In which way can EMAS be a support for companies trying to green their supply chain?
EMAS provides various options for greening a supply chain: it enables the management to set up procedures to evaluate the impact of products on the environment, for example consumption of material and resources, material efficiency, eco-design, etc. It also enables measuring the services of purchasers and suppliers, with for example an evaluation sheet, instructions for on-site workers of suppliers , etc. Most of all, companies and public authorities can choose to select suppliers which have registered for EMAS, in order to make sure that services and products are bought from the supplier with the highest capacity in environmental management. This does not automatically guarantee product specifications, but instead an overall low level of impact on the environment. Public authorities are limited in privileging EMAS organisations in GPP processes by the Directives 2004/18 and 2004/19, which do not allow EMAS registration to be used as a selection criterion. Both Directives might be reworked within the next years.

Given the complexity of supply chains, it seems to be a hard task for companies to implement environmentally sound practices when dealing with suppliers. In which way can EMAS help companies with complexity?
In addition to the above-outlined information, EMAS requires for the purchaser to conduct an evaluation of suppliers regarding the environmental impact of their services and products. The level of evaluation is up to the purchaser, if he regards a certificate (for example ISO 14001, BS 8555, EMAS, etc.) as sufficient evidence, or if he would go to the length of Life Cycle Assessment for each product. In general, the evaluation stops with the direct supplier, no earlier supplier is evaluated.

For the supplier, EMAS is a very robust Environmental Management System through a threefold governmental checking system; therefore, EMAS-registered suppliers will in general demonstrate the highest standard of respecting the environmental legislation and the principal of reducing the impact of services or production on the environment. Only product and service related labels could demonstrate better environmental performance, as these labels are often linked to standardized environmental criteria. However, because of the limited number of products under the various eco-labels, and their sheer number throughout the world, comparability is difficult. Only EMAS guarantees the management of the production/service process.

Under EMAS, certified information about the products’ environmental performance is possible, but only very few companies use this tool, such as Siemens Medical or Bombardier. Several companies, especially in the Model Hohenlohe or in the automotive sector, have confirmed that EMAS has contributed to a better on-time delivery, on-time production, reduction of risks regarding stopped production because of accidents/chemical hazards, etc.

To what extent and how does EMAS represent a guarantee that an EMAS certified company’s suppliers follow environmentally sound practices?
The guarantee is a very high one. EMAS organisations violating environmental legislation will be removed from the EMAS register. The number of organisations which have been removed because of this reason is below 50 in the past years (compared to 5600 registered, this is below 0.01%). There is an EU EMAS register, which offers direct insight if a company has a valid certificate.

The management of an EMAS organisation commits to respecting the environment. There is no guarantee that the production process is the most favourable, but the company has to report regularly in the so-called environmental statement. So the production process is more or less transparent and the environmental outcomes of these processes are recorded and made available to the public. This guarantees that the production process is not more harmful to the environment than necessary.

What is the approach that EMAS sees as more appropriate/effective for companies attempting to achieve green procurement, what elements (e.g. tools, processes) do you see as important?
A first element is to plan an assessment of the suppliers. There are some key elements that should be assessed in the suppliers, and that should be set as targets in the suppliers’ processes, here presented in order of importance. First, the provider should have an Environmental Management System in place (EMAS higher than others), and, second, environmental product labels. A third element is that the supplier would need to commit to purchasers’ environmental requests. Two more things should be assessed in the suppliers: the ability to demonstrate environmental performance as a manufacturer/service provider, and the capacity to provide third party certification of product parameters.

Another measure that is important to implement when attempting to green an SCM is to perform an assessment of purchasing procedures. A policy for environmental purchasing should be developed, as a set of guidelines for green purchasing to be used in the process. It is important and useful that the guidelines include algorithms to evaluate how environmental performance parameters are respected compared to price and quality. A set of marketing policies should be established, with special attention to stimulating of green producers through fixed volume of products bought and to reducing the “war for best price” of green products.

Are there recurring features, elements or traits of a company’s supply structure that you think represent positive factors (or act as hindrances) for a successful EMAS certification, with regard to procurement?
EMAS registration requires no quantitative parameters. Registration is open to all companies and public authorities respecting the pillars of EMAS (management system, third party verification, legal compliance, employee involvement, environmental statement). In practical terms, this implies that there can be EMAS companies that perform very well regarding the environment, but do not or cannot care about green procurement (e.g. because no green chemicals are available in the semi-conductor sector). A thorough green procurement practice will definitely encourage the management to consider EMAS registration in order to prove the efforts regarding the environmental to its own customers. Open communication about the product and service parameters will be most beneficial for the EMAS registration process.

Do you feel that companies in general, and specifically those one who register to EMAS, have sufficient knowledge about how to respond to demands from government, civil society, media for environmental supply chain management?
As far as we know, there has been little research regarding the green procurement performance of EMAS organisations. Therefore we lack quantitative evidence for this question. In sectors where the market is dominated by public authorities’ procurement, the key players quickly react to the change of procurement patterns. The ministry of environment in Austria and the Federal Environment Agency requested their cleaning service supplier to install EMAS, and both the contract holder and the contenders reacted by starting the EMAS implementation. In Spain, consultants receive better assessment results in GPP processes, when they are EMAS registered. Since then the number of consultants under EMAS has multiplied in Spain. Manufacturers in environmentally sensitive sectors quickly react to the need to provide Environmental Management Systems certificates. The governmental control in EMAS will ensure that the certificates are worth the money and demonstrate the capability in Environmental Management.

Can you mention some example of successful cases in which companies, via the EMAS, have managed to achieve a more environmentally sustainable supply chain/green procurement?
Along with the above, companies under Model Hohenlohe. Daimler AG claimed that EMAS registration of supplying filter, tools, machinery and suspension producers have increased quality of the supply chain and reduced the drop out time considerably.