Environmental management systems - SUM: Sustainability Management Wiki

Authors: Nataliya Surski, Viola Czerwonka, Viktor Dmitriyev
Last updated: December 29, 2022

1 Definition and relevance

1.1 Definition

Environmental management system (EMS) are a set of various organizational management practices focused on the identification, measurement and control of a firm’s environmental impacts.¹ Along the same line, EMS is also defined as ‘systems of management processes that enable organizations to continually reduce their impact to the natural environment, requiring the assessment of their environmental impacts, establishing goals, implementing environmental goals, monitoring goal attainment, and undergoing management review’.²

The roots of EMS can be traced back to the mid-eighties in the US, when a need to ensure compliance with rapidly increasing environmental legislation became apparent. At the same time, innovative companies in Europe were developing a more proactive attitude towards environmental issues, perceiving them as a business opportunity rather than a burden. In their search for managerial tools that would help them implement environmental strategy, they developed environmental audits as risk management instruments.³

The EMS thus provides the organization’s management with a structured framework for identifying, evaluating, managing and improving its environmental performance. It also helps to ensure that the organization’s overall environmental goals, as set out in its environmental policy, are implemented throughout the organization and that employees, contractors and suppliers know their roles and responsibilities in helping the organization to achieve them with the ultimate aim to systematically manage the environmental matters of the organization. Regular monitoring and auditing of the organization’s environmental performance and the system that is put in place to improve it, provide management with a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the EMS. The EMS also provides a system for collecting and managing data on environmental performance which is used in environmental reporting and can also be used to make validated product claims.⁴

The purpose of an EMS is to develop, implement, manage, coordinate and monitor corporate environmental activities to achieve two goals: compliance and waste reduction.⁵ For a firm, compliance simply means reaching and maintaining the minimal legal and regulatory standards for acceptable pollution levels for the purpose of avoiding sanctions. For example, failure to comply can result in increased costs (fines), increased external intervention in day-to-day operations, and, in extreme situations, issuance of cease-and-desist orders. Clearly, waste reduction goes beyond compliance and focuses a firm’s activities on the dramatic reduction of negative environmental impact. As compelling as these goals are, however, the extent to which EMS typically reach them has been relatively unexplored. So, the more fundamental question of what characteristics of an EMS must be present for a system to reach these goals remains virtually unresearched.⁶

An EMS should help to ensure that strategic and operational decisions are integrated. At the strategic level it is important to understand the impact of an EMS in handling uncertainties, strategy development, providing accurate and timely performance measurement and reaching goals. At the operational level, however, concerns focus on measurement of processes, short-term management and accountability.⁷ The elements in the EMS program strictly require the processes to be planned, designed, implemented, and reviewed from an environmental protection perspective.⁸

EMSs represent infrastructural investment in environmental policies and procedures in a plant. The international reference standards for EMSs, also referred to as meta-standards, are voluntary codes or guidelines that have third party verification architecture. These standards do not fix environmental goals or environmental targets to be achieved (e.g. reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, recycling or energy consumption) as a result of the adoption and possible certification. Rather, they define the procedural requirements concerning the types of policy, plan, organizational practice and control mechanism to be adopted by companies so that they can better manage activities that have a significant environmental impact. Interest in EMSs extends beyond the organizations that adopt them, as regulators are interested in their potential to achieve greater environmental protection.⁹

An EMS can result in both business and environmental benefits. Business benefits are usually the main driving forces behind the development and implementation of an EMS. Examples of such benefits include:

Improved environmental performance;
Enhanced compliance with legal and other requirements;
Prevention of pollution and conservation of resources;
Reduction and mitigation of risk;
Market access and enhanced credentials for marketing purposes;
Increased efficiency;
Cost reduction;
Enhanced employee morale;
Enhanced reputation with the public, regulators, lenders and investors; and
Qualification for recognition/incentive programs and reduction on insurance premiums.¹⁰

1.2 Relevance

The environment is the foundation and support of human existence and survival and the guarantee of sustainable human development; environmental protection has undoubtedly become a common understanding and development strategy of all countries of the world. All countries need to perform respective duties and obligations in environment governance, in joint efforts to plan economic development, social progresses and environment protection to realize mutual wins and sustainable development of the world and to create an Earth homeland for harmonious coexistence of humankind and environment.¹¹

The interaction between industry and the natural environment is strong. The climate change and other environmental impacts related to industrial manufacturing have been discussed and agreed very widely during recent decades, which has increased pressure on industrial businesses.¹² Driven by several concurrent trends, including economic and political development, technological breakthroughs and social connectivity, the impacts on industry in general are fundamental. Companies need to find ways to adapt to this change in collaboration with actors across their value networks. For long-life industrial assets, i.e., industrial product-service systems, both economically and environmentally sustainable solutions become an imperative supported by new business models-based collaborative value creation. In parallel with technological development there is a growing concern about human impact on the environment and the limits of the global ecological capacity. This has led to political decisions and global agreements aiming at reducing ecological footprints.¹³

Environmental topics have a direct effect on humans, but industry is also closely related to social aspects via employment and customer experiences related to the industrial products. Economic competence and growth bring new jobs to the market and thus create well-being and satisfying customer experiences boosts the demand for products. Thus, these three components—economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability—create a positive circle supporting one another and can all be interlinked, managed and measured with a toolkit of various sustainability indicators.¹⁴

2 Standards for EMS

Management systems serve to implement and achieve goals, measures, organizational structures and processes in accordance with environmental policy. The environmental management system (EMS) focuses on the planning, implementation, review, and improvement of the aspects listed to continuously improve the environmental performance of an organization. The structure of EMS in organizations is implemented with different standards but is mostly based on the international standard ISO 14001. These enable EMS to be as uniform as possible internationally and are intended to facilitate free trade in goods, as they allow better implementation of legal requirements. Also, the standards for EMS fundamentally support their implementation in the organizations.¹⁵ In addition to the well-known environmental management standards ISO 14001 and the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), organizations can also be certified with other supplementary standards with more specific focus.

The following chapter deals at first with the High Level Structure (HLS) on which the structure of international standards of integrated management systems are base. An overview of the most relevant standards and the supplementary standards is then given. Finally, there are given document references for guidelines on the application of the most relevant standards and references for supplementary standards.

2.1 High-level structure

All new versions of ISO management systems are based on the HLS, which was developed by the International Organization of Standardisation in 2012. On the one hand, the HLS specifies the section division of the standards, on the other hand, it already formulates many core statements of the standards. This has the advantage that an audit for quality management according to ISO 9001 is carried out in the same way as an audit for environmental management according to ISO 14001, which in turn is easier for an organization to implement, because experience with one ISO standard can be utilized during the adaptation of another ISO standard. In addition, uniformity can be used to standardize terms, which should simplify communication routines on various levels of the organization and proactively facilitate collaboration.¹⁶

The HLS comprises 10 sections: Sections 1-3 are introductory and define the scope, provide normative references and explain relevant terms. Subsequent sections cover the phases of the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PCDA) cycle: The planning phase deals with the context of the organization, leadership aspects, planning, which is about setting goals and planning of measures. Planning also contains a section about support, which is about implementation with resources and responsibilities, communication and documentation. The Do phase includes the section about operation. The performance evaluation section falls within the check phase. This section deals with monitoring, internal audits, and management reviews. The act phase, which is presented in the standard with the improvement section, deals with dealing with non-conformities and corrective actions.¹⁷

Figure 1: HLS according to ISO directive part 1 with representation of the PDCA cycle
(own figure based on ISO directive 1¹⁸).

2.2 Most relevant standards

2.2.1 ISO 14001

ISO 14001 entitled “Environmental management systems – requirements with instructions for use” specifies internationally recognized requirements for environmental management systems for organizations (e.g., companies, authorities, service providers). It contains specifications for the structure and design of an environmental management system. How the environmental management system is designed specifically e.g., which goals are set, and which methods, instruments and measures are used is the responsibility of the respective organization. Accordingly, the effectiveness and efficiency of the EMS according to ISO 14001 also depend heavily on the organization itself.¹⁹ The standard belongs to the ISO 14000 family of standards, in which other standards can be found, e.g., for life cycle assessments and environmental labels.²⁰

2.2.2 EMAS – Eco-Management and Audit Scheme

The EMAS developed by the EU combines environmental management systems and (external) environmental audits in one universal system. The aim is to continuously improve the environmental performance of organizations, especially companies, and to make their performance transparent through reporting and certification. EMAS was issued by the EU in the form of Regulation (EC) No. 1221/2009. The European economy can implement the system voluntarily and certify it with the EMAS logo by the relevant state-certified experts. The environmental management system according to EMAS includes all requirements contained in ISO 14001 and supplements them in the areas of measurable improvements, transparency, and legal certainty.²¹ An important tool here is the annual updated and published environmental statement, which must be submitted and checked as one of the central documents in the certification process.²² The environmental statement includes an introduction to the company, its environmental management system and policy. However, it focuses on the presentation of all relevant environmental aspects, the environmental goals, and their achievement.²³

2.3 Supplementary standards

In addition to ISO 14001 for EMS, the ISO also provides other standards for management systems. In companies, these are usually managed under the umbrella of a joint, integrated management system, also because there are some overlaps in the core requirements. Regarding environmental management systems, there are overlaps e.g., with ISO 50001 for energy management, ISO 9001 for quality management and ISO 45001 for occupational safety and health.²⁴ Thus, these can be seen as supplementary standards regarding EMS. The merging of the systems is simplified by the common HLS of the standards already described.

In addition to ISO 14001, other management systems are also based on other ISO standards and adapt them for specific target groups. This includes, for example, the integrated management system ‘EcoStep’, which was introduced in the state of Hessen (Germany) in 2002 and funded by the Hessian Ministry for Environment.²⁵ It integrates the standards ISO 9001, 14001 and 450001 specially tailored for small and medium-sized companies in one management system.²⁶

2.4 Guidelines for most relevant standards

In order to implement the standards described, many state authorities and certifying companies provide various guidelines for implementing the standards in order to simplify their introduction in organizations. For the governmental EMAS standard, which is based on ISO 14001, the European Union provides a general ‘EMAS User Guide’ and sector-specific ‘best practice reports’ and ‘sectoral reference documents’. In addition, the EU is working on an EMAS implementation tool, which was previously made available in a beta version (see Chapter 3). The best practice reports are designed to help organizations to identify and implement the most relevant best environmental management practices for their individual needs and simplify this, for example by providing real life examples. In the Sectoral Reference Documents (SRD) the contents of the more detailed best practice reports are presented once again in a clear and concise manner. The mentioned reports exist for the following sectors: food and beverage manufacturing, car manufacturing, electrical and electronic equipment manufacturing, public administration, agriculture, waste management, manufacturing of fabricated metal products and telecommunications.²⁷

The following exemplary guideline documents can be used to implement the ISO 14001 and the EMAS standard:

ISO 14001

EMAS

[1] NQA National Quality Assurance is part of NTS National Technical Systems Ltd, the leading independent provider of environmental simulation testing, inspection and certification services in the USA.
[2] DNV Det Norske Veritas, an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway.
[3] TÜV Nord Group Technischer Überwachungsverein is a technical service provider with worldwide activities headquartered in Hanover, Germany

3 Practical implementation

Practical implementation of EMS could be achieved by integrating it into existing management systems. For instance, EMS could be implemented as a part of an integrated management system (IMS). Such symbiosis of different management systems should be seen as a combination of multiple management standards, which may require for sustainable organizational development. According to the study Ikram et al. in 2019 the average Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance of EMS adopters was signiﬁcantly higher than that of non-EMS adopters. This study revealed that the manufacturing companies of Pakistan that adopted EMS have better corporate performance than the non-EMS companies. Moreover, EMS adoption can be an effective approach for organizations to address economic, social and environmental issues. Usually, EMS is a tool used by organizations to reduce their CO2 emissions, and soil contamination and help organizations in the efﬁcient utilization of its resources (e.g., water, energy and waste management).³⁵

Further practical adoption of EMSs based on standards such as ISO 14001 and EMAS has become very popular and the academic literature has studied the adoption of these standards extensively.³⁶ For instance, multiple studies have mentioned that the incorporation of EMS in the daily management of environmental risks at the power stations of Eskom (South Africa’s electricity public utility operator) could be seen as a good example of the practical implications of EMSs.³⁷^,³⁸

However, adopting ISO 14001, EMAS and other environmental management practices, frameworks and standards require further steps. According to the case of the paper industry in Italy, there is a demand for broader adaptation of the EMAS, which should help to manage paper recycling.³⁹

3.1 Environmental management process

Figure 2 shows the structure and process organization of environmental management according to ISO 14001 in a process map. The process map can be divided into three process categories: management processes, operational business processes and supporting processes.

The management processes concern the top management of an organization. The management defines specifications for the organization with regard to environmental protection, e.g. in the form of corporate environmental policy, specifications for environmental goals and programs and the definition of responsibilities.

With the operational business processes, the specifications of the management are then formulated by the environmental management. These processes include, for example, the recording of relevant environmental aspects and legal obligations, which are then incorporated into the business processes with the help of suitable records (e.g., procedural and work instructions, process descriptions).

The management and operational business processes are accompanied by supporting processes. These should support that the formulated requirements of environmental management can be effectively implemented, for example by training employees about their work instructions.⁴⁰

*Figure 2: Process map according to ISO 14001⁴¹.*

3.2 Audits

3.2.1 Internal audits

ISO 14001 formulates the requirement that internal audits must take place at regular intervals to check whether the EMS meets the requirements of the standard, whether it works and if it is also lived. This is intended to identify weak points, find solutions, and ensure the continuous improvement process required by the standard.

In order to conduct audits, the organization must first define an audit program, which must include the following points:

Frequency (usually 1 audit/year, 1 audit cycle/3 years)
Methods
Responsibilities and auditors (objective, impartial)
Planning and reporting requirements
Audit scope and audit criteria

If an audit is carried out, it must be documented. The results must also be reported to top management.

The independent standard ISO 19011 should be used for the implementation of an audit. It supports and makes specifications for the establishment of an audit program, the definition of an audit plan, the development of audit checklists and the creation of an audit report. In addition, forms for an audit program and an audit plan are provided.⁴²

3.2.2 External certification audits

Through certification audits, organizations obtain proof of the conformity of their management system with regard to a specific standard (e.g. ISO 14001) issued by an accredited body. In principle, certification is voluntary, but in some industries, there is pressure for certification, since this is a prerequisite for the establishment of business relationships (e.g. quality management according to ISO 9001) or, for example, to receive tax reductions.

The requirements of certification audits basically correspond to the requirements for internal audits according to ISO 19011. They are also supplemented by requirements according to the ISO/IEC 17021 standard. ISO/IEC 17021 also regulates the requirements for certification organizations.⁴³ Figure 3 shows a comparison the process for a certification or validation procedure for an EMS according to ISO 14001 and the EMAS validation:

Certification procedure ISO 14001	Validation procedure EMAS
1. Contract of the organization
With certification organization	with government approved and monitored environmental verifier
2. Preparation of the audit (1st stage of the two-stage initial audit)
Core question list Examination of the documentation Creation of the audit plan	Core question list Examination of the documentation Examination of the environmental statement Creation of the audit plan
3. Conducting the on-site audit (2nd stage of the two-stage initial audit)
Opening briefing Auditing of the organization Audit findings and conclusions Final meeting	Opening briefing Auditing of the organization Validation of the environmental statement Audit findings and conclusions Final meeting
4. Compilation of the audit report
Compilation of the audit report Examination by certification organization	Compilation of the audit report Certifying a statement of validation by environmental verifiers
5. Application for registration at the responsible authority
–	Application for registration of the organization Payment of the registration fee Request of the authority to environmental agency Registration of the organization
6. Certification/Validation
Awarding of the certificate	Awarding of the EMAS logo
7. Certification/Validation Cycle
Annual surveillance audits Triennial recertification audits	Annual surveillance audits and update of the environmental statement Triennial revalidation and validation of the environmental statement

Table 1: Similarities and differences (marked in cursive) of EMS certification and validation procedure⁴⁴.

3.3 Digitization, information technology and EMS

Software solutions are overtaking not only the communication part of SMEs but also help to organize, execute and monitor internal business processes. For instance, it is hard to imagine a modern company that does not use any digital communication application (e.g., e-mail). Especially after almost two years of the COVID pandemic, more sophisticated IT tools penetrated employees’ daily routines. The adaptation of EMS within the company could hardly be efficiently achieved without applying a specialized IT system. Not only because our world is getting more digital but also because a typical EMS should contain or build around “a database”.⁴⁵ The ongoing digitalization of processes overtakes every aspect and makes IT a significant contributor to overall optimization. Such rapid development generates a considerable amount of data, which should be collected, stored, analyzed and, in the end, presented to the consumer (e.g., human or another IT system). The dilemma that one may have – which data must be processed and which data could be safely deleted, would stay for a while because the actual value of the data could be firstly uncovered when enough data is collected, integrated and put into relation. Thus, information technology could make a unique contribution in managing EMS challenges. That is why the adaptation of EMS usually includes the adaptation of a specialized IT system. That makes such tools of massive importance for a company. Such types of software systems have multiple names and could differ from each other, but such tools share the common goal – addressing challenges of EMS using IT know-how. Several umbrella terms are typically used to refer to the IT systems capable of working with EMS: environmental management information system (EMIS)⁴⁶; corporate environmental management Information Systems (CEMIS)⁴⁷; environmental data management system (EDMS)⁴⁸.

In 2001 Page and Rautenstrauch defined EMIS as “organizational-technical systems for systematically obtaining, processing, and making relevant environmental information available in companies”.⁴⁹ EMIS should deal with environmental issues as projects and incorporates project management techniques in environmental management.⁵⁰

3.4 Software solutions for EMS

Online platform capterra.com, which helps businesses to review, compare and select suitable software solutions and tools for their own needs, contains two categories with EMS relevant software tools. These categories are “Environmental Software” and “Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Management Software“. The category with environmental software contains 204 entries, while the category with EHS software contains 485 entries. That makes in total 689 software tools and solutions to select from. However, it must be noted that both lists share a significant number of tools, and the actual number of unique software tools should be smaller. But even having approximately 400 unique EMS related software tools to select from could be challenging. Listed software tools vary from being a desktop application, which needs to be installed on the PC, or a Microsoft Excel file, which consist of with pre-defined worksheets and formulas, to cloud-native solution, which could be used based on monthly subscription without any additional installations required. It is also important to mention, that there are software tools, that may covert only particular aspects of EMS required portfolio and there are other software tools, that are also have additional features (e.g., risk benchmarks and company compliance). According to the review done S. Krotov in 2022 by there a number of software tools, that could be treated as most adapted ones (e.g., EHS Insight, SAP EHS, Enablon, INTELEX, Quentic, ID-Report, etc.).⁵¹

The smallest software tool to work with EMS could be a spreadsheet file with pre-defined tables and formulas. For instance, European Union (EU) offers its own “EMAS Implementa-tion Tool” tool for SMEs. This tool consists of 4 spreadsheet files: “Tool 1 – Organisational information”, “Tool 2 – Environmental aspects”, “Tool 3 – Environmental responsibilities” and “Tool 4 – Environmental data” and a detailed instruction manual.⁵² The advantage of this kind of software tool is that almost anyone can easily download it and start using it immediately. However, it is usually challenging to maintain data, updates and upgrades in a spreadsheet file, primarily if it is operated by a group of people and must be maintained yearly. Another problem is that it could be hard to change or adapt such a tool for own needs because it could introduce further complexity and create additional IT tool or a database to be maintained. However, it must be noted that such a tool could be the first valuable step to start with the adaption of EMS in general and with EMAS in particular.

On the other hand, a more sophisticated solution that works with EMS usually consists of multiple components and is represented by a standalone IT system or could be a part of a more extensive IT system. Such a system consists of numerous architectural components (or architectural tiers):

A database component is used to integrate and store relevant environmental data (e.g., CO2 emission, energy consumption, etc.)
A business logic component or application server responsible for processing the data into information (e.g., calculating pre-defined environmental performance indicators (EPI), generating reports, checking validity and eligibility of PDCA process’s steps, etc.)
A user interface component responsible for presenting the data and control elements to the end user (e.g., web portal with forms to be filled out with the environmental data, download reports or send e-mails and other notifications, etc.).⁵³

The disadvantages of a standalone IT system for the adaptation of EMS are unnecessary technical complexity for SMEs without in-house IT expertise and high implementation and maintenance costs.

4 Drivers and barriers

4.1 External drivers

4.1.1 Governments

Global challenges like the anthropogenic climate change, the rising number of people in the world and biodiversity highlight the importance of the link between economic sustainability and the environmental condition.⁵⁴

Environmental management systems can make a relevant contribution to this, as explained in chapter 1. To implement an environmental management system in an organization, in addition to standards from private standardization organizations state systems such as EMAS can also be used by the organizations.⁵⁵ EMAS thus offers organizations the basic framework on which they can build their environmental management system and massively reduces the company’s effort. Accordingly, EMAS can be seen as a state driver for environmental management systems.

Furthermore, governments could be seen as drivers of EMS, as they are linked to certain EMS certificates, e.g., deregulations such as tax relief. This approach can be compared with the tax relief for companies in specific industries, which must hold an ISO 50001 certificate for this purpose.⁵⁶ However, there are currently no known deregulations due to the existence of environmental management systems.

4.1.2 The economy

Sustainability has two meanings within the context of an environmental management system (EMS). The ability to preserve and stretch resources is achieved through pollution prevention and dedicated resource reduction programs; waste minimization and recycling enable companies to stretch finite resources, thereby ensuring resource availability for future years of operation. The second interpretation of sustainability is in terms of future risks to a business. All companies, regardless of the industry sector within which they operate or how good their compliance records are, face future liabilities.⁵⁷

Although the specific institutional features of EMSs vary across organizations, all EMSs involve establishing an environmental policy or plan; undergoing internal assessments of the organization’s environmental impacts (including quantification of those impacts and how they have changed over time); creating quantifiable goals to reduce environmental impacts, providing resources and training workers; checking implementation progress through systematic auditing to ensure that goals are being reached; correcting deviations from goal attainment and undergoing management review. Organizations that adopt EMSs, regardless of their form, can benefit from improving their regulatory compliance, which in turn can enhance their corporate image and increase profits.⁵⁸ Further, EMSs assist enterprises to scrutinize their internal operations, engage employees in environmental issues, continually monitor their progress, and increase their knowledge about their operations. All these actions also can help organizations improve their internal operations, achieve greater efficiencies, and create opportunities for improving their strategic value, because at a basic level they depend upon intensive employee involvement and team production. Moreover, each of these activities relies on knowledge-based skills that are decentralized and difficult for competitors to replicate, thereby creating opportunities to gain competitive advantage. In other instances, EMSs have the potential to encourage organizations to adopt more sophisticated environmental strategies that build on their basic pollution prevention principles. In the process, EMSs can assist the whole organization in achieving greater organizational efficiency and continual environmental improvement.⁵⁹

An effective EMS can help a firm manage, measure, and improve the environmental aspects of its operations. It has the potential to lead to more efficient compliance with mandatory and voluntary environmental requirements. It may also help companies affect a culture change as environmental management practices are incorporated into its overall business operations. The assumption is that better environmental management will lead to better performance. Environmental resources and capabilities are considered under the natural-resource-based view (NRBV) to be the key factors that help firms overcome the constraints imposed by the natural environment. Given the current pace of natural resources depletion, future market competition will be conditioned by the scarcity of natural resources. In this scenario, firms that best develop their environmental resources and capabilities will be in a better position to drive the economy of the future. Therefore, for these firms, the natural environment represents a source of new and emerging business opportunities.⁶⁰ Alternatively, firms might wish to signal their environmental friendliness to their potential investors who want to buy (green) mutual funds focusing on investing in environmentally friendly corporations.⁶¹ Competitive advantage is a powerful driver for organizations and therefore a focus on the performance link or the business case of corporate sustainability can yield insights of considerable relevance for managers and policy makers alike.⁶²

In the sense of NRBV, pollution can be considered to be a form of economic waste and a sign of production inefficiencies, and therefore firms that effectively implement EMS could drive down costs by reducing the emission of pollutants and optimizing the use of production factors. Under this rationale, the connection between environmental commitment and firm performance is grounded in three strategic capabilities:

pollution prevention, which emphasizes efficiency and productivity improvement by waste reduction and a better use of production inputs and improvements in processes;
product stewardship, where pollution prevention scope takes into consideration all the steps in the product value chain;
sustainable development, which goes beyond environmental issues and takes into account the firm’s impact on economic and social development.⁶³

Each of these has different environmental driving forces, builds upon different key resources, and has a different source of competitive advantage. Pollution prevention is associated with lower costs. For example, removing pollutants from the production process can increase efficiency by (a) reducing the inputs required, (b) simplifying the process, and (c) reducing compliance and liability costs. Product stewardship expands the scope of pollution prevention to include the entire value chain or “life cycle” of the firm’s product systems. Through stakeholder engagement, the “voice of the environment” can be effectively integrated into the product design and development process. Finally, a sustainable development strategy has two notable differences from pollution prevention or product stewardship strategies. First, a sustainable development strategy does not merely seek to do less environmental damage but, rather, to actually produce in a way that can be maintained indefinitely into the future. Second, sustainable development, by its very definition, is not restricted to environmental concerns but also involves focusing on economic and social concerns.⁶⁴

In addition to improving environmental performance, ISO 14001 is said to be able to provide economic benefits to certified companies, notably in terms of competitive advantage. Companies may experience direct financial benefits: a decrease in the cost of regulatory fines, as well as a decrease in environmental liabilities. By involving employees, ISO 14001 can lead to increased operational efficiencies. ISO14001 can also indicate to external stakeholders such as customers, communities, the media, investment and insurance groups, and regulatory agencies that the company has a sound environmental management system in place.⁶⁵ In general, ISO 14001 certification can help firms develop resource combinations and capabilities that, while they might take time to develop, will deliver a significant positive impact on long-term financial performance.⁶⁶ Despite the positive effect of ISO 14001 adoption, the range and the scale of its benefits might differ among the businesses, depending on the business characteristics as well as their environments. It was found that the number of ISO 14001 certificate is positively correlated with the income of the country, foreign direct investments, and exportation. In the same vein, it was showed that businesses that export, have some foreign ownership and are internationally connected have a higher probability of certifying.⁶⁷

Regarding EMAS, in Germany, EMAS certified facilities benefit from regulatory relief and from more and higher subsidies based on the EMAS privilege regulation. Within this framework, EMS enables the development of strategic resources which can have a positive impact on innovation capabilities in general and thus also on technological environmental innovations. Based on a survey of EMAS certified facilities in Germany, this view has been supported by the appraisal of EMAS or environmental managers of these facilities.⁶⁸

4.2 Internal drivers

Companies implementing the EMS standard in response to their internal drivers mainly focus on their motivations to achieve competitive positions. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that the adaptation of EMS could enhance a company’s image on the market and is usually used by companies in their marketing activities. That is why strengthening the company’s image and reputation on the market is among the main internal drivers that lead to the adaptation of EMS. Additionally, maintaining a better relationship with the stakeholders should help companies to sustain their competitive advantage and maintain better visibility in the market. Such intentions could be achieved through the visibility of their environmental commitment. For instance, such visibility could be achieved through ISO 14001 or EMAS certifications. Benefits of such visibility influence economic performance by exposing companies’ image to the international market. Although continuous commitment of the management to the environmental goals should empower further adoption of environmental activities, there is still a pure commitment among managers and decision‐makers in companies to move towards an EMS. For instance, the effort to reduce operational costs by adopting an EMS was not mentioned that often. Thus, not only economic benefits from improved efficiencies, such as cost savings and market expansion, are the primary internal drivers of the adaptation of EMS.⁶⁹

For instance, according to the study conducted by Salim et al. in 2018, based on data from Indonesia’s food and beverage industry, internal drivers played a more relevant role than external drivers in the adaptation of EMS. The findings suggest that the most significant internal driver is the enhancement of company image and reputation. The first internal driver is followed by the seconds – improving environmental performance. The third internal driver from the study suggests that the adaptation of EMS standard is used as a marketing tool. Top management commitment was not identified as this case’s most significant internal driver. According to the study, the potential for financial savings from implementing an EMS was the least relevant internal driver.⁷⁰

4.3 Barriers

Internal and external factors could play a negative role in the adaptation of EMS. The internal barriers to the adaptation of EMS are human resources, lack of understanding and perception, problems with implementation, negative attitudes, and culture within the companies. All of mentioned above make an adaptation of the EMS a complex process, which means that required for such adaptation costs and resources should not be underestimated. Otherwise, the successful adaptation of EMS could be hardly be achieved. On the other hand, the external barriers include problems with the certifier or verifier, economic situation, institutional weakness within the country, and lacking governmental support and guidance.⁷¹

Both stands ISO 14001 and EMAS encounter problems and issues during the adaptation phase. For instance, here are barriers that slow down and make it harder to adapt ISO 14001 guidelines: costs, superﬁcial adoption, paperwork, time constraints, resistance to change, and lack of capabilities within the companies.⁷² The study conducted by Daddi in 2019 on the situation with EMAS in Spain reveals that lack of resources, lack of stakeholder recognition, and uncertainty about the value of EMAS lead to the withdrawal of companies from the EMAS list.⁷³ Another study used collected during the interviews with environmental managers from the hospitals, who are already adapted EMAS standard, reveals multiple problems: (1) high initial effort for the creation of the required documents, (2) lacking knowledge and (3) staff awareness.⁷⁴

Overall it should be noted that internal and external barriers play a significant role in the adaptation of EMS. Additionally, these barriers do not disappear even after successful integration of the EMS, and further efforts should be applied to sustain the results achieved by the adaptation of EMS results.

References

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7
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8
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9
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10
Möller, J. (2010). Environmental Management System (EMS). In W. Visser, D. Matten, M. Pohl, & et. al., The a to z of corporate social responsibility (2nd ed.). Wiley. Credo Reference: https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileyazcsr/environmental_management_system_ems/0.
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13
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14
Pajula, T., Behm, K., Vatanen, S., Saarivuori, E. (2017). Managing the Life Cycle to Reduce Environmental Impacts. In: Grösser, S., Reyes-Lecuona, A., Granholm, G. (eds) Dynamics of Long-Life Assets. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45438-2_6.
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16
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17
Brauweiler, J., Will, M., Zenker-Hoffmann. A. (2018). Umweltmanagementsysteme nach ISO 14001: Grundwissen für Praktiker. 2. edit.., Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler.
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21
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25
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35
Ikram, M., Zhou, P., Shah, S. A. A., & Liu, G. Q. (2019). Do environmental management systems help improve corporate sustainable development? Evidence from manufacturing companies in Pakistan. Journal of Cleaner Production, 226, 628-641.
36
Díaz de Junguitu, A., & Allur, E. (2019). The adoption of environmental management systems based on ISO 14001, EMAS, and alternative models for SMEs: A qualitative empirical study. Sustainability, 11(24), 7015.
37
Ramagoma, M. J. (2018). Coal Fly Ash Waste Management Challenges in the South African Power Generation Sector and Possible Recycling Opportunities: A Case Study of Hendrina and Kendal Power Stations (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Sciece, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies).
38
Hlongwana, N. D. (2014). An assessment of the effectiveness of management review as an ISO 14001: 2004 continual improvement element: an Eskom Distribution case study (Doctoral dissertation).
39
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40
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41
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45
Sroufe, Robert. “Effects of Environmental Management Systems on Environmental Management Practices and Operations.” Production and Operations Management. 12-3 (2003): 416–431.
46
Kouziokas, G. N. (2016). Technology-based management of environmental organizations using an Environmental Management Information System (EMIS): Design and development. Environmental Technology & Innovation, 5, 106-116.
47
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Möller, J. (2010). Environmental Management System (EMS). In W. Visser, D. Matten, M. Pohl, & et. al., The a to z of corporate social responsibility (2nd ed.). Wiley. Credo Reference: https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileyazcsr/environmental_management_system_ems/0.
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20
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21
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22
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24
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25
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26
EcoStep. (2022). EcoStep: das integrierte Managementsystem für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMU). https://www.ecostep-online.de/ (31.08.2022).
27
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28
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35
Ikram, M., Zhou, P., Shah, S. A. A., & Liu, G. Q. (2019). Do environmental management systems help improve corporate sustainable development? Evidence from manufacturing companies in Pakistan. Journal of Cleaner Production, 226, 628-641.
36
Díaz de Junguitu, A., & Allur, E. (2019). The adoption of environmental management systems based on ISO 14001, EMAS, and alternative models for SMEs: A qualitative empirical study. Sustainability, 11(24), 7015.
37
Ramagoma, M. J. (2018). Coal Fly Ash Waste Management Challenges in the South African Power Generation Sector and Possible Recycling Opportunities: A Case Study of Hendrina and Kendal Power Stations (Doctoral dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Sciece, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies).
38
Hlongwana, N. D. (2014). An assessment of the effectiveness of management review as an ISO 14001: 2004 continual improvement element: an Eskom Distribution case study (Doctoral dissertation).
39
Rizzi, P., & Danesi, S. (2021). Policies for the Circular Economy: the Case of Paper Industry. Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, (1), 76-84.
40
VOREST AG. (2022). Bereits an der Prozesslandkarte erkennt man ein effektives Umweltmanagementsystem. https://handbuch-managementsystem.de/umweltmanagementsystem/um-system/prozesslandschaft_iso_14001/ (31.08.2022).
41
Rizzi, P., & Danesi, S. (2021). Policies for the Circular Economy: the Case of Paper Industry. Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, (1), 76-84.
42
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Brauweiler, J., Will, M., Zenker-Hoffmann. A. (2015). Auditierung und Zertifizierung von Managementsystemen: Grundwissen für Praktiker. 1. edit.., Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler
45
Sroufe, Robert. “Effects of Environmental Management Systems on Environmental Management Practices and Operations.” Production and Operations Management. 12-3 (2003): 416–431.
46
Kouziokas, G. N. (2016). Technology-based management of environmental organizations using an Environmental Management Information System (EMIS): Design and development. Environmental Technology & Innovation, 5, 106-116.
47
Marx Gómez, J., & Teuteberg, F. (2015). Toward the Next Generation of Corporate Environmental Management Information Systems: What is Still Missing?. In ICT Innovations for Sustainability (pp. 313-332). Springer, Cham.
48
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51
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