European Commission
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Environmental Statement 2024

Others

Water use

The figure below shows that Brussels and JRC Ispra account for most of the water used. the Commission has reduced its total water consumption by 3% since 2022, and 32% since 2019. The reduction in water use is partly a by-product of some actions to reduce energy consumption, for example prolonged office closures when humidification of air is not required.

Water use at the EMAS sites, 2014-2023 (m3)

Drainage and wastewater disposal

The sites comprising offices in urban locations have regular drainage and connection to the municipal sewerage system. There are challenges for the more rural sites and particularly the research sites where some wastewaters are very strictly controlled.

Paper consumption

The Commission measures the consumption of paper in the office, and also in the printshops. Currently printshops are present only in Brussels, Luxembourg, Seville and Ispra. total paper consumption has reduced considerably as shown below as a result of campaigns over the years including the introduction of digital signature circuits, the removal of individual printers, the ability to work together on electronic documents.

A new digital strategy was launched in 2022. Mass printing of poster scale calendars has reduced and circulation of paper publicity materials is almost phased out. A slight decrease in both total and printshop paper consumption was observed in 2023, as shown below. Office paper consumption was slightly increased in 2023 to 5 sheets/person/day, Emissions due to paper consumption are presented in figure Emissions from total paper consumption.

Evolution of total paper consumption (tonnes)

Office paper consumption (sheets/person/day)

Emissions from total paper consumption (tonnes CO2e)

EMAS system costs

As shown below the EMAS coordination team has, for several years, monitored the cost of implementing EMAS in terms of staff time and the costs of related contracts for example for audits, and expertise.

The overall cost for the Commission has usually fluctuated between 67 and 91 EUR per staff member since the calculations were initiated. The cost is higher at smaller sites and very low in Brussels, where most staff are based.

EMAS system costs (staff and contracts)

Energy costs

Under EMAS the cost of energy, water, and waste disposal have been monitored at all the sites. Energy is by far the most expensive on a per capita basis. Total buildings' energy costs almost doubled in 2022 following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, and they remained high in 2023, despite a small decrease as shown below.

Resource costs (energy) at EMAS sites (EUR; EUR/person)

Promoting a healthy and sustainable food system

The Commission will study and implement actions to further reduce or remove single-use items, particularly from catering, meetings and conferences. More generally, it will update its internal approach to food and catering, through embedding GPP criteria such as labels certifying sustainable food for the canteens.

Greening the Commission

The Covid pandemic severely disrupted catering services, with many restaurants and cafeterias closing. In 2023 the rebound in catering activity since Covid continued. This is reflected in the table below which shows the quantities of 14 food types consumed at Commission sites' canteens since 2019. New categories (lamb, veal, fruits, vegetables, bread, pasta and rice) were introduced for reporting this year to have a more complete picture. Although 2023 saw a recovery, total consumption remained less than half the 2019 value. One reason for this is the reduction of the number of canteens after the Covid crises and the new ways of working.

Annual consumption of selected food groups in Commission cafeterias (tonnes)

Food item Factor kg CO2e/t 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
i) Beef 33 770 82 24 4,1 21 25
ii) Pork 9 350 104 30 8,7 29 32
iii) Chicken 4 470 134 37 10 35 33
iv) Fish 10 970 90 27 11 26 41
v) Milk 1 490 75 25 10 26 85
vi) Other dairy* 8 960 37 12 8,8 20 58
vii) Coffee 9 400 19 8,7 8,6 6,6 21
viii) Lamb 40 204 15 16 4,1 5,6 36,5
ix) Veal 17 092 123 70 21 19 61
x) Fruits 589 32 30 8,7 8,8 19
xi) Vegetables 846 82 71 21 26 95
xii) Bread 689 11 8,2 3,1 3,5 8,7
xiii) Pasta 2 145 31 28 5,4 14 29
xiv) Rice 2 754 14 12 3,7 5,7 14
Total   848 399 128 245 558

Notes:* Average of yoghurt/butter

The data shows that lamb and beef are the most carbon intensive food group and the proportion of both in the total has decreased from 11% in 2019 to 7% in 2023. The emissions generated by these food groups is illustrated below. Data is not reported for sites lacking a dedicated canteen (JRCs Petten, Karlsruhe, Seville).

Annual emissions of seven food groups (tonnes CO2e)

Legal compliance

Under EMAS, the sites are each responsible for legal compliance, as described below. But the Corporate coordination team organises the internal and external audits that are required at the sites under EMAS including ensuring that there is adequate follow up and resolution of audit findings, particularly those related to legal compliance. The audit results show that the Commission complies with the environmental legislation applicable to its activities.

The status of legal compliance is reported to the EMAS Steering Committee twice yearly, including statistics generated by the workflow tool (JIRA) that is used for audit follow up. Figure Audit findings by type for 2020-3 shows a summary of audit findings.

Audit findings by type for 2020-3

The Commission adopts a sampling method for the verification audits of its premises in Brussels, Luxembourg, and for the Houses of Europe in Member States according to provisions of the EMAS Users Guide. Sampling is required at these sites because each building has its own environmental permit and are too many to audit annually.

The Commission has around 70 operational buildings in Brussels and Luxembourg. These are controlled and managed centrally by the Infrastructure Offices in Brussels (OIB) and Luxembourg (OIL) which ensure their compliance with environmental legislation and contacts with the national and regional authorities. The Offices manage the licences and permits needed for building operation. The Commission's real estate portfolio varies from year to year. The buildings are listed in Annex 9.

The environmental impacts of these buildings are generally similar and with no highly impacting environmental aspect requiring a specific approach. Therefore, all the buildings are subject to the sampling method for auditing.

The Commission uses sampling to select 5 to 6 buildings per year (also listed in Annex 9), more than required in the User’s Guide, to provide greater confidence in audit results. The sampling method ensures that each building entering in the scope is audited and that all buildings are audited in the same period. The audit sample is discussed and agreed with the verifier each year. In addition to audits carried out under the sampling method, additional visits (or audits) may be planned to buildings where a non-conformity was detected to verify.

Prevention and risk management

Emergency preparedness

Awareness
Conclusions