The guide, published by the Directorate-General for Environment, builds on a webinar held in November 2025 that introduced EMAS specifically to organisations in the chemical, pharmaceutical, rubber and plastics sectors, where handling of hazardous substances is a core part of daily operations. It is designed to help organisations identify chemical-related risks, maintain compliance with applicable substance legislation, and reduce environmental impacts linked to their use, storage and emission of chemicals across all stages of their activities, moving beyond a narrow legal-compliance mindset toward continuous improvement.

While EMAS itself does not set substance-specific requirements, EMAS-registered organisations are already expected to maintain comprehensive chemical inventories, safety data sheets and risk assessments to comply with related EU legislation such as the Industrial Emissions Directive, which requires a continuous improvement process for handling hazardous substances present in or emitted from an installation. The guide is intended to help organisations bring these existing obligations together into a single system, supporting the kind of transparent, externally verified environmental statement that distinguishes EMAS registration from other environmental management standards.

For chemical sector companies weighing whether to pursue EMAS registration alongside more globally recognised standards such as ISO 14001, the guide offers a sector-specific entry point that connects chemicals management directly to EMAS's broader environmental performance and reporting requirements, potentially easing the administrative burden of managing REACH, CLP and other chemical-specific obligations alongside a certified environmental management system.

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