Potential for Implementation of Environmental Management Systems & the EU Ecolabel in the Marble Sector

2013 ◽  
Vol 548 ◽  
pp. 157-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Gazi ◽  
George Skevis ◽  
Maria Founti
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Eu Ecolabel ◽  
Marble Industry

Marble is a financially important and highly versatile material used extensively in construction, decoration and art. The marble industry however is generated with low production efficiency, high waste material generation, high production costs and overall lack of sustainable resources management. A step towards improving the energy efficiency and environmental performance of the marble sector would be the adoption of ecological schemes that are already into force both at national and international levels. The most commonly used schemes are Environmental Management Systems that are focused on the general environmental performance of the enterprise, such as the EU EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) and the international EN ISO 14001:2004 standard and ecolabelling schemes, such as the EU Ecolabel, focusing on specific products or services. The present work aims to provide a concise summary of the technical requirements and procedures for obtaining such environmental certificates, assess the current state of the art in terms of environmental performance of a typical marble plant and enhance the ecological awareness of the sector. A detailed analysis of the technical requirements for achieving EMAS III registration and obtaining the EU Ecolabel for hard floor coverings is presented and the potential for a typical SME marble industry for meeting the above requirements is quantified. Possible measures that may improve the overall environmental impact are proposed. It is further shown that the process of meeting the necessary criteria for obtaining the above certificates will also lead to the adoption of best engineering practices and the production of high added value products.

Environmental Management Systems and Environmental Performance: The Case of Russian Energy Sector

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1377
Author(s):  
Valery V. IOSIFOV ◽  
Svetlana V. RATNER
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Management System ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Environmental Management System ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Legal Form ◽  
Energy Companies

Nowadays one of the most common organizational eco-innovations in energy companies is introducing environmental management systems (EMS). Nevertheless, the issues of environmental and economic efficiency of EMS remain controversial. The purpose of this work is to develop a methodology for assessing the effectiveness of environmental management systems of Russian energy companies certified in accordance with ISO 14001. Since Russian companies do not have EMAS conformance certificates, the issues of the effectiveness of environmental management systems under the European Environmental Management Scheme and eco-audit were not considered in this study. The study is based on the data from annual corporate reports of the largest energy companies of the Russian Federation, which have the organizational and legal form of public joint-stock companies. The selection criteria were: i) the existence of an integrated management system, which is based on a certified environmental management system; ii) the presence in the corporate reports of data on the environmental performance of the company, at least a few years before and after the introduction of EMS, sufficient for statistical analysis using a two depended samples T-test. The study has shown that the application of ISO 14001 can be considered as a condition for the development of eco-innovation, as a well-designed environmental management strategy covers the whole range of issues related to innovative development, modernization and competitiveness. The introduction of EMS is also associated with an increase in the information transparency of the entire production system of the company, which is also a positive point in terms of the development of innovative processes.

scholarly journals Implementing Environmental Management Systems (EMS) In Sarawak: Adoption Factors

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Lee Lee Ho ◽  
Puong Ling Law ◽  
Soh Fong Lim
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Orientation Factor ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Adoption Factors ◽  
Research Organizations

In most organizations, Environmental Management Systems (EMS) adoption is based on voluntary basis; in which the adoption depends on the organization’s aspirations for better environmental performance. Organizations are attracted by very practical benefits through implementation of EMS in their organizations. The primary purpose of an EMS implementation is to improve environmental performance continually in an organization. This research investigates the factors that drive the adoption of EMS by organizations in Sarawak. Empirical findings of a survey on the above in Sarawak organizations are presented. About 112 survey questionnaires invitations were forwarded to various organizations in Sarawak and a total of 47 responses (about 42.0%) were received, Walford (1995) in his assertion said that sampling techniques require 10 percent or more of observations or sampling fractions so that they are to be considered as a representative of the total population. From this research, organizations which have implemented an EMS are mostly from larger organizations in Sarawak which have been established for more than 15 years with over 251 employees and more than one operating location. The results showed that ISO 14001 is the most common EMS frameworks adopted by organizations in Sarawak; followed by Round-table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Among the EMS adoption factors in Sarawak, EMS implementation motivation and the role of top management are the most critical factors in EMS adoption in Sarawak. Besides, management support is also another essential factor for EMS adoption among Sarawak organizations; followed by current market orientation factor..

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN RAIL OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE: CURRENT PRACTICE AND POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS

2005 ◽  
Vol 07 (03) ◽  
pp. 433-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
KRISTINA LUNDBERG ◽  
BERIT BALFORS ◽  
LENNART FOLKESON
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Current Practice ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Common System ◽  
Environmental Performance Evaluation

Environmental management systems (EMS) require performance evaluation of significant environmental aspects. Much has been published on how to achieve environmental performance evaluation but little information is available on applications in practice. The Swedish National Rail Administration, Banverket, initiated the implementation of EMS in 1998, at about the same time as many other rail administrations. In this paper an overview of the application of EMS at rail administrations in selected countries is presented and systems for environmental performance evaluation within the EMS used by Banverket are analysed. The use of EMS by rail administrations was found to vary from the absence of environmental management to fully implemented EMS, mainly ISO 14001. At Banverket, EMS is widely used but the environmental performance evaluation could be improved by introducing indicators and merging all types of environmental monitoring, currently reported separately, into a common system.

FRONTIERS OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION-ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: A REGULATOR'S PERSPECTIVE

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 638
Author(s):  
M. J. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Management Approach

Leading edge companies throughout the world have embraced management systems to achieve optimal sustainable performance in the ever changing business environment of the 1990s.Given that the natural environment and environmental performance have become one of the major issues affecting organisations, the need for integrating environmental management with all the other components of an organisation's overall management approach is now widely recognised.Systems interface best with systems. For environmental management to interface effectively with an organisation's other management systems, a systems approach to environmental management would seem the best. The release in November last year of the draft international standards (ISO 14000 series) on environmental management systems (EMS) has provided organisations with an internationally recognised means for this to occur and provided an additional benchmarking tool.It follows that environmental regulatory systems are required to enable regulators to effectively interface with company EMSs. Regulatory theory suggests that outcomes-based approaches are preferable to prescriptive approaches. Those parts of EMS standards which detail the requirements for particular system elements could provide the nexus for the company, regulator and community in future co-regulatory frameworks.These EMS standards refer to both regulators and the community as 'Interested Parties' being either 'concerned with or affected by the environmental performance of an organisation'.The Interim EMS specifications standard, released in Australia and New Zealand as AS/NZS ISO 14001(Int):1995 refers to 'Interested Parties' in only two EMS elements, 'Objectives and Targets' and 'Communication'. It is here that there are potential benefits and opportunities for companies, regulators and the community to cooperate in the emerging climate of these new international standards.

scholarly journals Implementing Environmental Management Systems (EMS) In Sarawak: Adoption Factors

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Lee Lee Ho ◽  
Puong Ling Law ◽  
Soh Fong Lim
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Orientation Factor ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Adoption Factors ◽  
Research Organizations ◽  
Sampling Fraction

In most organizations, Environmental Management Systems (EMS) adoption is based on voluntary basis, in which the adoption depends on organization’s aspirations for better environmental performance. Organizations are attracted by very practical benefits through implementation of EMS in their organizations. The primary purpose of an EMS implementation is to improve environmental performance continually in an organization. This research investigates the factors that drive the adoption of EMS by organizations in Sarawak. Empirical findings of a survey on the above in Sarawak organizations are presented. About 112 survey questionnaires invitations were forwarded to various organizations in Sarawak and a total of 47 responses (about 42.0%) were received, Walford (1995) in his assertion said that sampling techniques require 10 percent or more of observations or sampling fraction so that they are to be considered representative of the total population From this research, organizations which have implemented an EMS are mostly from larger organizations in Sarawak which have been established for more than 15 years with over 251 employees and more than one operating location. The results showed that ISO 14001 is the most common EMS frameworks adopted by organizations in Sarawak; followed by Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Among the EMS adoption factors in Sarawak, EMS implementation motivation and the role of top management are the most critical factors in EMS adoption in Sarawak. Besides, management support is also another essential factor for EMS adoption among Sarawak organizations; followed by current market orientation factor.

scholarly journals Do the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems Influence Eco-innovation Performance? Evidences from the EU Context.

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 292
Author(s):  
Stefano Brogi ◽  
Tamara Menichini
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Innovation Performance ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Policy Suggestions ◽  
Iso 14001 Certification ◽  
The Eu

Eco-innovation has become a clear target of EU policy strategies. Consequently, detecting drivers of eco-innovation has become crucial to design effective eco-innovation policies. The paper focuses on the adoption of ISO 14001 standard, with the aim to investigate to what extent the ISO certification of Environmental Management Systems influences eco-innovation performance. A correlation analysis between data from European Eco-Innovation Scoreboard interactive tool (ECO-IS) reveals that, at EU country level, there is no a significant correlation between the number of ISO 14001 certified organizations and the level of some selected Eco-Innovation performance indicators. Both the number of companies that have developed innovations with environmental benefits and the number of patents in environmentally-related technologies are not significantly related to the number of companies with ISO 14001 certification. Similar results were obtained by considering only Eco-Innovation leaders, that is EU countries with above-average Eco-Innovation Index values. These empirical evidences arise some questions and policy suggestions that will be discussed.Keywords: Eco-innovation drivers; Environmental Management Systems; ISO 14001 certification; Eco-Innovation Scoreboard; Eco-Innovation Index.

scholarly journals Corporate Environmental Management Systems and Outcomes: A Case Study of ISO 14001 Implementation in a Cable Manufacturing Company in Tema, Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (31) ◽  
pp. 320
Author(s):  
Nancy, Botchway ◽  
Shine Francis, Gbedemah
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Manufacturing Firm ◽  
Corporate Environmental Management ◽  
Before And After

The potential for the firm to improve its resource use especially energy management by using Environmental Management Systems (EMS) like ISO 14001 has been shown to be possible. Yet, no in-depth research has been conducted to explore this possibility in Ghana. The implementation of EMS integrates the corporate environmental management strategies and management commitment to sustainable development but most of the organisations in developing countries of West Africa are slow to adopt the management system. The aim of this paper is to assess the drivers, the competitive advantages of ISO 14001 EMS certification and the environmental impact of ISO 14001 EMS certification, in terms of energy consumption. Before and after methods of evaluation were used to analyse the data collected. Purposive sampling technique was used to administer questionnaires and interview guides to employees of the cable manufacturing firm. A review was also made of annual data for electricity consumption before and after ISO 14001 EMS certification. The findings indicate that the main driver of the ISO 14001 EMS certification by the firm is to take advantage of certification to expand its market share. It was also found out that reduction in potential environmental liability risks is the main competitive advantage of ISO 14001 EMS certification. In terms of energy consumption, the findings show that the firm is saving a lot of energy thus cost. It is recommended that more efforts should be made by the energy commission of Ghana through the provision of funds to firms who want to implement environmental management systems.

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