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Home Ecolabelling Providing Information on Voluntary Instruments in Environmental Protection

• Does the company management request an improvement in the environmental profile of the organisation?
• Do you want to let your customers know you are producing goods or providing services of the highest standard?
• Are you striving to change the image of your company?
• Do you desire a better environment?

In all these situations, voluntary instruments can be employed, i.e. instruments exceeding the legislative framework, that gain even more benefit that YOU create.

What are the voluntary instruments?

These include activities (methods, procedures, patterns of behaviour etc.), which are enumerated or standardised at the international level and which are implemented by businesses on voluntary basis, outside the scope of legislation.

What purpose do they serve?

Voluntary activities result in the reduction of negative impacts on the environment due to manufacturing or operating, and, at the same time, strengthen the position of a business or organisation on the market, bolster competitiveness, reputation and, last but not least, increase profit.

Why implement them?

Entrepreneurs and businesses are currently facing extensive environmental legislative requirements. To meet these requirements and at the same time to bolster competitiveness, it is convenient to use voluntary instruments, which will not only ensure the desired reduction in environmental impacts, but can also strengthen the market position.

As a part of its long-term activities, CENIA’s Voluntary Instruments of Environmental Protection Unit offers you information service and organisational support for the following voluntary instruments:

Environmentally Friendly Product /Service, eco-label of the Czech Republic
The Flower, eco-label of the European Union
Eco Management & Audit Scheme (EMAS)
Cleaner Production (CP), preventive strategies for a more effective utilisation of input resources
Type II Environmental Labelling – Self-declared environmental claim
Type III Environmental Labelling – Environmental Product Declaration

From the organisational point of view, the above-mentioned instruments are provided by the Voluntary Instruments of Environmental Protection Unit, a responsible body authorised by the Ministry of the Environment.

Are you not sure which instrument to use to show your business’s eco-friendly attitude and approach? Would you like to know which environmental protection approach is the ideal marketing tool for you? Do you need to make sense of the main voluntary instruments for environmental protection?

As regards other voluntary instruments, you can obtain information directly from us. These include primarily:

• Type II Environmental Labelling – Self-declared environmental claim – a set of information on the impacts of a product on the environment, which a business compiles pursuant to ČSN ISO 14025 and which is published by the business.
• Type III Environmental Labelling – Environmental Product Declaration – a set of information about a business or its products with regard to their impacts on the environment, which the business compiles pursuant to the standard ČSN ISO 14021 and which is published.
• ISO 14001 – a standard of the International Organization for Standardization, i.e. its valid version ČSN EN ISO 14001:2005, whose purpose is to facilitate the implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS) and the management of the organisation’s impact on the environment. The requirements of ISO 14001 are identical with the basic requirements of the EMAS system.
• Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) – provides information on the costs and benefits associated with environmental issues.
• Green Public Procurement (GPP) – state and public institutions preferentially purchase products and services that are friendly to the environment = environmentally friendly (so-called green) public procurement.
• Ecodesign – designing products with an emphasis on reducing impacts detrimental to the environment.
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – provides information on the impacts of a particular system, e.g. of a product, on the environment over its entire life cycle.
• Environmental benchmarking (i.e. comparison with the best) – provides information on the reasons why different businesses affect the environment in different ways.
• Voluntary environmental agreements – contractual obligations related to environmental protection, which are entered into by and between various bodies of public administration and business entities (e.g. businesses or associations) in order to achieve goals related to a more effective environmental protection.
• Environmental reporting – a set of information about the impacts of a business on the environment, which is published by the business.
• Evaluation of cleaner production possibilities – provides information on the causes resulting in negative impacts of a business on the environment and on the possibilities of eliminating some of them.
• Monitoring and Targeting (M&T) – a management system resulting in a reduced consumption of energy and raw materials.

Interconnection of Voluntary Instruments

Voluntary instruments are interconnectable. Environment Management Systems (EMS) can be practically interconnected with most voluntary instruments (e.g. the cleaner production option can be used instead of the initial assessment, the final product can be awarded an eco-label. The eco-label is intended for products; it supplements systemic changes within the business resulting from EMS implementation.) Generally, it can be said that interconnection with the instrument of Evaluation of cleaner production possibilities is most appropriate. The methodology of cleaner production makes it possible to identify the causes of negative environmental impacts of an entity, increasing the emphasis on prevention within Environmental Management Systems; as well as their eco-effectiveness, which can be monitored by means of environment management accounting (EMA).

Interconnection of Voluntary Instruments with other Instruments of Environmental Protection

Voluntary instruments can be successfully combined with other (even legislative) instruments of environmental protection (IPPC – Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control). IPPC and CP (EMAS) – the outcomes resulting from the implementation of cleaner production or EMAS in a business, (which identify the total amount of pollution from production), can be used in the integrated permission proceedings and when issuing the conditions of an integrated permission.
CP and BAT – economical measures implemented within cleaner production often use BAT (Best Available Techniques) and again, they can then be used in the IPPC proceedings.

Besides the voluntary instruments of environmental protection, the following instruments are used worldwide:

• social:
  • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (EU, Green Book, 2001)
  • ISO 26000 (in preparation)
  • OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management System) – systems designed to manage safety and health protection at work can be effectively combined with Quality Management Systems (QMS) and Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and may even be implemented at the same time, i.e. within the so-called Integrated Management System (IMS)
• and economic:
  • Instruments in this area are addressed by the Environmental Economics Unit