EMAS and Circular Economy: A case study in the metal manufacturing industry

Recently the EU to stimulate the European transition to the Circular Economy (CE) has adopted an ambitious package on the subject (COM (2015) 614/2). Among the tools provided by the European institutions for companies willing to adapt their production to the CE principles, one above all could guide this transition: the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). The objective of this study is to analyze how the EMAS regulation can represent an opportunity not only to achieve sustainability objectives but also to support companies' efforts towards CE. The report presents the results of the analysis of 38 Environmental Declarations (DA) of EMAS registered companies in the metal manufacturing sector. Through the analysis of the contents of the DA, this study aims to analyze the companies’ level of application of CE principles, to verify the rate of use of the Annex IV indicators and to identify the new CE indicators introduced by the companies. The results show that EMAS plays a fundamental role in the implementation of CE practices, as it provides companies with a formalized system to manage and communicate the environmental aspects of their processes.