental statement. The requirements of an EMAS verifier are specified in the EMAS Regulation.
W
X
Y
Z