Erfaringer med miljøledelse i danske virksomheder

Summary

Since 1993 more than 150 Danish firms have been certified, which gives Denmark a leading position regarding environmental management. On this background this report tries to establish an overview of the experiences the firms have had with environmental management systems, whether it concerns the certification according to standards such as BS 7750 or ISO 14001 or the registration according to the EMAS-scheme of the EU.

By the end of 1997 a total of 153 Danish firms were certified or registered according to EMAS, and of those 37 were farms. In the present investigation we have taken a closer look at the 116 industrial firms with a view to the experiences they have had with environmental management and its implementation. The experiences have been correlated with the size of the firms as well as the branch of industry, which they represent. Furthermore we have, whenever possible, tried to underline the experiences firms have had with adopting the EMAS scheme compared to the firms that exclusively implemented an environmental management system certifiable according to ISO 14001.

Among the 116 firms 107 answered the questionnaire.

At the end of 1997, 38 of the 107 firms had registered under the EMAS scheme or did so immediately thereafter. Only one firm was registered exclusively under the EMAS-scheme, the other 37 adopted both ISO 14001 and EMAS.

The general picture is that the firms embarked on environmental management primarily to be ahead as well as to take advantage of a better image and to benefit from it in their marketing. After the adoption of an environmental management system, 45% of the firms state that all in all it has been economically beneficial. The benefits primarily come from resource savings but many firms also note that they have benefited from a better image. Only one fifth of the firms finds that increased sales have been reached as a consequence of their adoption of environmental management.

The costs associated with implementation of environmental management are approximately 600.000 DKK of which one third is payment to external consultants. However, one third of the firms manage to implement their environmental management system without the use of consultants. Those firms that use consultants primarily do so to conduct the initial environmental review, while the building of the environmental management system often is carried out by the firms themselves. This is probably due to the fact that 68 % of the firms already are acquainted with quality management systems and therefore find the building of the system easy.

Conduction of the review is often carried out by means of simple checklists and manuals. The environmental topics dealt with comprise almost every type of resources in use and type of discharges. The general picture is that the firms give a more detailed and extensive picture of the environmental conditions than they would do in the case of applying for an environmental permit. More than half of the firms furthermore includes the description of working conditions in their environmental review.

In the initial environmental review more than two thirds of the firms also regard their products’ environmental impacts, either as an inventory of their content of polluting substances or as a more extensive review based on life cycle considerations.

The environmental review is, to a great extent based on internal expertise as the environmental manager often plays a crucial role in conducting the review. Most firms make their initial environmental reviews by utilising the existing but scattered information that they already possess. Only one fourth of the firms found it necessary to make additional tests to gather the sufficient information.

During the establishment of an environmental management system policies, targets and procedures for the daily environmental work are formulated. Most firms manage this on their own and they often involve different sections of the organisation in the work. The more extensive involvement of the employees in the environmental work has become quite widespread among these firms.

Environmental management often implies that the firms are engaged in a more intense dialogue with stakeholders in their environment, especially with the suppliers. Most firms systematically obtain information on the suppliers’ environmental performance, but still more firms also demand that the suppliers comply with existing environmental regulations. A few firms even demand that the suppliers have adopted not only environmental management but that they have also become certified.

The firms also have close relationships with other stakeholders. In a Danish context it is worth mentioning that the most important stakeholders alongside suppliers and customers are the employees and environmental authorities. Financial stakeholders (banks, insurance companies) together with environmental grassroots movements and neighbours are seldom encountered and presently they do not seem to be an essential driving force in relation to the environmental work of the firms.

The firms often make organisational changes when implementing the environmental management system. Either they establish an environmental group and/or appoint an environmental manager or co-ordinator who is responsible for the daily work with the management system. Due to these changes more than half of the firms have hired new manpower.

The adoption of environmental management substantially impacts the environmental work of the firms. The firms very often implement preventive measures such as resource savings, substitution of raw materials and ancillary materials and by introducing new machines and production processes. Compared with investigations on the use of preventive measures in average firms, there is a clear indication that the firms adopting environmental management twice as often adopt cleaner technologies too.

Thus, environmental management seems to be a success among Danish firms. The firms can definitely demonstrate that they, as stated in the standards, not only comply with the existing environmental regulation but also move forward through the adoption of continuous improvements.