Small is beautiful :)

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Small is beautiful )

• Heinz Werner Engel
• Brussels ECE and INEM international Network of
  Environmental Management
• Eco-counsellor
• hwe_at_skynet.be www.INEM.Org
• Verifying Micro Environmental management systems
• EU- Workshop 24 June 2003

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Verifying small companies

• Micros and their specific problems
• Market pressure and sustainable development
• Standard problems and patterns
• The Test casein social economy
• New Approaches
• Dematerialization of EMS
• Still credible ?
• Can the verifiers coop with this ?
• Et Quanta costa ?

3
20 415 000 SMEs in Europe

• No standard patterns
• Hellas 2
• Italie 3
• Lux Irlande 10
• Job creation
• 57 micros Hellas versus 45 big UK
• Baltic Exception -
• larger SMEs

• 93 Micro 0-9
• 6 small 10-49
• 1 medium 50-250
• 0,2 Big 250 - more

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Characteristics of micro SME s

• Definition gt10 / 92
• Mono-service and product
• Economic pressure
• Local markets
• Family traditions
• Informal organisation
• Very  low management 
• Visual culture

• Different nationalities
• Little access to adult training
• Use of main stream information channels
• Difficulties to access appropriate information
• Do not federate

5
Internal barriers to EMS adoption

• The lack of human resources rather than
• financial ones is the major internal barrier to
• EMS implementation and becomes
• increasingly important as the size of the
• company decreases.
• Practical problems with EMS
• Environmental aspects and assign significance
• How to achieve internal auditor independence in
  SME
• SMEs are largely ill-informed about EMS
• EMS implementation is an interrupted and
  interruptible process in SMEs.

6
External barriers to EMAS adoption

• Support and guidance to implement EMS s
• Gaining consistent quality information
• Experienced consultants of good quality
• Slow Funding mechanisms
• Lack of sector specific guidance
• Material tailored to different sizes of firms
• Insufficient drivers for EMS Adoption
• Uncertainty about the market benefits of EMS
• High costs associated with being certified to ISO
  14001 and registered to EMAS.
• SMEs face inconsistencies in and barriers from
  the certification and verification systems

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Ressources -EMAS Pilotprogram

• Pilot program financed by federal government
• Improve management capacity of NGOs companies
• Cluster program with six SMEs
• Oxfam Retrival Droit et Devoir Entrepeau Cedevar
  Recma
• Be EMAS by November this year
• Create new easy approach so that others may
  follow
• Develop internal capacity to move the entire
  Network to EMS

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The Belgian Network of social economy

• Social economy makes sustainable small business
  with focus on people planet non-profit
• Signals to members honest, fair, socially
  responsible focus on unemployment and transparent
  accounts
• Label Solidair
• Signals to market reliable Partners with
  excellent professional skills Label
  EMAS

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The Belgian Network of social economy
Avenue Cardinal Mercier 53 5000 Namur Tél 081 /
71 15 81 - E-mail info_at_res-sources.be

• 60 members Public private Partnerships
• Job creation and social integration in the
  environmental protection business sector
• Recycling People ) Textile Electronic waste
  Bulky Household equipment Books On site waste
  management
• Part of supply chains of EU DG Adm. and ISO
  companies
• More competition with multi national waste
  management giants

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Electronic Scrap

• 5 workers
• Electronic waste
• Competition with multinationals
• Shredder versus people
• Supply chain of EMAS certified local utilities

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On the spot
11082 Tonnes of waste to recycle

• 6 new jobs per year
• Industrial recyling
• Create local jobs
• Invest in education and training 120 h/ year
• Supply chain of EMAS certified local utilities
  and ISO 14001 Industry

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On the Road to Emas

• Together stronger Individual efforts but
  collective approach
• Learning by doing
• Empower people - focus more on action not on
  paper
• From good will only to real management
• Dematerialize EMAS - shrink ISO 14001
• Informal procedures and ultra light Documentation
• Micro reports
• Cost sharing and Network auditing
• Integrate into business processes
• Adapt proven concepts from baseline assessments
  to real EMS

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All on the learning curve
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Adapt proven concepts of Ecomapping into
certifiable EMAS

• Draw observe
• Evaluate decide
• Document evaluate
• Estimate measure
• Costs indicators

Urban maps
Site maps
Use symbols ! Rank Environmental aspects and
practice
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Customized easy going worksheetsCrunch
RegistersRing fence ISO requirements into one
work itemCorrective actionMeasuring internal
audit
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Lean information the microreport
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On the agenda for Mr. De VIRON

• Verification costs absorbe the entire profit
  margins of small SMEs
• Verifiers request to much documentation
• Verifiers are to dogmatic with EAA and ISO
  guidelines
• Verifiers are more at ease with verifying
  systems than efficiency ,awareness, willingness
  and effectiveness
• Verifiers do not like flexible boundaries
• From EMAS cluster and group certificate to open
  Networks ?
• Verifiers are to tough on legal compliance -
  friendly fire

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Questions to Mr de VIRON

• How could Micros get certified if an audit time
  of 3 days is recommended but we have only 5OO
  Euro on the table ?
• What is the minimum documentation limit you
  accept ?
• Reduce to the Max - are micro reports enough ?
• What is the limit of informal management for
  you .
• Is there still enough space in the guidance and
  standards for creative thinking by auditors.
• Qualification of internal auditors do you need
  to know how to fly a plane if you want to take
  one?

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