Our environmental management system

The Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts uses an environmental management system (EMS) as a tool for measuring and continually improving our compliance with regulations and management of environmental risks.

Use of the system is part of our commitment to environmental best practice and the prevention of pollution in office management and general operations, as detailed in the Department's environmental management policy.

Since implementing an environmental management system the Department has:

Reduced light and power consumption by 20% from 2.1 million to 1.7 million kWh. This is approximately 44% below the Australian Government Energy Target of 10 000 MJ/pp/annum.
Decreased CO₂ emissions associated with light and power from 2258 tonnes to 254 tonnes
Achieved a waste reduction and recycling rate of approximately 95%
Cut transport CO₂ emissions by 9%
Reduced the number of pool fleet cars from 8 to 5

For information to help other government departments and agencies achieve similar savings see environmental management systems.