12.2.a Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)
Background
The environmental management system EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) is a voluntary instrument of the European Union (EU) that supports organisations of all sizes and sectors in systematically enhancing their environmental performance. Holding an EMAS registration does not necessarily imply that the organisation or its products are fundamentally more environmentally friendly or sustainable than comparable organisations or products.
For initial registration or renewal of EMAS certification, organisations are required to produce a publicly accessible environmental statement. This statement contains essential information on the organisation’s environmental impacts, including data on energy consumption, emissions, material input, water usage, waste generation, and land use with regard to biodiversity. Since 2010, large enterprises have been obliged to update their environmental statement annually. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may do so every two years upon application.
The environmental statement and other internal documents are subject to regular verification – at least once every three years – by independent, state-accredited environmental verifiers. Organisations that successfully complete these audits and have no violations of environmental law or registered complaints are included in the EMAS register.
The EMAS register records both the number of registered organisations and their operational sites. Foreign sites of German EMAS organisations are also listed in the register, but are not included in the scope of this indicator.
Since 2017, companies from certain sectors have been allowed to extend EMAS certification to multiple sites. This so-called multisite procedure was made cross-sectoral at the end of 2023. It enables organisations with numerous, structurally similar locations to have only a representative sample physically audited during initial validation and subsequent inspections.
Organisations may choose to register their sites individually or through group registration in the EMAS register – an aspect that has significantly influenced the development of the indicator.
Although EMAS is a European system, it also has international relevance. In addition to EU Member States, countries such as Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein participate. Several multinational corporations – including BMW, Siemens, Coca-Cola HBC, and Nestlé – implement EMAS even at locations outside the EU. These are listed in the EMAS register but are not included in the number of EMAS sites reported here.
In Germany, various funding programmes support companies in the implementation and maintenance of EMAS. Moreover, EMAS-registered organisations benefit from simplified regulatory environmental inspections in several Länder, as their regular reporting is recognised as evidence of exemplary environmental performance.
Development
Between 2005 and 2024, the number of EMAS-registered sites in Germany increased from 1,958 to 4,533 – an increase of 132%. A decisive factor in this rise was the registration of 1,987 Aldi Süd sites in October 2024, following the described adjustment of the multisite procedure. Compared to the previous year (2023), which recorded 2,455 registered sites, this corresponds to nearly a doubling in site numbers (+84.6%).
The politically defined target of increasing the number of EMAS-registered sites to at least 5,000 by 2030 is likely to be achieved – provided that recent trends continue or that further large-scale group registrations occur. Although the number of EMAS sites had been rising steadily even before 2023, the potential to meet the 2030 target is primarily attributable to the expansion of the multisite procedure.
By contrast, the number of EMAS-registered organisations – irrespective of the number of sites – has remained largely stable since 2020 (1,122 organisations in 2024), following a significant decline in previous years. Overall, this represents a decrease of 24.7% since 2005.
At the same time, the number of employees in EMAS organisations increased from 961,000 in 2005 to 1,258,000 in 2024 – an increase of 30.9%. Compared with the previous year alone (1,180,000 employees), this represents a growth of 6.6% in 2024. The data clearly indicate that EMAS is increasingly being adopted by larger organisations with multiple locations and high employment figures. The introduction of the multisite procedure and the associated reduction in auditing requirements have further strengthened this trend.
Broken down by economic sector, 38.3% of EMAS sites were attributable to the manufacturing industry. Other notable sectors included education and training (6.5%), other services (6.4%), and water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities (6.2%). Some EMAS organisations are assigned to more than one economic sector.
From a regional perspective, in 2024 the highest number of EMAS sites was recorded in Baden-Württemberg (1,239), followed by Bayern (1,108) and Nordrhein-Westfalen (773). In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, only seven EMAS sites were registered.
