Sustainability Report 2016 / 2017

28 Initiative Frosch EMAS in Consumer ’ s Field of Vision EMAS is considered the most demanding, high-quality environmental management system currently on the market. EMAS stands for “Eco-Management and Audit Sche- me” of the European Union, a combination of environmental management and en- vironmental audits. Organizations – primarily medium-sized companies like ours – use this instrument on a large scale. They give the economy important stimulus in sustainability issues but cannot take full advantage of EMAS benefits due to EU restrictions. Companies are allowed to doc­ ument their EMAS activities with use of the logo in advertising, marketing and public relations, but the European Parliament bans use of the EMAS logo on products and their packaging. We see disadvantages for consumers in this practice. They should be able to trust that certifications along the entire supply chain deliver what they promise. Then it would be possible to determine whether a product has earned the “ecological” designation because it has been sustainably produced. Especially in times of great consumer uncertainty, we believe it is necessary to make product and production-related certifications like EMAS more widely available to the consumer. The European Union’s voluntarily used instrument for environmental manage- ment and audits Communication with the public Compliance with legal regulations Continuous improvement in environmental performance Employee involvement