Company environmental performance

In Figure 6.2, some of the parties interested in and affected by company environmental performance are shown. They all have different relations with the company and different ways of communicating and interpreting information. 

Effectively managing and communicating company environmental performance to such a wide variety of receptors requires some form of systematisation. This can take the form of Environmental Management Systems (EMS), Environmental Accounting (EA), Environmental Performance Indicators (EPI) and environmental reporting. 

Ulla-Britt Frajdin Hellkvist, head of the CCE states that "The primary task is to make visible the work that is being done to improve company environmental performance on the product and process level". Furthermore, the CCE should ... 

Improved company environmental performance leading to marketing opportunities. 

The environmental performance of companies within the industry is normally subject to the legislative requirements of the host government, but is increasingly becoming scrutinised by the public, as available information and general levels of awareness increase. Major companies see responsible management of the environmental aspects of their operations as crucial to the future of their business. The approval of loans from major banks for project finance is usually conditional on acceptable environmental management. 

Other regulations apply in different offshore drilling areas in the United States and around the world. AH have had a profound effect on drilling fluid technology (169,170). Very few instances of water-base muds failing the mysid bioassay test exist in the 1990s. Operators and service companies have eliminated use of the mote toxic additives, reformulated old mud systems, and developed new ones to ensure acceptable environmental performance based on pertinent regulations. 

Let s discuss an example For time and material, or not to exceed jobs, some clients prefer to hire a general or main contractor for environmental remediation projects, and allow the contractors freedom in the performance of the work. In this case, the main environmental remediation contractor might hire subcontractors such as earth movers, haulers, reclaimers, drillers, or construction companies to perform different phases of a job. The main contractor organizes the work. Most of the work is performed by subcontractors. Once the job is completed, the client will get one invoice. 

In addition to regulations, public, owner, and political pressures require ever-better safety and environmental performance. Yet, at the same time, every company needs to find ways to reduce till costs in order to stay competitive. In the face of these apparently conflicting pressures, companies are looking for new ways to manage PSM and ESH issues. 

Testing and Other Risk Data.(17) TSCA 5(d)(1)(B) (C) required each PMN to contain any (i.e. all) health and environmental effects data that the notice submitter has in his "possession or control," as well as a "description" of other data that are "known to or reasonably ascertainable" by him. Thus, a company must provide EPA all test data that it has developed or otherwise obtained concerning its new chemical, and must inform the Agency concerning any other similar data of which it is aware. However, TSCA does not require companies to perform tests or otherwise develop specific data, as a prerequisite to the submission of PMN s. (J 8 )... 

An important lesson learned from the implementation of the project "Promotion and implementation of closing-the-loops cooperation and business models in the chemical industry" is the need for quality assurance of Chemical Leasing business models. The models must result in improved environmental performance of the participating companies, reduced risks of chemicals and enhanced human health protection. 

EU markets are vital for export-oriented companies and for the Czech economy as a whole, and there is significant pressure by consumers and suppliers in those markets for improved environmental performance. It is in the interest of the country to accept EU legislation in such a way as to be acceptable for industry and to establish a stable legislative environment. That is why we insist that new laws should be, as much as possible, compatible with new EU legislation. The goal is to achieve harmonization in such a way as not to damage the competitiveness of Czech industry.2... 

Environmental product declarations based on the use of environmental management systems provide frameworks for companies (especially SME) to improve their environmental performance [225]. Standardised schemes such as EMAS [226] and ISO 14001 communicate best practice to companies through the supply chain [227]. In particular, eco-labelling by regulators or NGO requires a firm to demonstrate that environmental burdens have been minimised through the entire lifecycle of a product. An eco-label will not be awarded if a product contains certain hazardous chemicals and, in some cases, if certain substances have been used during production39 [228]. 

The companies in Sweden are in general quite aware of environmental issues and strive to have a good environmental performance, and have a strong tradition of good legal compliance. Many large Swedish corporations support the Substitution Principle. 

Responsible Care is the chemical industry s global voluntary initiative under which companies, through their national associations, work together to continuously improve their health, safety, and environmental performance, and to communicate with stakeholders about their products and processes. 

There is growing interest by investors to invest in firms and funds that reflect the investors own social values. These funds are tending to focus on the more immediate sustainability factors such as carbon footprint, energy efficiency, and environmental performance. As analysts become more familiar with process safety metrics— and those metrics are demonstrated to be useful predictors of a company s future safety performance—it is reasonable that a similar value could be placed on firms that are demonstrating their commitment to process safety as a separate factor or process safety as an element of other social values. Such demonstrated commitment to safety performance should also provide additional information, above and beyond financial information, on which the analyst can assess the overall risk of a firm or facility. 

A report on the health, safety, and environmental performance of the company (sometimes published separately). 

Liability exposure to individual officers or employees has expanded the scope of criminal liability and responsibility for not only the actions of individuals but also their respective corporate employers. In the first conviction for the newly created Multi-Agency Environmental Task Force in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the owner of an environmental laboratory pled guilty to mailing falsified environmental test results and bills for tests his company never performed. Jerry Martin, owner of Martin Environmental... 

In the 1980s, Responsible Care s six Codes of Management Practices served as a framework for the chemical companies to use internal processes to improve performance. Overall, environmental performance did improve because of a commitment to the codes and expanding regulatory requirements (Yosie, 2003). Members of the CCPA steadily improved their environmental and workplace health and safety records throughout the 1990s. Their records indicate a steady decline in workplace injuries and a marked reduction in the frequency and severity of transportation incidents (CCPA, 1999). 

The opportunity for industry today is to understand its impact on stakeholders, anticipate changing societal expectations, and use its capacity for innovation to create additional business value from superior social and environmental performance. Capitalizing on this opportunity requires that companies apply the same systematic discipline in managing social and environmental performance as they do in managing other aspects of business performance. 

Many companies, both within the chemical industry and in other sectors, have recognized benefits from involving their suppliers and customers in various aspects of their business. The area of supply chain management (SCM) has become a critical element in the overall business strategy of improved productivity, reduced costs, and better control of the quality and potential risks associated with raw materials and intermediates. Proactive management of supplier environmental performance, as practiced by Hewlett Packard, can lead to product and process simplification, improved resource efficiency, product quality enhancement, reduced liability, and customer perception of the company as an industry leader. 

A critical aspect of integrating sustainability into business is in the area of valuation. How do we know the financial impacts of our decisions How can performing more sustainability help to reduce costs, avoid future costs, increase the company s value proposition, support growth, and so on What are the links between intangibles related to social and environmental performance and a hrm s overall performance What contributes to value creation in the chemical industry How can we reconcile the fact that we may incur costs for performing more sustainably in the short term while the benefits may not be captured until the long term similarly, how do we justify costs associated with our business decisions when the benefits might accrue to others in the value chain We know the value of ecosystem services is both invaluable - that is, our life depends on them - and of no real market value how then should we value ecosystem services in order to protect them for our survival and that of our business institutions This section attempts to offer points of view on these topics. 

Novo Nordisk and others provide interactive graphs that enable the reader to customize the presentation of data to suit their needs. The user can view company-wide or facility-specific data, selecting the performance indicators and years of greatest interest to them. DSM s electronic report provides users with drop-down menus from which they can select and view environmental performance data by site. 

Customer surveys conducted in December 2003 showed that about a third of our customers were aware of the report. They noted that they weigh economic, social, and environmental performance when determining whether to do business with a company. One large, international customer requested several additional copies of the report for forwarding to all of its division presidents as must reading. ... 

Initial Observation Hard and Soft Opportunities. The chemical industry is very familiar with cost savings related to environmental performance improvement. Sustainability offers many similar cost minimization opportunities. Damaged reputation has long been something to avoid, and it can easily be associated with top line performance. Companies are now beginning to appreciate the upside value of company reputation - and that sustainability performance can drive this intangible value. 

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