Environmental Management System ISO 14001 factors for promoting the adoption of Cleaner Production practices

Abstract

The Environmental Management System of ISO 14001 stands out as one of the most widely used systems for managing corporate environmental aspects and processes and the Cleaner Production is a proactive environmental strategy that has remarkably positive results in environmental corporate management. The principal aim of this article was to identify and analyze the influence relations of the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System to the Cleaner Production through a survey-based research. The maturity and the phases of planning and discipline are key factors for the systematization and continuity of Cleaner Production practices. The stages of Planning, Evaluation and Feasibility Study, and Implementation were identified as the main stages of CP fostered by the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System.

Supply chain uncertainty and environmental management

“…The respondents were from the two largest provinces in Canada (Ontario and Quebec) with different regulatory context: a dummy was introduced ("province") in the analysis to capture such a difference. Finally, because a certified environmental management system such as ISO 14001 could have an impact on both the level and the type of environmental spending (Oliveira et al, 2016), a dummy variable was also introduce to capture plant's certification.…”

Assessing the implementation of Cleaner Production and company sizes: Survey in textile companies

“…30 In addition to the economic gains, another relevant consideration was presented by another survey conducted in Brazil that considered 52 companies, the relationships between ISO14001 certification and the application of CP practices were analyzed and with descriptive statistics, it was possible to verify that companies of all sizes that had the ISO14001 certification were concerned about staying certified due to the strategic benefits achieved; therefore, CP practices were applied regardless of the size of the company. 27 Finally, another relevant consideration, again in Brazil, a survey analyzed 238 companies in order to measure the relationships between strategic drivers for the business, maturity in project management, success in the implementation of CP practices, and the size of the company in the analysis. The integrated model presented established that companies that were identified as mature in project management succeeded in applying CP practices without the company's size affecting the results; however, it was also found that this characteristic was more commonly observed in large companies than in SMEs.…”

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

“…ISO 14001 requirements define a model by means of which any type of organization, regardless of size, sector or geographical location, can implement a management framework to improve its overall environmental performance with a systematic virtuous approach (ISO, 2015). It is important to note that ISO 14001 is a process-oriented standard, so the proposed framework does not establish the level of environmental performance the firm must achieve nor a maturity model for environmental procedures and control indicators (Barla, 2007, Curkovic & Sroufe, 2011Oliveira et al, 2016). ISO 14001 outlines five basic requirements to set up an effective EMS: defining a corporate environmental policy and commitment to implement an EMS, drawing up a plan for its implementation, carrying out the EMS, monitoring and implementation of eventual corrective actions, periodically reviewing the EMS operations by top management to ensure continuous improvement of their effectiveness (Barla, 2007, Curkovic & Sroufe, 2011.…”

“…Eco-innovation is "any form of innovation aiming at significant and demonstrable progress towards the goal of sustainable development, through reducing impacts on the environment or achieving a more efficient and responsible use of natural resources" (Decision N° EMSs certified as ISO 14001, are fundamental means to guide and support both public environmental policies and sustainable commercial strategies of companies (Arimura et al, 2008). The main companies' benefits in adopting ISO 14001 standard are the improvement of the production efficiency, the compliance with environmental normative and the corporate reputation enhancement (Ferron-Vilkez, 2017;Mazzi et al, 2016;Oliveira et al, 2016;Prajogo et al, 2012). Furthermore, among the EMS certifications, only the implementation of the ISO 14001 standard becomes an important eco-innovation driver both in the development and in the adoption-diffusion phase (Hojnik & Ruzzier, 2016).…”