DOCUMENTS: ISO14001
In the management of industrial activities, eco-efficiency also means moving from pure compliance with laws to a more linked approach to working on problems (implementation of new environmental management schemes: eco-audit for production sites, ecolabel for products, environmental certification and integration of quality with safety and the environment). It is therefore becoming increasingly important for companies to give visibility to their environmental strategy and to the environmental performance levels achieved.
MOTIVATIONS FOR THE EMS
On the other hand it is the same national and community legislation, and its developments, which already clearly indicate that the environmental management system is also the regulatory instrument that will be required of companies. The growing national and community legislative body, which is increasingly complex and stringent, is by now pervasive of all aspects of business management, with provisions that relate not only to the operation of the plants, but to company organization, public information, and "reporting "environmental, responsibility and exposure to the highest levels of the company. In fact, as in the past, legislation no longer limits itself to the control of individual sources of pollution, but requires or is about to require increasingly higher penalties:
But the rules are not the only factor driving the EMS. There are three other equally fundamental factors mentioned above:
- competition;;
The environmental policy of companies, especially those operating on international markets, has become a competitive factor (think of eco-compatible products, the ecological mark, etc.). The assessment of the company's environmental commitment is one of the important elements that is taken into consideration by banks, insurance companies, in proprietary exchanges, in joint ventures, etc. The costs of ecological litigation resulting from legal disputes are in some cases very high and affect the financial statements of companies.
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