KAZALCI OKOLJA

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In Slovenia, the number of companies registered under ISO 14001 and EMAS schemes, as well as the number of awarded EU Ecolabels, is gradually increasing. In the year 2021, the number of ISO 14001 certificates significantly increased (by 63), while in 2022, there was a rise in environmental EU Ecolabel (by 15). In terms of the number of awarded ISO 14001 certificates and EU Ecolabels per million inhabitants, Slovenia ranks above the EU-27 average on a European scale. However, its performance is slightly weaker in the field of EMAS, where Slovenia falls below the EU-27 average.


This indicator shows development of environmental management systems like number of awarded environmental certificates under the ISO 14001, the EMAS scheme, the number of awarded EU Ecolabels in Slovenia and the EU. The data is expressed per million inhabitants.

For better understanding of the mechanism their definition is as follows:

ISO 14001 is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system. It helps organizations improve their environmental performance through pollution prevention and more efficient use of resources.

The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is an environmental management system that was introduced in 1995. Organisations that hold the EMAS certificate are obliged to continuously assess and improve their environmental performance and inform the public of the environmental impact of their activities. EMAS is an upgrade of the ISO 14001 standard. It ensures greater openness, transparency and periodical publication of verified environmental information. Compared to ISO 14001, the EMAS has higher demands with regard to improved performance, participation of employees, legal compliance and communication with the public.

The EU Ecolabel is an instrument of environmental protection. The EU introduced it in 1992 in order to encourage companies to develop products and services that maximally reduce environmental impact throughout the product/service life cycle and provide consumers with better information on environmental impact of their products/services. The overall impact of products is observed – from the extraction of raw materials to the disposal of used products, while consumers are directed through the provision of accurate, clear and scientifically supported information on products and services. The advantages of being awarded the EU Ecolabel  include confirmation of meeting environmental requirements, use of the Ecolabel and promotion.


Charts

Figure IP01-1: Number of organizations with ISO 14001, Slovenia and other countries, 1998-2021
Sources:

The ISO Survey of Certifications 2023; Eurostat, 2023

Note:

The data of EU-28 in 2018-2021 is missing, because EUROSTAT no longer records data in this political unit

Show data
Czech Republic[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Finland[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Italy[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Romania[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Slovenia[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Spain[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Sweden[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] average EU 28[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.]
1998 4.08 39.93 2.16 0.04 6.07 4.12 34.33 7.63
1999 5.84 90.89 4.27 0.04 9.56 14.31 96.03 13.42
2000 11.30 98.05 9.15 0.22 44.22 14.82 154.23 20.52
2001 17.05 132.25 22.72 0.69 68.20 50.39 232.35 34.52
2002 31.17 144.06 37.56 2.07 74.69 77.48 305.34 44.68
2003 50.83 216.10 52.96 4.42 102.68 114.77 259.59 59.36
2004 126.02 168.43 81.85 16.67 169.20 150.40 385.96 74.82
2005 207.00 175.62 120.51 34.80 208.15 196.99 406.95 89.74
2006 214.93 177.19 166.16 67.42 188.52 250.14 412.48 103.92
2007 263.07 155.08 202.23 105.39 217.88 305.90 413.81 120.85
2008 316.98 186.06 215.21 180.66 218.47 358.80 483.78 143.30
2009 445.81 206.86 241.00 319.77 190.52 359.37 448.90 161.52
2010 633.62 209.66 298.61 365.51 194.92 394.67 494.82 190.62
2011 424.44 217.48 292.09 366.06 201.93 350.16 430.03 187.15
2012 401.22 242.54 328.52 424.16 199.95 415.86 409.69 206.04
2013 455.68 262.04 356.87 436.76 225.86 343.50 386.15 211.30
2014 554.58 275.72 372.08 466.33 206.20 298.16 412.86 214.96
2015 363.63 267.92 367.63 532.49 173.06 286.55 378.46 213.45
2016 396.35 258.41 439.38 307.43 223.33 295.37 350.01 218.02
2017 407.61 268.93 240.49 282.78 217.82 280.54 483.13 199.22
2018 402.07 266.09 249.95 233.09 209.01 261.43 355.53
2019 414.00 272.20 282.81 239.92 224.90 274.22 292.17
2020 370.86 280.35 282.66 270.11 235.70 265.86 271.80
2021 424.14 296.90 306.15 321.53 264.11 297.94 274.97
Figure IP01-2: Number of EMAS-certified organizations, Slovenia and other countries, 1997-2022
Sources:

EMAS 2023; Eurostat, 2023.

Note:

The data for EU-27 in 2021 and 2022 is missing, because EUROSTAT no longer records data in this political unit

Show data
Austria[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Denmark[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Italy[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Germany[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Slovenia[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Spain[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] Sweden[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.] EU-27 average[no. of certificats/ mio inhab.]
1997 4.39 2.83 0 13.60 0 0.03 1.70 2.56
1998 17.66 15.62 0.23 19.24 0 0.45 14.00 4.35
1999 23.74 21.76 0.42 24.43 0 1.27 17.72 5.63
2000 36.65 28.42 0.74 29.10 0 2.54 22.40 6.94
2001 44.89 31.67 1.30 32.29 0 4.03 23.80 7.94
2002 40.86 24.15 2.15 30.12 0 6.31 22.48 7.69
2003 36.60 22.42 2.92 22.17 0 7.42 12.81 6.28
2004 30.97 22.18 4.33 19.89 0.50 9.57 13.09 6.18
2005 30.65 22.11 4.39 19.64 0.50 10.17 13.04 6.20
2006 31.51 22.21 6.97 18.21 0.50 11.87 10.97 6.47
2007 30.89 20.64 9.56 18.12 0.50 14.71 9.15 7.05
2008 30.16 16.87 12.97 17.60 0.49 20.16 7.67 7.86
2009 31.07 17.06 16.36 17.10 0.98 22.92 8.10 8.58
2010 30.53 16.62 17.49 16.34 1.47 26.18 8.03 8.85
2011 31.16 16.54 18.58 16.16 1.46 26.08 7.97 8.92
2012 29.61 12.90 20.04 15.44 1.46 26.87 8.01 8.91
2013 30.05 11.24 18.83 14.96 0.49 21.23 5.96 8.19
2014 29.27 9.60 16.73 15.22 0.49 23.05 1.97 8.01
2015 33.08 8.13 16.70 14.78 4.85 20.30 1.85 7.78
2016 33.33 6.83 16.52 14.79 4.84 19.21 1.83 7.79
2017 33.40 4.87 16.22 15.43 5.32 17.65 1.70 7.69
2018 32.64 3.63 16.40 14.65 5.32 17.47 1.48 7.50
2019 29.46 2.93 16.47 14.02 4.81 17.77 1.37 7.26
2020 29.43 2.75 16.93 13.60 4.77 20.32 1.26 7.52
2021 30.00 2.40 17.46 13.41 4.74 20.38 1.16
2022 30.40 1.70 18.50 13.49 4.27 21.06 1.05
Figure IP01-3: Number of EU Ecolabel certificates, Slovenia and other countries, 2001-2022
Sources:

European Commission, Ecolabel Helpdesk, 2023; Eurostat, 2023

Note:

the data for EU-27 in 2021 and 2022 is missing, because Eurostat no longer records data in this political unit

Show data
Austria[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.] Denmark[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.] Italy[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.] France[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.] Ireland[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.] Netherlands[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.] Slovenia[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.] Sveden[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.] EU-27 average[no. of Ecolabels/ mio inhab.]
2001 0 3.27 0.22 0.26 0.22 0.12 0 0.97 0.18
2002 0.24 4.88 0.47 0.42 0.22 0.18 0 0.86 0.25
2003 0.24 5.04 0.57 0.49 0 0.30 0 1.17 0.30
2004 0.85 8.32 0.93 0.69 0 0.67 0 1.44 0.45
2005 1.33 9.77 1.40 0.71 0 0.67 0 1.66 0.56
2006 1.45 10.10 1.62 0.79 2.09 0.67 1.99 1.76 0.68
2007 3.49 11.14 2.71 1.39 2.50 0.55 0.99 2.18 1.02
2008 2.87 9.43 3.98 2.13 4.49 1.03 1.48 2.27 1.41
2009 4.44 9.43 5.22 2.91 5.31 1.46 1.48 2.81 1.87
2010 5.75 10.12 5.12 3.79 5.28 2.59 1.47 2.89 2.13
2011 5.73 10.07 5.74 3.89 4.38 2.76 3.41 2.87 2.29
2012 11.54 8.06 4.34 4.64 2.61 3.71 7.78 3.16 2.20
2013 25.44 12.32 5.26 7.58 1.74 5.13 7.29 3.77 3.46
2014 19.04 13.15 5.35 8.22 0.43 4.81 7.28 4.46 2.96
2015 21.08 9.36 5.91 8.35 0.43 4.91 7.27 3.69 3.09
2016 22.41 8.94 5.49 7.71 1.06 5.07 7.75 3.05 3.06
2017 24.74 8.87 5.88 7.12 0.84 5.27 8.71 3.40 3.25
2018 21.08 9.69 5.37 7.73 1.04 4.83 14.51 3.85 3.34
2019 15.69 9.30 2.99 4.88 1.43 4.63 8.65 3.81 2.57
2020 12.70 10.99 4.04 4.80 2.62 4.42 13.36 3.68 2.78
2021 21.72 13.87 5.08 4.83 4.19 4.92 16.60 3.95
2022 24.28 14.81 6.34 4.86 2.17 4.89 23.73 4.50

Goals

Environmental certificates such as ISO 14001 and the EMAS are important instruments of the Sustainable Production and Consumption and Sustainable Industrial Policy Action Plan. The goal of their introduction is to encourage continuous improvement in order to increase environmental performance of organisations. A special emphasis of the EMAS is systemic, objective and regular performance assessment and making available information on environmental performance to the public and other interested parties as well as education and inclusion of employees in active participation in the scheme (EMAS Regulation).

The EU goal through awarding the EU Ecolabel is to introduce a voluntary system aimed at promoting products that have low environmental impacts throughout their life cycle and providing consumers with accurate, clear and scientifically supported information on the impact of products on the environment. The latter results in the substitution of hazardous substances with safer ones where technically feasible (Eco-Label Regulation).


The number of companies registered under ISO 14001 and EMAS schemes in Slovenia and the EU-28 has been gradually increasing since 1998, with some exceptions. Between 2017 and 2020, there was a significant decline in the number of certifications, but the situation improved in the last year. Slovenia ranks above the EU average in terms of the number of awarded ISO 14001 certifications. In 2021, there were 264 organizations with ISO 14001 certification per million inhabitants in Slovenia, which is 28 more organizations than in 2020. Among the selected countries, the highest number of registered companies with ISO 14001 certification per million inhabitants in 2021 was in the Czech Republic (424), Romania (322), and Italy (306).

In comparison to ISO 14001, the number of Slovenian companies included in the EMAS scheme is more modest. In 2022, Austria (30), Spain (21), and Italy (18) had the highest number of organizations registered under the EMAS scheme per million inhabitants in Europe. On average, in the EU-27, eight organizations with one or more EMAS certifications per million inhabitants were included in the EMAS scheme in 2020. Slovenia, with five EMAS certifications awarded up to and including 2020, ranks in the better half of the EU-27 countries. However, the number of recognitions per million inhabitants is below the EU-27 average.

Since the introduction of the EU Ecolabel in 1992, the number of awarded companies with the label has been increasing. The highest growth was observed until 2014, followed by stagnation or decline in some countries. In recent years, the number of EU Ecolabels has increased again, particularly in Austria, Slovenia, and Denmark. In 2022, a total of 1,840 EU Ecolabels were awarded in the EU-27, with the highest number in Austria (24.3/million inhabitants) and Slovenia (23.7/million inhabitants). The EU Ecolabel is awarded in 25 categories of products and services. In 2022, Slovenia awarded 50 EU Ecolabels, placing it at the top of the EU-27 in terms of the number of awarded companies with the label per million inhabitants.

Implementing environmental management systems is an important economic tool for communication and standardization in environmental protection. It provides companies with an internationally recognized approach to business that encompasses all essential aspects of environmental performance, from resource and energy use to technological processes and product requirements, leading to the elimination and reduction of negative environmental impacts. The advantage of implementing an environmental management system lies not only in compliance with environmental legislation and cost reduction but also in increasing competitiveness in marketing products, technologies, and knowledge in international markets and expanding business opportunities. It is considered a voluntary approach that is typically adopted in the economy based on public programs.


Methodology

Date of data source summarization
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