Identification of environmental aspects and impacts

An organization’s policy, objectives and targets should be based on knowledge about theenvironmental aspects and significant environmental impacts associated with its activities, products or services. This can ensure that the significant environmental impacts associated with these aspects are taken into account in setting the environmental objectives. The relation between environmental aspects and impacts is one of cause and effect. An environmental aspect refers to an element of an organization’s activity, which can have a beneficial or adverse effect on the environment. For example, it could involve a discharge, an emission, consumption or reuse of a material, or noise. An impact refers to the change which takes place in the environment as a result of the aspect. Examples of impacts might include contamination of water or depletion of a natural resource. The identification of environmental aspects and the evaluation of environmental impacts is a process that can be dealt with in four steps: Step 1: Select an activity or process. (The selected activity or process should be large enough for meaningful examination and small enough to be sufficiently understood.) Step 2: Identify environmental aspects of the activity product or service. (Identify as many environmental aspects as possible associated with the selected activity or process.) Step 3: Identify environmental impacts. (Identify as many actual and potential, positive and negative, environmental impacts as possible associated with each identified aspect.)