10 years of EMAS and Eco-labels: Welcome!

The first EMAS registration of a Catalonian company was for Sharp Electrónica España S.A., and the first
eco-label conferred upon a product in Catalonia was for Parochial Inter-eco de Pictures Parrot, now Kazoo
Nobel Coatings S.A. Over the course of the past few years, it has evolved and, together with the
Autonomous Community of Madrid, Catalonia leads the number of EMAS-registered organizations in Spain
and ranks fifth in Europe. The most represented sectors are tourism and services, followed by the chemical,
plastics, metals, and electronics sectors.
The EMAS Club, with the support of the Department of the Environment and Housing within Catalonia’s
Autonomous Government (Generalitat), created the first review of Environmental Quality in Catalonia, for the
purpose of implementing a specialized information channel for all those organizations interested in improving
their environmental behavior.

Eco-design applied to RQA

RQA has been designed by the company Tinter, Artes gráficas, ediciones y producciones SAL, an ISO
9001-, 14001-and EMAS-certified company, taking into account the criteria for eco-design. Among other
things, it uses 100% recycled paper with an ecological label; it uses stochastic sheets that minimize the
consumption of inks; when the sheets are handled, neither staples nor glues are used, since they are self-
adhesive. What is produced is a 100% paper mono-product magazine and therefore 100% recyclable.

Interview
Ventura Pobre, Vice President of Operations of SHARP Electrónica España S.A.
He mentioned that his company made the decision to seek an EMAS registration and described a few
incidents that they experienced because they were pioneers in Catalonia.
Since Sharp has integrated EMAS into its daily management, as well as earning an Eco-Label for its LCD
television sets, it has achieved a level of recognition and prestige by which they have gained credibility and a
very significant competitive advantage in Spain, as well as the rest of Europe.
He explained that environmental awareness in EU countries is uneven, since Germany is visibly the most
environmentally aware country, while, at the same time, it is the primary market for his products. He also told
us how its balance is positive after 10 years of environmental management within the EMAS framework,
since, for example its waste management has evolved from the time when garbage was simply sent to
the dump to company-wide recycling more than 99% of the time.
His prognosis is that the market will increasingly demand that the manufacture and development of products
be more committed than ever to the environment and this is the path which his company has pledged to follow
ever more closely, on a daily basis.

Exchange of experiences
With the application of EMAS, Construcciones DECO manages to achieve Joint savings
Construcciones DECO, S.A. is the first Spanish company in the construction sector to have held an EMAS
registration for nearly 5 years.
The environmental policy of its board of directors has been to place value, in financial terms, on the tangible
benefit, for example, of managing the waste generated, as well as of controlling the environmental behavior of
the entire organization.
At the present time, each construction project is equipped with different mechanisms which seek to manage
waste in a better way. The savings achieved with improvements in construction projects is estimated at
around 84,750 € per year.
Among the plans for improving environmental behavior, within the Framework for Corporate Social
Responsibility, actions have been identified for achieving environmental savings, which are linked to an
assistance plan to the Vicent Ferrer Foundation, by collaborating on two projects: becoming a foster
parent to Roja, an Indian child, and by constructing schools in India.

Environmental Legislation
Draft Bill on Environmental Responsibility: summary of its content.
By Eduardo Orteu Berrocal, Civil State Administrator
The purpose of this draft bill is to implement the principle of “he who pollutes, pays” and, secondly, to
reinforce the principle of “prevention” in order to prevent the occurrence of environmental damage.
The liability regulated by law is of an environmental nature, since the goods to be protected are the natural
environment, with the so-called traditional goods, such as those affecting specific industries and their assets,
being excluded from its scope.
One of the innovative aspects of the future law is the unlimited nature of environmental liability.
According to this draft bill, the operators who engage in economic activities and who cause environmental
damage or the threat of damage have the obligation to adopt measures intended to prevent, avoid, or remedy
damage, as needed on a case-by-case basis, as well as the duty to inform the competent public
administration immediately of the nature of the situation involved.
In order to guarantee the effectiveness of the law, the economic operators shown in Appendix III must have
underwritten a financial bond to cover the environmental liability which they could incur, with an
exemption given to those EMAS-registered or ISO 14001-certified organizations that could be liable for
damage, the remedy for which is calculated between 300,000 and 2,000,000 euros. This advantage also
encompasses the use of products involving plant health and safety and biocides for animal breeding and
forestry purposes, as discussed under letters c and d of paragraph 7 in Appendix III.

Environmental Agenda
Workshops and seminars, conferences, courses, masters and postgraduate classes, shows and legal
proceedings from October to December 2007.

EMAS Europe, EMAS Easy: the latest development in Europe.

Interview with Heinz Werner Engel, consultant and advisor on sustainable development and
coordinator of the EMAS Easy Project
He explained the concept of “EMAS Easy” as a methodology to implement an environmental management
system, according to EMAS regulations, for micro- and small-sized companies through an innovative system
called “ecomapping”, where, by means of a highly instructional and systematic methodology using maps of
physical areas of the company, EMAS can be implemented while, at the same time, encouraging the
organization’s staff to be involved from the start of the project.
He described the origin of this new tool, as well as its primary features, which, among others, are: a
considerable reduction in documentation, a reduction in implementation time, and the ease of
maintenance and inspection. The places in Spain where this pilot project is being conducted were listed.

Eco-labels, one step away from EMAS

There was an explanation about what constitutes an Eco-label, due to the growing interest of consumers for
more ecological products. The two systems existing in Catalonia were discussed: the Quality Guarantee
Award (DGQA), which promotes the marketing of products that are environmentally friendly in different
aspects and the European Union eco-label, which is valid for all member states. Tables of products and
services for both systems and a diagram of application procedures and costs were shown.

News bulletin
The company Enplater, S.A. (Ter Plastic Packaging) starts up a solvent recovery plant.

Information Sheet
New EMAS registrations, eco-labels and environmental quality awards conferred in September 2007.