IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

An Environmental Management System could also be referred to as an established set of procedures and routines that help a business to moderate its impacts on the ecosystem and expand its operational efficiency. In this paper, I will use Zoos Victoria as subject to evaluation, assessment and description of EMS integration and inter-relation with ISO14001:2015 and the business environment in general. PART A: REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE REPORTING When fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas are burnt to generate electricity and heat, it produces more greenhouse gas emissions than any other human activity. These emissions make up averagely a quarter of the total global emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2) makes up the massive majority of greenhouse gas emissions while other gases such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are also produced.

Another aspect upheld by Zoos Victoria as clearly stated in Zoos Victoria Environmental Sustainability Plan and Policy (2014 – 2019) is waste management and reduction. Waste materials originate from staff & visitor activities, animal husbandry, horticulture, commercial and industrial processes. Waste reduction manifests a bunch of positives like reduced greenhouse gas emissions, minimization of area needed for landfill, increasing material recovery, reduced environmental impact of materials demand and lessened treatment. As outlined in Zoos Victoria Environmental Sustainability Plan and Policy (2014 – 2019), the following are some of Zoos Victoria’s Environmental Management System objectives that are directly relevant to the greenhouse gas emission aspect: • Develop programs for reducing carbon emission • Continue to develop renewable energy projects • Continue and improve on energy efficiency programs • Continue and improve on water efficiency programs • Continue and improve on office paper reduction programs • Continue and improve on waste and recycling initiatives- Zero Waste to Landfill by 2019 DEVELOP PROGRAMS FOR REDUCING CARBON EMISSION Carbon emission is the number one and most prevalent source of greenhouse gas emissions.

It is therefore one of the most important objectives by Zoos Victoria to develop programs for reducing carbon emission. Most of this data is collected from receipts and the organization can be more efficient by introducing Business Process Analysis (BPA) that would help in documenting implicit data, capture and record manual and non-documented progressions. CONTINUE AND IMPROVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS From Zoos Victoria Environmental Sustainability Plan and Policy (2014 – 2019) it is derived that Zoos Victoria’s target related to this objective is to be world’s most resource efficient zoo by 2019. This target’s measure would be energy consumption reduction. This metric belongs to the operations performance indicator category. Energy is normally consumed in operational activities of the firm. Data to be measured are portable water and recycled water.

Both of these are easily measured in liters (L) but are converted to kiloliters (KL) for reporting purposes. This is done by dividing the raw measure by 1000 since 1 KL is equivalent to 1000 L. Zoos Victoria management can increase efficiency in planning and estimation of water supply by using automated calculations such as the water footprint calculator. CONTINUE AND IMPROVE ON OFFICE PAPER REDUCTION PROGRAMS Zoos Victoria’s target that correlates to the objective in question is Paper consumption reduced by 35% by 2019. They have suffered the price in terms of incurring costs, employee resistance, slow decision making and waste of resources. PART B: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ISO 14001 AND ISCA RATING TOOL ISCA CRITERIA ISO14001:2015 requirement ISO 14001:2015 additional element ISO 14001:2015 further detail Additional elements MAN-1 Sustainability leadership and commitment 5.

1 Leadership and commitment 5. 2 Environmental Policy 6. 1 Environmental objectives Environmental targets in project contracts is a specific detailed example of "outsourced processes controlled or influenced" (8. 3 Management review N/A N/A MAN-5 Reporting and review 9. 3 Management review 7. 3 Awareness 9. 1 Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation “Previous versions of the draft standard also contained the term stakeholder” who is anyone that can influence or be influence by the firm’s actions, objectives and procedures. 2) Decent “stakeholder” supervision will not clear the path of potential hindrances and will aggressively sustain effective growth and advance the quality of the end results MAN-6 Knowledge sharing 7. Ecological concerns may manifest as permanent or temporary changes to the water, atmosphere and land due to human actions. This will result into influences that may be either irreversible or reversible.

Communal matters may arise in the office of a customer and may also affect adjacent groups. A client’s execution in the extents given below can signify social and environmental risks to the operation: i. Wastewater and water quality ii. Cultural heritage xiii. Wastes PART C: MANAGEMENT REVIEW In the previous researches, we have determined that Kiam’s zoo is trying to become a zero-carbon organization and achieve sustainable operations. An interview was conducted and it was noted the zoo’s EMS has some non-conformities to ISO14001:2015 and some areas where total potential has not been fully realized. This could be a major hindrance to the goals and objectives of the firm as we so clearly set out in Zoos Victoria Environmental Sustainability Plan and Policy (2014 – 2019) and Zoos Victoria Environmental Sustainability Investment Prospectus (2014-19).

Below I give my recommendations on how Zoo’s Victoria can improve their EMS and capitalize on opportunities on the major elements of an EMS. This is because it is the first step to changing a business’s overall philosophy. A change in philosophy is important for a smooth transition to adopting the 14001:2015 standards. This is because one has to change the mindset, not just the systems for successful integration. Monitoring, Measurement, Analysis and Evaluation Measurement, monitoring, analysis, and evaluation are all critical factors in the assessment of EMS performance. The main objective is to reflect the qualitative and quantitative execution of the EMS and to relay back the degree to which procedures meet their specified objectives. Nonconformity and Corrective Action After a non-conformity occurs, the organization can react in two ways: by controlling and correcting the situation or by dealing with the penalties.

The next step is to determine the root cause(s), evaluate if the cause(s) needs to be eliminated to ensure the nonconformity does not occur in the future and finally implementation of corrective actions. Zoos Victoria met all the criteria and no conformities were identified. However, all changes brought about by the implementations of the preventive and corrective action needs to be recorded and well preserved. Good records will help the zoo do the following: • Monitor the development of the business • Prepare your fiscal accounts • Recognize sources of your revenue • Keep track of deductible costs • Keep track of your basis in assets • Formulate your tax returns • Support items reported on your tax returns Environmental Aspects Environmental aspect is any part of a firm’s operations that interact with the environment.