Abstract
The increase in environmental pollution, the decrease in resources, and legal obligations that came with globalization, industrialization, and economic developments increased the responsibilities of individuals, societies, and managers at all levels regarding environmental issues. For the future of societies and the world and to ensure the existence and sustainability of a healthy and safe environment to minimize environmental problems, organizations should take environmentally sensitive approaches. Environmental management systems are useful and important in many ways such as reducing the adverse impacts of the organizations on the environment, creating safe work environments, preventing pollution, lowering costs, reducing risks, improving environmental performance, improving corporate image, improving the success and reputation of organizations. The aim of this chapter is to emphasize the importance of ISO 14000 environmental management system standards in organizations and to evaluate its characteristics, implementation stages, and development.
TopIntroduction
In recent years, the pollution in our environment resulting from the increase in energy consumption, the reduction in resources due to environmental degradation, and growing impacts of production processes (Hikichi, Salgado, & Beijo, 2017; Tepedelen & Özdemir, 2003) increased environmental concerns considerably. In many countries of the world, especially in the past 30 years, the responsibility towards the environment affected politicians, organizations, and societies. Therefore, organizations became sensitive to their environmental impacts because of the pressure coming from consumers, investors and consumer markets (Akküçük & Gencer, 2017; Mazzi, Toniolo, Manzardo, Ren & Scipioni, 2016). In the context of environmental responsibility and environmental safety, organizations have made considerable efforts to minimize environmental impacts of their activities in order to ensure the protection of the environment through environmental management policies (Tambovceva, 2016 & Akküçük, 2017). The Environment Management System (EMS) has been developed, which is the most popular tool on the international market to support organizations that want to manage their environmental issues and take measures to reduce environmental impacts. ISO 14000 standards provide guidance to organizations that want to create an environmental management system within their internal structure. ISO 14000 standards are globally accepted and, for this reason, certified organizations can take advantage of the features of ISO 14000 to improve their image and enhance their corporate reputation (Turhan, 2010).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Environment: The area in which an organization carries out its activities; an area that includes air, water, soil, natural resources, flora, fauna, people, and their interrelationships.
Environmental Management: All the functions of the stages of management process towards rational use of resources with the aim of ensuring ecological balance.
Environmental Policy: A written statement depicting the view and intention of senior management on environment.
Environmental Dimension: The elements of the activities, products, or services of the organization that interact with the environment.
ISO 14001: “Environmental Management Systems-Characteristics and Guidance Manual,” a documentation standard from the ISO 14000 series, a management system that guides and provides systematization to the organizations aiming to minimize their environmental impacts alongside of creating production/service.
Environmental Impact: Any positive or negative change in the environment, resulting from the activities and services of the establishment, either partially or wholly.
ISO 14000: The series of standards published by International Organization for Standardization that specifies environmental factors in every stage of production and service, and ensures minimization of environmental damage by controlling these factors.
ISO: Short for International Organization for Standardization. Used as ISO with reference to the Greek word isos , meaning “equal.”
Environmental Management System (EMS): A part of the management system of an organization that is used in establishing the organization’s environmental policy, implementing it, and managing its environmental dimensions.