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Environmental Performance Indicators, EPI
Environmental performance indicators
(EPI) concern an
organization’s impacts on living and non-living natural systems, including
ecosystems, land, air and water. EPIs can show clearly how the organization is
performing, and provide a firm basis for future targets and improvements.
The
main criteria used in selecting the appropriate indicators are environmental
relevance, international comparability, and applicability of the information
provided by the indicator. The environmental indicators should:
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provide a representative picture of environmental conditions
and pressures on the environment
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be simple and easy to interpret
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based on international standards and provide a basis for
international comparison
-
adequately documented and of known quality
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updated at regular intervals in accordance to reliable
procedures.
The readers of the environmental report should get a clear and
meaningful picture of the organization's environmental performance. To do this
will involve a range of data types, including:
-
Absolute data - information on performance is usually
collected in terms of absolute units of measurement (e.g. tonnes, cubic
metres, gigajoules, etc) over a given period of time, usually per
annum.
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Trend data - data per annum presented over a number of years
(e.g. total waste to landfill for each year from 1997-2000) helps show
performance trends.
-
Normalized data - makes relationships between figures
visible, by relating two absolute figures to each other. Examples would include cubic meters of water used per employee, kilometres traveled per liter of fuel, the proportion of recycled waste to total
waste, and total CO2 emissions per unit of output.
A number of current
initiatives recommend sets of broadly similar but not identical environmental
indicators. This includes guidance from the
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),
CSR
Europe, etc. Some may be more appropriate for
relatively experienced reporters – others are more basic. However, all
guidelines may be used for environmental reporting.
The European commission have published a guidance for the
implementation, selection and use of environmental performance indicators with
eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) See
link.
Indicators can
be divided into two broad types: indicators relevant to all organizations and
indicators that apply to certain organizations.
Indicators relevant
to all organizations
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Environmental impact |
Absolute data |
Normalized data |
Trend data |
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Greenhouse gas emissions
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Total annual carbon dioxide emissions |
Carbon dioxide emissions per employee, per unit of output, etc. |
Total emissions of carbon dioxide or emissions per employee compared with
previous years |
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Water consumption
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Total annual water consumption |
Water consumption per employee, per unit of output, etc. |
Total consumption or consumption per employee compared with previous years |
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Waste output
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Total annual waste output in tonnes |
Waste output per employee, or per unit of output, etc. |
Total waste or waste per employee compared with previous years |
Indicators relevant to certain
organizations
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Environmental impact |
Indicator |
Comment |
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Airborne Emissions
(other than greenhouse gases)
 |
1. Total tonnes of ozone depleting gases, SO2, NO2,
particulates |
These indicators are only relevant when such gases are being emitted. |
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Resource use and raw materials
 |
1. Total tonnes of raw materials used |
Normalized data that relate tonnes of raw materials input to tonnes or units
of output are normally used. |
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Transport
 |
1. Total fuel
consumed
2. CO2
emissions per 1000 km traveled
3. Vehicle
fill per cent, and empty running per cent
4. Employee
kilometers covered on business travel (road/air/rail)
5. Proportion
of employees traveling alone by car when commuting |
For some companies, employee commuting may be a cause
of significant environmental impact. |
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Energy
 |
1. CO2
emissions by energy type or major use
2. Consumption
by type |
You may also want to supplement the information on
total CO2 emissions from energy use by breaking it down by types
or uses. |
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Water Pollutants
 |
1. Total
discharge of effluent m3
2. m3
effluent per tonne of product |
This may include chemical oxygen demanding emissions
(COD), biochemical oxygen demanding emissions (BOD), particulates or other
materials. |
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Hazardous Waste
 |
1. Total tonnes of hazardous waste generated by type |
If your organization produces specific waste
substances you may want to quantify these separately. |
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Example
RAVEL - RAil VEhicLe eco-efficient design
 In the near future the total environmental impact of all transport systems will
grow in line with the increase of the overall transport volume. Nowadays,
railways are generally considered to be the most environmentally friendly
transport system. Therefore, the transfer of transport capacity to the railways
can reduce the overall environmental impact.
The objective of the RAVEL project
was to develop a workbench consisting of a set of tools that enables the
designer to improve the eco efficiency of railway vehicles during their entire
life cycle by at least 25% (compared to older comparable products). For more
information about the project see
http://repid.imi.chalmers.se/ravel/.
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