Ecomanagement Iso14000

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, VOL. 11, NOS. 4/5&6, 2000, S767± S772

Ecomanagement quality system: ISO 14000. The state of the art in Italy Maria Proto & Stefania Supino UniversitaÁ degli Studi di Salerno, Facolta Á di Economia, Via Ponte Don MelilloÐ 84084 Fisciano (Salerno), Italy

Introduction In the last two decades environmental problems have increasingly become the centre of attention, raising the level of consideration of government, productive industries, legislative organs and common people on the need to contain risks that human activities have on the ecosystems. As a result of international interest in the environmental issue, various governmental, non-governmental and industrial initiatives have been adopted in order to establish sets of principles, criteria, codes of conduct and standards as a voluntary policy tool to improve environmental performance and help achieve sustainability (Proto et al., 1996). Voluntary initiatives represent a more eVective and desirable alternative to the `command and control’ policies: they provide ¯ exibility for businesses to reach desired goals in the most eVective manner. The environmental dimension, once considered a marginal problem or a bond, has today gathered a character of coessentiality as regards the conventional factors of management, to the point that it has become one of the most important factors in reaching competitive advantages (Porter & Van Der Linde, 1996). In the light of the large consensus obtained from the adoption of voluntary schemes, such as the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme and the ISO 14000 environmental standards, this paper analyses the state of the art in Italy.

The ISO 14000 standards The family of environmental standards ISO 14000 was developed by the ISO Technical Committee ISO /TC207 and published in September 1996. When ISO 14000 was introduced, many companies viewed the new international standard as a natural extension of the quality management system. Just as total quality management (TQM) demands a goal of zero defects, as they are clear indicators of ineYciency in the design of processes and products and services, similarly the new approach, total quality environmental management, considers every environmental impact as an indicator of ineYciency in the use of materials and energy. It aims to improve eYciency and quality by eliminating emissions, eZuents and accident. The new concept of ISSN 0954-4127 print/ISSN 1360-0613 online/00/04S767-06

€ 2000 Taylor & Francis Ltd

S768

M. PROTO & S. SUPINO

sustainable development requires a comprehensive approach of the issues related to product quality by making better use of resources and providing environmental protection (Proto, 1999). The ISO 14000 series is a set of generic tools for developing, implementing maintaining and evaluating environmental policies and objectives; the series contains standards for environmental management systems, environmental auditing, life-cycle assessment, environmental labelling and environmental performance evaluation. The best known standard in this series is ISO 14001, which speci® es the requirements for an environmental management system (EMS) and provides the basis for certi® cation of an organization’ s EMS. The philosophy behind this set-up is that the EMS of an organization is of central importance and that the other standards are intended to support speci® c elements of the organization’ s environmental policy and management system. The ISO 14000 family of international standards and their relationship are demonstrated in schematic form in Tables 1 and Fig. 1. The ISO 14000 series does not interfere with any national environmental legislation. The setting of limit values and performance levels remains the prerogative of national

Table 1. Structure of the ISO 14000 ISO International Standards ISO Guide 64:1997 ISO 14001:1996 ISO 14004:1996 ISO 14010:1996 ISO 14011:1996 ISO 14012:1996 ISO 14040:1997

Guide for the inclusion of environmental aspects in product standard Environmental management systemsÐ speci® cation with guidance for use Environmental management systemsÐ general guidelines on principles, systems and supporting techniques Guidelines for environmental auditingÐ general principles Guidelines for environmental auditingÐ audit proceduresÐ auditing of environmental management systems Guidelines for environmental auditingÐ quali® cation criteria for environmental auditors Environmental managementÐ life-cycle assessmentÐ principles and framework

Draft International Standards (DIS) ISO/DIS 14020 Environmental labels and declarationsÐ general principles ISO/DIS 14021 Environmental labels and declarationsÐ self-declaration environmental claimsÐ guidelines and de® nition and usage of terms ISO/DIS 14024 Environmental labels and declarationsÐ type of environmental labellingÐ guiding principles and procedures ISO/DIS 14041 Environmental managementÐ life-cycle assessmentÐ goal and scope de® nition and inventory analysis ISO/DIS 14050 Environmental managementÐ vocabulary Committee Draft (CD) ISO/CD 14031 Environmental performance evaluationÐ guidelines ISO/CD 14042 Environmental managementÐ life-cycle assessmentÐ life cycle impact assessment ISO/CD 14043 Environmental managementÐ life cycle assessmentÐ life cycle interpretation Working Draft (WD) ISO/WD 14061

New Proposal (NP) ISO/NP 14049

Guidance to assist forestry organizations in the use of ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 (future type 3 technical report)

Environmental managementÐ life-cycle assessmentÐ examples for the application of ISO 14041 (future type 3 technical report)

ECOMANAGEMENT QUALITY SYSTEM

S769

Figure 1. The relationship between the standards in the ISO 14000 series (Hortensius, 1999).

governmental authorities. The ISO 14000 series goes beyond mere compliance with environmental legislation. It encourages a systematic examination of all areas where an organization’ s activities have an impact on the environment and can yield bottom-line bene® ts such as reduced waste and savings in consumption of energy and materials. An ISO 14001-certi® ed EMS provides certainty to external parties that an organization has control over the signi® cant environmental aspects of its operational processes, that it has committed itself to comply with all relevant environmental legislation and regulation and to improve continually its overall environmental performance. Key elements of the ISO 14001 EMS are: · · · · ·

the environmental policy and the requirements to pursue this policy via objectives, targets and environmental programmes; the analysis of the environmental aspects of the organizations, including its processes, products and services, as well as goods and services used by the organization; implementation and organization of processes to control and improve operational activities that are critical from an environmental perspective; monitoring and measurement and corrective actions to ensure that objectives and target will be achieved; conduct of audits to determine whether the EMS is indeed well functioning and conduct of management reviews to address the possible need for changing the policy and objectives to ensure the continuing suitability, adequacy and eVectiveness of the EMS.

Therefore, it is useful to underline that in an environmental policy, the organization should include the following basic commitments: (a) compliance with relevant registration and regulations; (b) continual improvement in overall environmental performance; and (c) prevention of pollution. An important principle of ISO 14001 is that it does not establish absolute environmental performance requirements. The organization itself, taking into account the three basic commitments mentioned above, must formulate its own environmental policy and therefore determine its own objectives and level of ambition with respect to environmental performance. Sceptics see this as a weakness of ISO 14001; promoters of the standard consider this as its strength: ISO 14001 provides a management tool to prove the eYciency and eYcacy `on the ® eld’ to

S770

M. PROTO & S. SUPINO

Table 2. `Top 10’ ISO 14001 countries world-wide (ANPA, 1999) Country 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Japan Germany UK Sweden US Taiwan Netherlands Korea Switzerland France

ISO 14001 Certi® cations 2531 1460 1009 850 520 506 475 463 413 367

Dated November 1999.

achieve the environmental objectives that are relevant to the processes, products or service of the organization (Sheldon, 1998). Therefore, the ISO 14001 standard is really a management system standard that is applicable world-wide and does need to be changed or adapted to local or regional circumstances. The ISO 14000 environmental management standards, in fact, are rapidly adopted. Since the ® rst were published in September 1996 about 11 000 EMSs in 55 countries have already been certi® ed to ISO 14001 (ANPA, 1999). In Table 2, the `top 10’ ISO 14000 countries world-wide are reported. In Europe, the great success of ISO 14000 environmental standards has almost started to overshadow the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)Ð even though it was established in 1999Ð and the European Commission is now revising the European Union scheme. EMAS is a European Union voluntary programme aimed at encouraging corporate responsibility, allowing businesses to address environmental issues within the framework of their economic considerations. Although participation is voluntary, companies must adhere to all of the scheme’s requirements once they have agreed to seek EMAS registration. These requirements include compliance with all applicable environmental regulations. Implementation is certi® ed by an accredited independent veri® er. The scheme’s goals are not only to improve environmental performance and foster regulatory compliance, but also to communicate environmental performance information to the public. The European Commission has published its proposals for revision of the EU’s voluntary scheme, substantially aligning it more closely to the ISO 14000 format. In fact, a key change is a proposal to open EMAS to all organizations, not just industrial sites. EMAS IIÐ planned for the middle of the year 2000Ð incorporates the ISO 14000 programme as a way of meeting the EMAS environmental management system requirement. This aims at eliminating any duplication of work created by implementation of both systems, while retaining the EMAS requirements that take the scheme farther than ISO 14000. These requirements include a commitment to continual improvement in environmental performance, compliance with environmental legislation and publication of a statement on environmental impact and performance. Furthermore, the Commission wants to introduce a logo to increase the EMAS programme’ s visibility and recognition.

ECOMANAGEMENT QUALITY SYSTEM

S771

Table 3. Trend in ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 certi® cations (Sincert, 2000)

Year

Quality system

Environmental management system

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

163 353 825 1.628 3.123 5.236 8.729 13.977 21.427

0 0 0 0 0 20 49 106 247

Dated December 1999.

The state of the art in Italy Since its launch in Italy in 1996, the ISO 14000 EMS certi® cation scheme has made good progress. Although the adoption of ISO 14000 by industry is voluntary, 247 certi® cations have already been eVectuated up until December 1999. In Table 3 the trend in ISO 14000 certi® cation in Italy, related to ISO 9000, is illustrated. Although the number of ISO 14000 certi® cations is still not particularly elevatedÐ overall if confronted with the number of the certi® cations of ISO 9000 seriesÐ the fast increasing trend of the last few years suggests further development and better performance in the near future. It is also to the credit of the private sector that a number of key industries have formulated voluntary codes of environmental management practice; it is the case, for example, of the chemical industry that has adopted the Responsible Care Programme. Based on 10 guiding principles, this programme advocates that priority be given to health, safety and environmental issues in the planning of product and processes (Proto et al., 1999). Certainly, many challenges have to be overcome: ® rst of all to spread the adoption of ecomanagement standards through the unbounded universe of medium, small and very small enterprises, which represent a very large part of the total number of enterprises operating in Italy and in Europe too, and are the true backbone of their industrial system (Biondi V. et al, 1998). To encourage small and medium enterprises to adopt environmental controls, the Italian government should provide technical and ® nancial support and/or economic incentives. In the future, it could be useful for both the voluntary environmental management schemesÐ ISO 14000 and EMASÐ to be revised to include measures aimed at facilitating and simplifying adhesion by small and medium enterprises, taking into account their speci® cities and needs.

Conclusions Further development of environmental management schemes, like EMAS and ISO 14001, as well as all the other tools for ecomanagement, are going to play central roles in the industrial world of the new millennium. The progressive acceptance of the principles associated with social responsibility is

S772

M. PROTO & S. SUPINO

leading the organizations to be particularly sensitive to social needs, including environmental problems. Certainly, many eVorts are needed in order to reach a total approach to environmental management and control in Italy. DiVusing the experience on bene® ts and advantages that result from the adoption of an environmental management standard is one of the best ways of promoting small and medium enterprises’ participation. Empirical evidence emphasizes the relevant bene® ts and possible advantages for organizations which can be achieved by adopting environmental management systems. First, they improve the capacity of managing and controlling their environmental performance, by continuously monitoring their activities, systematically registering and evaluating environmental eVects and periodically verifying the eVectiveness of the whole system. A second relevant bene® t emerges from a better de® nition of responsibilities and tasks, achieved through the de® nition of formal documents. Finally, it is necessary not to forget the potential bene® ts connected with an integrated management of quality and environmental issues, due to possible synergies and utilization of common tools. Therefore, the adoption of an EMS provides goodwill, credibility, reduced liability risk, increased productivity, competitive advantages, cost savings and, ultimately, pro® tability. References Agenzia Nazionale per la Protezione dell’Ambiente (ANPA) (1999) Il Regolamento 1836/93 (EMAS), Stato di attuazione in Europa e in Italia, Anpa, Roma. Biondi, V., Frey, M. & Iraldo, F. (1998) Environmental management system implementation by SMEs: experience and perspectives, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference of the Greening Industry Network, Rome, 15± 18 November. Hortensius, D. (1999) ISO 14000 and forestry management, Iso 9000 News + Iso 14000, 8, 11± 20. Porter, M.E. & Van Der Linde, C. (1996) Ecology increases business competitiveness, Harvard Business Review, 2, 12± 13. Proto, M. (1999) Il Sistema QualitaÁ: Pro® li Tecnoci e Percorsi Evolutivi (Torino, Giappichelli Editore). Proto, M., Malandrino, O. & Supino, S. (1996) Environmental quality management: tools for sustainable development, Proceedings of the Fifth International Commodity Science Conference: Quality for European Integration, Poznan, 19± 21 September. Proto, M., Malandrino, O. & Supino, S. (1999) Ecoquality in chemical industries: responsible care challenge, Proceedings of the 12th IGWT Symposium Quality for the XXIst Centur y, Poznan, 5± 11 September. Sheldon, C. (1998) ISO 14001 and Beyond. Environmental Management in the Real World (SheYeld, Greenleaf Publishing). Sincert (2000) http://www.sincert.it, 07/02/2000.