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ENVIRONMENT IN FOCUS.
PROTECTION IS OUR GOAL
PROTECTION IS OUR GOAL
Edison expresses its concern for the environment by striving to comply with the relevant laws, by continuously improving its performance, by researching and using materials and technologies that have a limited impact on the environment and by interacting and cooperating with other parties.
The Company’s awareness of environmental issues is demonstrated by many of the elements that characterize how we approach these issues. First of all, the Group adopted integrated and certified systems specifically designed to help Edison implement its environmental policy in a concrete fashion. The Group is also committed to a continuous and voluntary improvement of its performance that goes well beyond mere compliance with the applicable regulations.
After securing certification for virtually all of its locations, the Group proceeded to structure environmental management systems (UNI EN ISO 14001 Standard and EMAS Regulation No. 761/2001), health and safety management systems (BSI OHSAS 18001) and quality management systems (UNI EN ISO 9001 Standard) for entire key corporate organizations, with the goal of consolidating the inclusion of environmental and safety concerns in operational management procedures and decision-making processes.
In 1994, it began publishing a Group Environmental Report that was honored with numerous awards over the years. Starting with the 2004 edition, this publication was incorporated into the Sustainability Report, with the goal of unifying communications with the Group’s stakeholders. Last year, the Sustainability section of the www.edison.it website was expanded to provide in-depth information about the environmental performance of the electric power and hydrocarbons operations.
The Company’s awareness of environmental issues is demonstrated by many of the elements that characterize how we approach these issues. First of all, the Group adopted integrated and certified systems specifically designed to help Edison implement its environmental policy in a concrete fashion. The Group is also committed to a continuous and voluntary improvement of its performance that goes well beyond mere compliance with the applicable regulations.
After securing certification for virtually all of its locations, the Group proceeded to structure environmental management systems (UNI EN ISO 14001 Standard and EMAS Regulation No. 761/2001), health and safety management systems (BSI OHSAS 18001) and quality management systems (UNI EN ISO 9001 Standard) for entire key corporate organizations, with the goal of consolidating the inclusion of environmental and safety concerns in operational management procedures and decision-making processes.
In 1994, it began publishing a Group Environmental Report that was honored with numerous awards over the years. Starting with the 2004 edition, this publication was incorporated into the Sustainability Report, with the goal of unifying communications with the Group’s stakeholders. Last year, the Sustainability section of the www.edison.it website was expanded to provide in-depth information about the environmental performance of the electric power and hydrocarbons operations.
Management Systems
Edison’s objective is to adopt, at all production facilities and Group entities, the most advanced environmental management standards and to earn the certification of entire organizations.
Edison’s objective is to adopt, at all production facilities and Group entities, the most advanced environmental management standards and to earn the certification of entire organizations.
Today, Edison represents the standard of excellence in Italy.
The Group believes that, by consolidating its management systems, it will be able to:
The Group believes that, by consolidating its management systems, it will be able to:
- Ensure compliance with statutory requirements;
- Involve employees in the achievement of improvement objectives;
- Share with contractors its principles, views and operational management methods;
- Analyze the causes of events and identify corrective and preventive actions;
- Inform the public through Environmental Statements issued by EMAS-registered production facilities that list all key information about environmental issues, the methods used to manage them, improvement objectives and results achieved.
The objectives achieved in 2006 are reviewed below:
- Award of Organizational Certification for Thermoelectric Division 1 in accordance with the UNI EN ISO 14001 Standard, the BSI OHSAS 18001 Specification and EMAS Regulations;
- Award of Organizational Certification for Thermoelectric Divisions 2 and 3 in accordance with the UNI EN ISO 14001 Standard and the BSI OHSAS 18001 specification. Completion of the auditing and validation process for EMAS Registration, with the Ecolabel Ecoaudit Committee expected to provide the registration numbers in the future;
- Successful completion of the auditing and validation process for EMAS Registration for Hubs 1, 2 and 3 of the Hydroelectric Operations and validation of Hub 3 for EMAS registration purposes;
- Launch of a project to develop guidelines for the introduction of integrated environmental and safety systems for activities carried out in connection with natural gas projects outside Italy;
- Upgrading of the procedure used for the internal collection of information and data, with the goal of providing an ongoing assessment of environmental and safety performance at all Group locations;
- Award of certification in accordance with the ISO 14001 and OHASAS 18001 standards of the Environmental and Safety Management System for the Pomezia Operating Unit of Edison Distribuzione Gas and of Multi-site Organizational Certification for the Sambuceto Operating District.
Training provided on environmental issues continued to increase compared with previous years.
The role of the audit process (based on three levels) within Edison’s management systems is of fundamental importance for the continuous improvement of environmental, performance and management practices.
The degree of maturity achieved by the management systems currently in use and the gradual shift from implementing these systems at individual locations to organization-wide adoption permitted the development of methods that can be increasingly tailored to meet different levels of risk. This development has helped reduce the number of audits while permitting more detailed analyses.
The role of the audit process (based on three levels) within Edison’s management systems is of fundamental importance for the continuous improvement of environmental, performance and management practices.
The degree of maturity achieved by the management systems currently in use and the gradual shift from implementing these systems at individual locations to organization-wide adoption permitted the development of methods that can be increasingly tailored to meet different levels of risk. This development has helped reduce the number of audits while permitting more detailed analyses.
Extraordinary Events with an Environmental Impact
Four unintended events that had an environmental impact occurred in 2006. While we are always mindful of the importance of analyzing the risk of potential accidents and implementing preventive measures and taking action in the case of an event, leaks did occur, but the quantities involved were limited and did not have a significant environmental impact. For example, burned oil was spilled when a condenser exploded at the Cassano d’Adda electrical station and when a cross-bar switch caught fire at the Mori electrical station. Only the latter incident required notification of the relevant authorities, in accordance with current laws on potential soil contamination.
Four unintended events that had an environmental impact occurred in 2006. While we are always mindful of the importance of analyzing the risk of potential accidents and implementing preventive measures and taking action in the case of an event, leaks did occur, but the quantities involved were limited and did not have a significant environmental impact. For example, burned oil was spilled when a condenser exploded at the Cassano d’Adda electrical station and when a cross-bar switch caught fire at the Mori electrical station. Only the latter incident required notification of the relevant authorities, in accordance with current laws on potential soil contamination.
Key Environmental Issues
Atmospheric emissions, water usage and waste management are the most significant environmental issues that affect Edison’s operations. As of this publication was being readied for printing, official 2006 consolidated data were not available for all Group locations. Moreover, they had not been certified.
Consequently, the data provided in this section of the Report and in the chart son the following page represent preliminary
Atmospheric emissions, water usage and waste management are the most significant environmental issues that affect Edison’s operations. As of this publication was being readied for printing, official 2006 consolidated data were not available for all Group locations. Moreover, they had not been certified.
Consequently, the data provided in this section of the Report and in the chart son the following page represent preliminary
Certification Coverage of Management Systems per Organizational Unit
| Organizational Unit | ISO 9001 | UNI EN ISO 14001 | EMAS (Reg. CE 761/01) | BSI OHSAS 18001 |
| Electric Power Operations | ||||
| Thermoelectric Division 1 | X | X | X | |
| Thermoelectric Division 2 | X | 2007 | X | |
| Thermoelectric Division 3 | X | 2007 | X | |
| Hydroelectric Hub 1 | X | X | X | X |
| Hydroelectric Hub 2 | (staff) | X | X | X |
| Hydroelectric Hub 3 | X | 2007 | X | |
| Wind farms | X | X | X | |
| Power line network | X | |||
| Serene | X | X | X | |
| Hydrocarbons Operations | ||||
| Sambuceto Operating District – Production and Storage | X | X | ||
| Edison Distribuzione Gas | X | 2008 | 2008 | |
| Engineering | X |
Audit Process
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| Audits performed by Division staff | 131 | 168 | 98 |
| Audits performed by Environmental and Safety corporate staff | 51 | 47 | 24 |
| Audits performed by external certification agencies | 43 | 40 | 34 |
| Number of issues raised (non-conformity and recommendations) | 536 | 514 | 691 |
