CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Pollution Prevention

Environmental management over the past 40 years has relied upon a

philosophy of pollution control. Wide ranges of control technologies have been
developed and it is now technically possible to redu or entirely elifninate
some pollutant disdiarges. Howwer. it is often argued mat the pollution
conb.01 approach is yietding decreasing
benefits per unit expenditure and that pollution control divert resources from
more
productive, reduction at-source uses (World Bank, 1997; Bringer and
Benforado. 1994).
A pollution preventative approach, often voluntary in nature. is often used to
promote
environmental

stewardship

and

encourage

sustainable

development

principles.
(Jonasson. personal communication, 1999). The new approach, designed to be

flexible
to fit individual user needs, has the potential to alter an approach to
environmental
protection from the traditional "react and cure" approach to a new, proactive
"anticipate
and prevent" approach (CCME, 1996; CSA 1994). Commonly known as
Pollution Prevention (P2). the concept can be best described as pracces that
lead !O reduced wastes or releases to the envitonment. The CCME (1396)
adopted the following P2
definition:
The use of processes, practices, materials, products or energy that avoid or
minimize the creation of pollutants and wastes. at the source.
Pollution prevention promotes continuous improvement through operational
and behavioral changes. Pollution prevention is a shared responsibility among
governments and indiviuals, Musiml, comcommer~l, institutional, end
community sectors. lt focuses on areas such as: substances of concem,
efficient use and consetvation of natuml resources, operating practices, clean
production

processes

which

create

less

waste,

training,

equipment

modification,
process changes, material and feedstock substitution, product design and
reformulation, product life-cycle, and purchasing practices. - W. 2; CCME, 7996
The objective of pollution prevention is a healthy ecosystem as well as the
conservation
of materials and resources for more equitable distribution to current and
future
generations (House of Commons Standing Cornmittee on Environment and
Sustainable
Developrnent, 1995). Pollution prevention is Manitoba's 4Ih principle of
Sustainable
Development.

2.2 The importance of EMS

Environmental Management is a systematic approach which has been

initiated in the nineteenth century in Europe with mechanization of Industrial
Revolution. The disaster related to industrial revolution has triggered
sustainability.Such

crisis

act

as

milestones

in

the

developement

of

environmnetal awareness at the general public level and enforcement of

tougher legislation at the commercial level.

The developement of Environmental Management system has created an

coordinated way to deal with the environmental aspects of business and other
organizations. The clauses in the management system include general
requirements, environmental policy, planning, implementation and operation,
checking and corrective actions and last but not least management review.
This system will ensure an organization establish,document, implement,
maintain and continually improve an environmental management system in
accordance with the requirements of the International Standard.

One of the importance of EMS is to improve the enviromental performance

of an organization. EMS will also set highly visible environmental objectives

and ensure the organization demonstrate commitment and accountability

which could be verified, examined and even crictized. It will also comply with
the legislation and accomplish the changing expectations. Moreover, the EMS
also will fulfill the requirements of interested parties.An important part of an
EMS is its ability to track how the various parts of the systems is functioning
to allow the management make correction and take neccesary actions to
prevent future problems (Roberts,1998)

2.3 The Basic Elements of an Environmental Management System

(EMS)
(i) Reviewing the organization's environmental goals;
(ii) Analyzing its environmental impacts and legal requirements;
(iii) Setting environmental objectives and targets to reduce environmental
impacts and comply with legal requirements;
(iv) Establishing programs to meet these objectives and targets;
(v) Monitoring and measuring progress in achieving the objectives;
(vi) Ensuring employees' environmental awareness and competence;
(vii) Reviewing progress of the EMS and making improvements.

2.4 Integration of Pollution Prevention using EMS

Several EMS elements can be particularly useful in strengthening pollution
prevention programs. In addition, it can be easier to transfer successful
pollution prevention approaches from one site to another if a unifying
management framework is established. The EMS provides just such a
framework. With an EMS, facilities will be able to identify more quickly those

approaches that could be adapted to their unique conditions. The potential for
incorporating pollution prevention into each EMS element is described in more
detail below. Managers should keep in mind that adopting an EMS approach
does not and should not require building programs from scratch. It
should encourage adapting existing programs to work within the EMS
framework to the fullest extent possible.
Integrating P2 into an Environmental Policy: Adopting an EMS can make a
facility's commitment more powerful by institutionalizing pollution prevention
as a priority concern. All too often, pollution prevention gets "lost in the
shuffle" when circumstances demand more attention for items deemed
mission- or time-critical. By emphasizing pollution prevention as a basic
foundation, an EMS can raise the profile of pollution prevention and help
ensure that a P2 approach is adopted throughout a facility's activities.

Integrating P2 into the Identification of Environmental Aspects and

Impacts:

Facilities can take advantage of the process of identifying

environmental aspects and impacts to seek out and conduct pollution

prevention opportunity assessments in areas that may not have been
targeted

previously.

Similarly,

opportunities

for

advancing

sustainable

development and reducing use of energy and natural resources can be

pursued.
Integrating P2 into the Identification of Legal and Other Requirements: By
tracking
14
environmental legislation and other requirements, facilities can better
integrate pollution prevention with environmental program activities. Early
consideration of forthcoming regulatory changes allows facilities to respond
with pollution prevention solutions and perhaps avoid regulatory thresholds
and reporting requirements. Because many facilities already have internal
networks that provide for review and comment on both internal and external
(e.g.,

regulatory)

requirements,

pollution

prevention

can

be

given

consideration when evaluating the means to meet these requirements.

2.5 ISO

ISO originated from the union of two organisations the ISO (International
Federation of the National Standardizing Associations) and the UNSCC (United
Nations Standard Coordinating Committee).
In 1946 over 25 countries met at the Institute of Civil Engineers in London to create a
new international organisation, where the objective was to facilitate the
international coordination and unification of industrial standards From this the new
organisation ISO began operations in February 1947. The word ISO is derived from
the Greek ISOS meaning equal.
As the International Organization for Standardization would translate differently
across different languages it was decided that the short form name for the organisation
would be ISO.
Today the ISO has grown to a confederation of delegates representing over 150
countries and has published over 16,500 international standards. They meet on a
regular basis to further develop new and existing management standards.
2.6 Benefits of Certification

Each standard supports its own benefits within every industry, however the common
benefits across the certifications include: widened market potential, compliance to
procurement tenders, improved efficiency and cost savings, higher level of customer
service, and therefore satisfaction, and heightened staff moral and motivation.
By having a recognised management standard it tells your customers that you are
serious about their needs.

2.7 ISO 14001 Standards

ISO 14001 is applicable to any organization, regardless of size, type and nature,
and applies to the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services that
the organization determines it can either control or influence considering a life cycle
perspective. ISO 14001 does not state specific environmental performance criteria.
ISO 14001 can be used in whole or in part to systematically improve environmental
management. Claims of conformity to ISO 14001 however, are not acceptable unless
all its requirements are incorporated into an organization's environmental
management system and fulfilled without exclusion.

2.8 The ISO 14001 Certification

ISO 14001 is part of the ISO 14000 series and forms the cornerstone of the family
of standards. It is an international standard for environmental management systems.
The ISO 14001 standard is based on the typical ISO Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. An
organisation must comply with the various clauses of the ISO 14001 standard to gain
certification for their environmental management system (EMS). This standard
ensures a company establish policies, protocols and procedures to ensure that its
impacts on the environment are kept to minimum. ISO 14001 environmental
certification provides a framework for environmental management best practice to
help organisations:

Minimise their environmental footprint

Reduce the risk of pollution incidents

Provides operational improvements

Ensure compliance with relevant environmental legislation

Develop their business in a sustainable manner

Enhancement of environmental performance

Achievement of environmental objectives

2.9 Reasons for Seeking and Benefits of ISO 14001 Certification

Improved corporate citizenship and social responsibility within an

environmental context

Demonstration of compliance to regulatory requirements

Proactive risk management from environmental impact
Achieve

long-term

business

strategies

by

safeguarding

resource

management

Competitive advantage and broadened market scope for contracts and

tenders

Encouragement of improved environmental performance through the

supply chain.

2.10 The Principles behind the ISO 14000 Series

The ISO 14000 standards and documents are being developed with the few key points
in mind, which are to result in better environmental management and to encompass
environmental management systems and the environmental aspects of products. It will
also promote the broader interests of the public as well as users of these standards it
will ensure an organization to be cost-effective, non-prescriptive and flexible so they
are able to meet the differing needs of organizations of any type or size.
The Principles of ISO 14000 enables an organization's EMS to:

(i)

formulate and define policy and objectives in this regard.

(ii)

to formulate a plan to implement the policy and objectives.

(iii)

to develop the capabilities and support to achieve the

implementation of policy objectives.

(iv)

to monitor and evaluate environmental performance.

(v)

to review the EMS for continued improvement.

2.11 Barriers to ISO14001 Implementation

The ISO 14001 EMS standards underline the minimum requirements for a
certification, which can be a barrier for other routes of potential performance
improvements for sustainable industrial development. (Zutshi & Sohal, 2004b,
p. 339)
Zutshi & Sohal (2004b, p. 339) explains that companies broadly experience
two different barriers in the environmental management process. Those are
industrial
A case study about Stora Ensos agro-forestry project in Lao Peoples
Democratic Republic
25
barriers such as; technical information, capital costs, configuration of current
operations, competitive pressures and industry regulation, as well as
organizational barriers such as, employee attitude, poor communication, past
practice and inadequate top management leadership (Zutshi & Sohal, 2004b,
p. 339). According to Hale (1995, p. 22) usually 70-80 % of the
implementation obstacles are correlated to organizational matters, the rest
are related to technical matters. Furthermore, Zutshi & Sohal (2004b, p. 339)
are presenting the following aspects as obstacles in implementing ISO 14001:
Costs (training, auditor fees, audits) required in addition to implementation
and certification of EMS and its maintenance;
Lack of support and resources available for SMEs; unclear guidelines for EMS
implementation for organizations with mobile workforce, such as the
construction sector;
Lack of set guidelines for setting of objectives and targets and extent of
involvement of employees, suppliers and other stakeholders;
Lack of guidelines on how to accomplish continuous improvement element
of the standard;
Interpretation of terms present within the standard (Zutshi & Sohal, 2004b,
p. 339).

Additionally, Babakari et al. (2003, p. 751) states that companies consider the
costs of certification as the greatest implementation problem and a lack of
available human resources as the second largest implementation problem.
Babakari et al. describes;
identifying environmental aspects, EMS documentation, training, EMS audits,
operational control, environmental management programme, objectives and
targets and document controls,
as the significant elements that requires the greatest effort out of the
seventeen ISO 14001 elements (Babakari et al., 2003, p. 752). The costs of
ISO 14001 EMS certification are often related to necessary organizational
improvements, such as extensive documentation, employee training, and the
leasing of consulting assistance and auditor, which is required by the
standard. Therefore, in order to reduce costs and increase effectiveness in
implementing ISO 14001, companies should insert sufficient resources to
these elements. Furthermore, costs can be reduced by the existence of a
network between organizations that share information of how to implement
the necessary procedures for ISO 14001 certification. (Babakari et al., 2003, p.
752)
Additionally, Hale (1995, p. 22) states that a company must decide how to
gain control, implement the system and how to maintain control in terms of
environmental management.
Firstly, a companys top management has to decide how the companys
activities can be controlled. Therefore, they should create an EMS that
comprises a framework of
Henrik de Joussineau
26
policies, rules and priorities. Additionally, many companies initiate the
implementation of an EMS immediately instead of clarifying policies, rules and
priorities in advance. However, such practices may only solve the short-term
problem. Nevertheless, in order to carry out preventative solutions to

environmental issues, the company must adopt more long-term strategies

(Hale, 1995, p. 22). According to Elizabete & Seiffert (2008, p. 1448) an
environmental policy is viewed as a sub-system of the EMS. Consequently, if
considered a subsystem the environmental policy might suffer from a lack of a
systemic overview of inter-relationships and interdependencies (Elizabete &
Seiffert, 2008, p. 1447). Furthermore, Hale (1995, p. 22) states that a lack of
control and cohesion could undermine effectiveness within the environmental
management system, subsequently resulting in higher costs of achieving
environmental management. Therefore, it is important that the environmental
policy appear in all procedures of the planning phase, since the environmental
policy must be established in accordance with the organizations significant
environmental impacts (Hale, 1995, p. 22).
Secondly, a requirement necessary in order to implement an EMS is that the
company maintains a well-planned and organized strategy covering several
years. Therefore, the strategy ought to contain priorities, targets, performance
indicators, and financial and human resources. Additionally, these plans have
to

be

transformed

into

actual

projects

and

actions.

Therefore,

the

implementation process often requires a cultural revolution in companies.

(Hale, 1995, p. 22)
Thirdly, to maintain control, the EMS' operative outcomes must be checked,
audited and evaluated regularly. Furthermore, the system has to be updated
with potential changes in legislation, internal reorganizations or changes in
activities and processes. (Hale, 1995, p. 22)
However, previous mentioned obstacles are often regarded as general
obstacles in implementing an EMS. Therefore, it is important to also consider
obstacles that are related to EMS implementation in companies present in
developing countries.

2.12 Integrated Management System

According to the Chartered Quality Institute, UK, integration means a combination;

that is putting all the internal management practices into one system in such a way
that the components of the system are not separated but linked to form one integral
part of the companys management system. In simple words, an integrated
management system (IMS) is a management system which combines all
components of a business into one coherent system so as to enable the
achievement of its purpose and mission (Chartered Quality Institute, 2007). It
describes the several management systems grouped together to form a single
system such as, a combination of Quality management system such as ISO
9001, environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 or EMAS,
and/or

Health

and

safety

management

systems

ISO

18001.

Other

management systems could also be integrated but these three standards

have been revised and made more compatible to integrate. Therefore to limit
myself in this report, for integration, I will mostly consider ISO 9001, ISO
14001 and OHAS 18001 as the main focus with some reference to SA 8000.
The main aim of integration is to restructure and simplify processes and avoid
duplication (AFAQ-EAQA, nd) since the implementation of several standards
simultaneously can be cumbersome. More will be discussed on integrated
management systems in chapter 3.

Usually, environmental managers have spent much of their time repairing the
damages and trying to maintain compliance with regulations that are increasing both
in number and complexity. Proactive management of environmental issues has been a
luxury beyond reach (Baldi, 1999). This has resulted in many organizations having
two or more separate management systems run by different groups of individuals. As
the implementation of the standards develops, companies are faced with the decision
of whether to integrate their management systems. If integration is their goal, the level
of integration they wish to achieve is their next challenge. (Baldi 1999) This is the
main aim of this research as will be explained in the problem formulation below.

2.13 Benefits of Integrated Management System

The benefits of IMS can be deduced from the incentives or the reasons for pursuing
integration. Four different studies carried out showed that based on integrated
documentation and clearer responsibilities (indirectly implying the levels of
integration), benefits associated to IMS are : cost reduction, time saving, more
transparency more feasibility, better structured processes, acceptance, clearer
responsibilities, and reduction of coordination problem (Kroppmann and Schreiber
1996, KPMG 1998, Enzler 2000 and Funck et al 2001.)

The benefits of IMS no matter the level include (Brobrek and Sokovic 2006)

Improved operational performance, internal management methods and crossfunctional teamwork

Higher motivation of staff

Fewer multiple audits

Enhanced customer confidence

Reduced cost.

By integrating at the correspondence level, results will include less repeated work and
less bureaucracy meanwhile at the generic level, it will not only lead to the synergy
between the different areas that are coordinated (Buhl-Hansen et al 2008).

2.14 Barriers to Integrated Management Sytem

If one or more management systems carry third party registration, a non-conformance

in one system may carry into the other system. In the extreme case of a major nonconformance, both registrations may be at risk unless effective corrective action is
taken. The maintenance of additional procedures, training, document changes, and

calibrations may overload support staff. Additional support resources may be

appropriate. These fresh perspectives may be unwelcome, creating conflict between
new groups and system veterans and it can be difficult to maintain full
implementation of the quality system requirements alone. Additional elements in
procedure and work instruction may encumber employees. (Baldi, 1999) Barriers to
the implementation of IMS depend on the companies as Buhl et al also summarized
the following barriers to the integration of management systems

Lack of competence and knowledge in the company

Hope for a clear focus in depth of a single standard.

Security with the existing management systems

The systems are separated organisationally

The management has one-sided focus on one area

The workers have to work differently.