Welcome to our guide for conducting environmental aspect analysis using the Environmental Aspects module as part of your ISO 14001 project.
This guide aims to help you get started with using our environmental aspects module and to ensure the process is conducted smoothly and efficiently.
Environmental aspect analysis exists to understand how your operations impact the environment – both negatively and positively. By identifying and assessing environmental aspects, you can determine which ones are significant and therefore need to be prioritized in your environmental management work. Environmental aspect analysis is an excellent tool to use as a starting point for setting environmental objectives, planning improvement actions, and ensuring you meet both legal requirements and customer requirements.
Building Understanding
Start by developing an understanding of the area by reading this article:
Brief summary:
An environmental aspect is a part of your operations, products, or services that impacts or can impact the environment. Examples: energy use, waste, air or water emissions, chemical use.
A significant environmental aspect is an environmental aspect that has or can have a significant environmental impact. These are the aspects you need to focus on in your environmental management system.
Environmental impact is the actual change to the environment caused by the environmental aspect – for example, climate impact from energy consumption or soil contamination from chemical emissions.
How to Proceed
A significant part of the work is already done, thanks to the predefined environmental aspects we've provided based on common industries and business types.
What you need to do now is:
- Assign permissions to those who will work with environmental aspects and the environmental management system.
- Review the list of environmental aspects and filter for those relevant to your industry using the "Industry Relevant?" column.
- For each relevant environmental aspect: answer the questions in the "Environmental Aspect Related Questions" column and gather necessary information using the guidance provided.
- Obtain concrete figures and measurements (e.g., energy consumption in kWh, waste quantity in kg) for aspects where relevant.
- Assess each environmental aspect's risk classification based on likelihood and impact.
- Identify which environmental aspects are significant for your operations – consider which aspects can save the most costs, where you have customer requirements, or what your industry focuses on.
- Link environmental aspects to relevant processes in the "Managed by these process(es)" column.
- Add new environmental aspects specific to your operations and remove those that are not applicable.
- Update the information page in Environmental Aspects where you describe how you work with environmental aspect analysis and who is responsible and involved.
- If you're working with an AmpliFlow consultant, notify them that the work is ready for review.
Tips for Successful Implementation
- Ensure everyone working with environmental aspects understands what they are and why the work is being done – connect this to your organizational policy and environmental objectives.
- Involve people from different parts of the organization who have practical knowledge of the various environmental aspects (e.g., production managers, purchasing managers, facility managers).
- Remember that the assessment of significant environmental aspects should be based on both environmental impact AND business value (cost savings, customer requirements, legal requirements, reputational risks).
- Use concrete metrics whenever possible – this facilitates follow-up and goal setting. Make copies of invoices (electricity, waste, water) to get exact figures.
- If the work is divided, be clear about responsibility distribution – who gathers which information?
- Set a clear timeline and schedule any review meetings now.
- Communicate results to internal stakeholders – management team, employees, and others affected by or who can contribute to environmental work.
- Remember that environmental aspect analysis should be reviewed regularly (at least annually) and when operations change.
Column Explanations
- Environmental Aspect: Name of the environmental aspect, e.g., "Total energy use", "Hazardous waste", "Chemical use". This is the central element describing what in your operations affects the environment. All environmental aspects must have a name.
- Environmental Area: Categorization of the environmental aspect into overarching areas such as "Energy", "Waste", "Emissions", "Transportation", "Raw materials", etc. This facilitates grouping and overview of your environmental aspects.
- Environmental Impact neg/pos?: Indicates whether the environmental aspect has a negative or positive environmental impact. Example: "Very negative" for fossil-based energy, "Positive" for recycling, "Very positive" for renewable electricity. This helps you quickly identify both problems and opportunities.
- Industry Relevant?: Yes or No – indicates whether the environmental aspect is relevant to your specific industry. Use this column to filter out aspects that are not applicable to your operations. You can update this based on your own assessment.
- Unit: The unit of measurement you use to measure the environmental aspect, e.g., "kWh/year", "kg/year", "liters/month", "tons COâ‚‚e/year". Concrete measurement units are essential for tracking and setting measurable environmental objectives.
- Environmental Aspect Related Questions: Concrete questions that help you gather the right information about the environmental aspect. Example: "How much electricity do you consume in a year?", "What type of electricity do you purchase?", "How is hazardous waste handled?". Answer these questions to get a complete picture.
- Guidance: Practical tips and instructions for how to find the information. Example: "Make a copy of your latest electricity bill", "Contact your waste provider for volumes", "Review safety data sheets for chemicals". This support makes it easier to gather accurate data.
- Answers: Here you document your actual answers to the questions, e.g., concrete figures, descriptions of current handling or status. This becomes your fact database for environmental work. Consider updating with the year to track development over time.
- Risk classification environment: Assessment of the environmental aspect's risk based on likelihood and consequence. Typically classified as "Low", "Medium", or "High" risk. This assessment helps you prioritize which aspects require the most attention.
- Significant Environmental Aspect?: Yes or No – indicates whether the environmental aspect is assessed as significant for your operations. Significant environmental aspects are those you should focus on in your environmental management system, set goals for, and monitor regularly. Base the assessment on risk classification, business value, legal requirements, and stakeholder requirements.
- Managed by these process(es): Link the environmental aspect to the processes in your process map where the aspect occurs or is managed. Example: "Purchasing", "Production", "Logistics". This creates a clear connection between environmental work and your daily practices.
- Actions/Improvements: Document suggestions for concrete actions or improvements to reduce negative environmental impact or strengthen positive impact. Example: "Switch to renewable electricity", "Install motion-controlled lighting", "Implement source separation in all facilities".
- Environmental Targets: Link to a related environmental target in AmpliFlow where you manage follow-up and goal steering connected to this environmental aspect. By linking aspects to targets, you create clear traceability and can track your progress over time.
- Comments: Free text for other comments, notes, or context important for understanding the environmental aspect. Use this field to document special circumstances, history, or future plans.
Practical Example
Company: European manufacturing company with 50 employees
Environmental Aspect: Total energy use
Environmental Area: Energy
Environmental Impact neg/pos?: Very negative
Industry Relevant?: Yes
Unit: kWh/year
Environmental Aspect Related Questions: How much electricity do you consume in a year? What type of electricity do you purchase?
Guidance: Make a copy of your latest electricity bill and check energy mix
Answers: 2024: 450,000 kWh/year. Energy mix: 60% hydropower, 30% wind power, 10% nuclear power (eco-labeled)
Risk classification environment: High (large volumes, significant climate impact)
Significant Environmental Aspect?: Yes
Managed by these process(es): Production, Facility Management
Actions/Improvements: Energy mapping to identify savings opportunities. Install solar panels on roof.
Environmental Targets: [Link to target: "Reduce energy consumption by 15% by 2027"]
Comments: Electricity consumption has increased 8% in the past year due to expanded production. Should be given high priority in environmental work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many environmental aspects should we have?
It varies depending on the business, but most companies identify 15-30 environmental aspects, of which 5-10 are assessed as significant. Focus on quality over quantity.
How often should we update the environmental aspect analysis?
At least once a year, but also when operations change significantly (new products, new facilities, new processes, new legal requirements).
What is the difference between environmental aspect and environmental impact?
The environmental aspect is the source (e.g., "energy use"), the environmental impact is the effect on the environment (e.g., "climate impact from carbon dioxide emissions").
How do we know which environmental aspects are significant?
Assess based on: scope of environmental impact, legal requirements, customer requirements, cost savings potential, stakeholder expectations, and ability to influence. Your consultant can help you with this prioritization.
By following this guide, we hope you have a smooth and efficient experience with environmental aspect analysis in AmpliFlow. If you have any questions or need additional support, please don't hesitate to contact our support.
Contact:
‍
