Environmental management

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The environmental management is the sub-area of ​​the management of an organization (company, authority, etc.), which deals with the operational and official environmental (protection) issues of the organization. It serves to ensure the sustainable environmental compatibility of company products and processes on the one hand and the behavior of employees and stakeholders on the other. These include a.

  • the environmental policy of the organization, e.g. B. an identification and activation of the intersections from ecologically and economically advantageous measures
  • the environmental protection such. B. technical measures to reduce the environmental impact, avoidance of unacceptable environmental damage and use, contributions to prevention and remediation
  • the environmental performance (the measurable results regarding the environmental impact (s), e.g. emissions , wastewater and soil pollution )
  • compliance with the official requirements or the legal limit values
  • responsibility for standardization, i.e. support for an ecologically compatible standardization of behavior for stakeholders

Environmental management is usually managed and supervised by environmental management officers (UMB). In the form of an environmental management system (EMS), the responsibilities, behaviors, processes and specifications for implementing the environmental management of the organization are defined in a structured manner.

Procedure

Interfaces between environmental management and environmental management system

With the help of the environmental management system, environmental management implements the requirements of the management of an organization (and thus also the official / legal requirements) with regard to environmental protection. For this purpose, corresponding requirements (specifications) are specified in the management manual, in various instructions and / or in process descriptions , which are then implemented and monitored by the environmental management system.

The management system in turn can be free or according to a specification, e.g. B. the environmental management standard ISO 14001 or the EMAS regulation . Recommendations for environmental management (and for the environmental management system) can be found in the ISO 14004 standard (environmental management systems: general guidelines on principles, systems and auxiliary instruments), which is designed as a guide. Both ISO 14001 and ISO 14004 were published in a revised version in November 2004. The environmental management and the environmental management system are closely interlinked. In the environmental management standard EN ISO 14001: 2004 published in November 2004, only the term environmental management system is used.

The environmental management standards ISO 14001: 2004 (or EMAS) are structured very similarly to the ( ISO 9001 ) standard for quality management systems ( quality management ). Quality management systems can therefore be supplemented with environmental management relatively easily. One speaks then of "integrated management systems" ( integrated management system ). The same applies to regulations on occupational safety such as B. the standard OHSAS 18001 ( Occupational Safety and Health Administration ).

Many organizations that have set up their environmental management system in accordance with the requirements of ISO 14001 and / or the EMAS regulation have their EMS certified (ISO 14001) or validated (EMAS) by external auditors or environmental experts in order to ensure the ecological credibility of the EMS in the To increase the public and with customers and thereby achieve a strategic business advantage.

The so-called specification documents ( management manual , instructions, descriptions, etc.) that are customary in environmental management define not only the requirements necessary to achieve the objectives of the company's environmental policy, but also the respective responsibilities. There is often a modular structure for the management documentation.

As is common in management, environmental management includes planning, execution, control and, if necessary, optimization (PDCA: Plan-Do-Check-Act ):

  • Planning (plan): Establishing the objectives and processes to achieve the implementation of the organisation's environmental policy
  • Execution (Thu): the implementation of the processes
  • Control (Check): Monitoring of the processes with regard to legal and other requirements as well as goals of the environmental policy of the organization; If necessary, publication of the environmental performance (the success of the organization in relation to its environmental protection measures)
  • Optimization (Act): If necessary, the processes must be corrected (adapted); the ISO 14001 standard and the EMAS regulation speak of continuous process improvement, i.e. H. the organization should continuously optimize its processes

Environmental management in the company

Environmental protection has become an important management task for companies. The following factors influence this:

  • Politics: Restrictions (especially in the areas of energy, waste, hazardous substances, risks and transport) or incentives (ecological compensation payments in agriculture).
  • The public: Exerts pressure and can cause a rethink (e.g. CFC-free refrigerators, asbestos).
  • Environmental risks: A company can deprive itself of the basis of its business ( overfishing : further fishing is no longer possible or unprofitable).
  • Insurance: environmental influences are taken into account and assessed, damage and risks are included in the contributions
  • Customers: Offensive and defensive ecological activity, supplier audits, consumers want clean technology in the production process of a product, etc.
  • Offensive ecological strategy: substitution of oil, differentiation, opening of new market segments, environmental protection is not just a pure cost factor.

Companies often see environmental protection only as a cost factor. However, active environmental management can also save costs and increase productivity. One approach to reducing environmental pollution is cleaner production . Here, the causes of waste and emissions are systematically analyzed and organizational and technical improvement approaches are shown. High savings can also be achieved in energy consumption, e.g. B. by fine-tuning production or by coupling waste heat (e.g. by generating compressed air) with useful heat (heating). Companies can differentiate themselves from competitors through their environmental management and thus distinguish themselves. Growing public interest and legal requirements provide further incentives to move in this direction.

Environmental problems thus become ecological areas of competition. Environment-related changes are no longer a fate for companies, but a management task with its own opportunities and risks.

See also

literature

Reference books

  • Paul de Backer: Environmental management in the company . Springer, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-540-60510-X .
  • T. Tibor, I. Feldman: ISO 14000: A Guide to the New Environmental Management Standards. Irwin Professional Publisher, Chicago 1996.
  • Annett Baumast, Jens Pape (ed.): Corporate environmental management - sustainable management in companies. Textbook of the doctoral network for sustainable economies V., 4th edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-8001-5995-6 .
  • Johannes Fresner, T. Bürki, H. Sittig: Resource efficiency in production - reducing costs through cleaner production. Symposion Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-3-939707-48-6 .
  • René Gastl: Continuous improvement in environmental management, the CIP requirement of ISO 14001 in theory and business practice. 2nd Edition. vdf, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7281-3034-1 .
  • Martin Jänicke, Philip Kunig, Michael Stitzel: Environmental Policy. Dietz, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-8012-0283-6 .
  • Annett Baumast, Jens Pape: Corporate environmental management. Theoretical foundations. Practical examples. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3671-6 .
  • Georg Müller-Christ: Environmental Management. Vahlen, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-8006-2646-2 .
  • Matthias Kramer, Maria Urbaniec, Liane Möller (eds.): International environmental management. Volume 1: Interdisciplinary framework conditions for environmentally-oriented corporate management . Gabler, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-409-12317-2 .
  • Matthias Kramer, Jana Brauweiler, Klaus Helling (eds.): International environmental management. Volume 2: Environmental management tools and systems . Gabler, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-409-12318-0 .
  • Matthias Kramer, Heinz Strebel, Gernot Kayser (eds.): International environmental management. Volume 3: Operational environmental management in an international and interdisciplinary context . Gabler, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-409-12319-9 .
  • Stefan Schaltegger, Roger Burritt, Holger Petersen: An Introduction to Corporate Environmental Management. Striving for Sustainability. Greenleaf, Sheffield 2003, ISBN 1-874719-65-9 .
  • Jörn-Axel Meyer, Alexander Tirpitz, Dietmar Laß: Energy and environmental management in medium-sized companies . Lohmar 2009, ISBN 978-3-89936-763-8 .

Essays

  • A. Drews, Gabi Förtsch, Helmut Krinn, Gabriela Mai, Heinz Meinholz, Michael Pleikies, Esther Seifert: Realization of an integrated environmental management system. In: Environmental sciences and pollutant research. 8 (4), 1996, pp. 227-235, ISSN  0934-3504
  • Sven Gembrys, Dirk Juhre, Jürgen Krühn: Everything under one roof: Comprehensive environmental protection and process-oriented management system in practical implementation. In: quality and reliability. 44 (7), 1999, pp. 866-872, ISSN  0720-1214
  • M. Tobias: Environmental management on the wrong track? Nature conservation authorities as a service company. In: Journal for Environmental Policy and Environmental Law. 24 (3), 2001, pp. 443-454, ISSN  0343-7167
  • R. Kuhn, I. Varela: For the good of the environment and the company - use synergies when introducing an environmental management system. In: quality and reliability. 46 (4), 2001, pp. 420-423, ISSN  0720-1214
  • M. Müller: Status and perspectives of standardized environmental management systems. In: H.-U. Zabel (Ed.): Corporate environmental management - sustainable and interdisciplinary. Berlin 2002, pp. 211-226.
  • Step by step: environmental management for SMEs. In: UmweltMagazin . 34 (12), 2004, pp. 32-33, ISSN  0173-363X
  • T. Pfeifer, R. Schmitt, R. Greshake: Concept for a preventive environmental management. In: quality and reliability. 49 (9), 2004, pp. 80-81, ISSN  0720-1214
  • René Gastl: Ten years of ISO 14001: Are you heading in the right direction? In: quality and reliability. 10/06, 2006, pp. 18-19, ISSN  0720-1214
  • René Gastl: CIP demand for standardized environmental management systems in practice: Unbridled drive into the green or a break for the ecological dead end? In: UWF Environment Economic Forum. 1/06, 2006, pp. 41-45, ISSN  0943-3481
  • René Gastl: Against the deadlock in environmental management. In: Environmental Perspectives. 4/10, 2010.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Müller-Christ: Environmental Management. , Verlag Vahlen, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-8006-2646-2 , p. 11.