EMAS - A EUROPEAN INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT A N ENVIRONMENTALLY BENEFICIAL INDUSTRIAL-ACTIVITY

With the EU-Council Regulation 1836/93 of June 29, 1993 an European wi de valid procedure has been established enabling companies oi the indu strial sector to participate in a voluntary Environmental Management a nd Audit Scheme (EMAS). Its aim is the continous improvement oi the en vironmental performance based on the fulfillment oi relevant environme ntal regulations and the provision oi relevant information to the publ ic, Companies define their own scope of action by the formulation of a n environmental policy, goals, and programmes and the implementation o f an environmental management. In December 1995, with the publication of the national ''Umweltauditgesetz'' (UAG) the German EMAS had come i nto force with some delay, finishing a long discussion between the Ger man government and the industry. Based on experiences from internal en vironmental audits which have been conducted within the firm of Stora since 1988 the board had decided to establish environmental management systems as a part oi the total management at all Stora sites and to p articipate in EMAS after the fulfillment of all relevant requirements. A pilot project at Stora Kabel GmbH in Hagen had been finished succes sfully in September 1995, being the first validated and registered com pany in Germany. Using these experiences now the EMAS participation of other European Stora sites is in preparation.