Environmental Management System required by new legislation

London – 8 October, 2019 – Kleenwaste is proud to announce the launch of its bespoke Environmental Management System (EMS) advisory service. To be compliant with updated UK environmental permitted guidance, regulated businesses must implement an EMS. Kleenwaste offer a bespoke service, including site assessments, review of existing systems and the individual business needs that will help businesses implement an EMS in line with the new guidance. “UK permitting requirements are evolving and becoming stricter on businesses to reduce their environmental impact. The new EMS requirement is a key example of this, but for many businesses in the SMB segment this is a complex issue requiring detailed knowledge of the legislative landscape. That is where Kleenwaste can help them and take on a large part of the burden for assessment and implementation of an EMS,” according to Kleenwaste’s Head of Compliance, David Cribb.

 

EMS requirement explained

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a set of processes and procedures that enable a business to reduce its environmental impact and increase operating efficiency.

From 7 April 2019, if you have a waste permit that was granted before 6 April 2008 you need to manage and operate your waste activity in line with a written management system. This system should be bespoke to your operation and should describe what you will do to minimise the risk of pollution from the activities covered by your permit. Your risk assessment has to be part of your management system. Any business must have its management system in place before it starts operating and must be implemented fully when the business is in operation. If a business fails to do so, it’s in breach of its permit which can lead to hefty fines or even site closures.

The amount of information a business needs in its management system will depend on how complicated and risky their activities are. If a permit is for low-risk activities, for example a small sewage treatment works, the management system can be simple or if it has a number of permits they may be covered by an overall management system. It may carry out certain things in the same way at different permitted sites and may also have site specific procedures. A business needs to be able to explain what happens at each site and which parts of the overall management system apply. For example at some sites it may need to show it’s carrying out additional measures to prevent pollution because they are nearer to sensitive locations than others.

 

About Kleenwaste

Kleenwaste is part of Safetykleen Europe. Kleenwaste is the UK leader in management of hazardous and industrial waste and waste oil collection. With over 80,000 collections a year, Kleenwaste serves over 450 industries nationwide using its own dedicated fleet of oil tankers and collection vans. Kleenwaste has 19 dedicated waste transfer stations and over 120 employees across the country to serve its customers with managing their waste streams

 

About Safetykleen Europe

Established in the 1973, Safetykleen Europe is the market leader in surface treatment and chemical application services – providing industrial component, part and tool cleaning equipment, tailored chemicals, with regular scheduled services and spent chemical collections.

Safetykleen Europe provides customer efficient outsourcing solutions to address a wide range of critical manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul processes across Metalworking, Transportation and Manufacturing sectors.

With a network of 92 service locations operating across 14 countries throughout Europe, Turkey, Brazil and China, Safetykleen Europe delivers a unique full service proposition, combining a culture of innovation to deliver Productivity, Quality and Compliance to our customers.