Benchmarking compliance performance: A new chemical industry report

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. In this new article, EIS reports on the compliance performance of the largest companies in the chemical industry focusing on five key environmental concerns: toxic waste management, air pollution, water pollution, spills, and Superfund. It is important to note that the following article does not contain normalized data and graphs which would adjust findings to various size features (e.g., domestic revenues per company). This as well as detailed environmental policy and programs data on each company can be obtained from EIS. In future issues of EQM, EIS compliance reports will be presented for other major industries to help companies of all sizes benchmark their environmental performance and improvement efforts.     

Benchmarking compliance performance: A new petroleum industry report

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. In this new article, EIS reports on the compliance performance of the largest companies in the petroleum industry focusing on five key environmental concerns: toxic waste management, air pollution, water pollution, spills, and Superfund. It is important to note that the following article does not contain normalized data and graphs which would adjust findings to various size features (e.g., worldwide revenues per company). This as well as detailed environmental policy and program data on each company can be obtained from EIS. EIS reports help companies of all sizes benchmark their environmental performance and quality improvement efforts.     

The work of Envirowise in driving forward UK industrial waste reduction

Envirowise — formerly the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme — is an UK Government Programme designed to help businesses to improve environmental performance and reduce costs. It works closely with industry bodies to prepare a strategic approach to producing and promoting tools that help companies take action to reduce waste at source. By September 2000, the Programme had helped UK companies to save £125 million per year by reducing the use of raw materials and the production of waste. The Programme produces practical advice based on existing practices in industry. As well as producing published information, Envirowise runs a free telephone helpline for UK companies. Envirowise undertakes a considerable amount of marketing to help companies overcome the barriers to action. The Government has set the objectives for the Programme's managing contractors; these are based on the impact of its activities in terms of reduced waste production.     

A forest and paper industry report comparing leading companies' key policy and expenditure issues

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. In this new article, EIS reports on the environmental performance, policies, and expenditures of the largest companies in the paper industry, focusing on toxic waste management, and a variety of key policy and expenditure issues. It is important to note that the following article does not contain data on hazardous waste management, penalties, spills, and Superfund sites. This, as well as additional policy and expenditure data, can be obtained from EIS. EIS reports help companies of all sizes benchmark their environmental performance and quality improvement efforts.     

A framework for assessing discretionary corporate performance towards the environment

This article reviews the existing models of corporate social responsiveness and develops a theoretical framework with which to examine corporations' discretionary performance with respect to one social issue, that of the environment. Discretionary indicators of corporate response to environmental issues are developed and tested within this framework. Twelve companies from five different sectors were selected for the survey, based on prior knowledge of their commitment to environmental concerns. Primary data was collected from personal interviews, and secondary data was obtained from company documents, annual reports, and other forms of publically disclosed information. Empirical results varied, but certain voluntary indicators, such as composition of the board of directors, the environmental affairs function, community support, and the annual report are considered to provide strong indications of discretionary corporate performance. Philanthropy and company products proved to be less satisfactory indicators of corporate commitment to the environment. The aggregated results revealed a correlation between the final rankings of firms' discretionary environmental performance and whether those companies are process or product oriented. Linkages between discretionary elements and those of economic and legal requirements were not explored.     

Highlights from a new chemical industry report benchmarking performance,policies, and expenditures

Environmental Information Services Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. This article highlights several key sections from EIS's new 1997 Chemical Industry Report. It details the environmental performance, policies, and expenditures of the largest companies in the chemical industry. EIS industry reports contain data on five key performance criteria—toxic waste management, hazardous waste generation, penalties, spills, and Superfund sites. Here we examine one of those—penalties—and the policies of three of the largest companies in the chemical industry. In the full report, which can be obtained from EIS, 15 corporations are analyzed based on all the performance criteria.     

Highlights from a new electrical equipment industry report

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. This article highlights several key sections from EIS's new 1998 Electrical Equipment Industry Report. It details the environmental performance, policies, and expenditures of the largest companies in the electrical equipment industry. EIS industry reports contain data on five key performance criteria—toxic waste management, hazardous waste generation, penalties and enforcement actions, and spills. Here we examine one of those—penalties and enforcement actions—and the policies of the largest companies.     

Highlights from a new aerospace industry report

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. This article highlights several key sections from EIS's new 1998 Aerospace Industry Report. It details the environmental performance, policies, and expenditures of the largest companies in the aerospace industry. EIS industry reports contain data on five key performance criteria—toxic waste management, hazardous waste generation, penalties and enforcement actions, spills, and Superfund sites. Here we examine one of those—penalties and enforcement actions—and the policies of the three largest companies. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Environmental performance policy indicators for the public sector: the case of the defence sector

The development of environmental performance policy indicators for public services, and in particular for the defence sector, is an emerging issue. Despite a number of recent initiatives there has been little work done in this area, since the other sectors usually focused on are agriculture, transport, industry, tourism and energy. This type of tool can be an important component for environmental performance evaluation at policy level, when integrated in the general performance assessment system of public missions and activities. The main objective of this research was to develop environmental performance policy indicators for the public sector, specifically applied to the defence sector. Previous research included an assessment of the environmental profile, through the evaluation of how environmental management practices have been adopted in this sector and an assessment of environmental aspects and impacts. This paper builds upon that previous research, developing an indicator framework--SEPI--supported by the selection and construction of environmental performance indicators. Another aim is to discuss how the current environmental indicator framework can be integrated into overall performance management. The Portuguese defence sector is presented and the usefulness of this methodology demonstrated. Feasibility and relevancy criteria are applied to evaluate the set of indicators proposed, allowing indicators to be scored and indicators for the policy level to be obtained.     

Highlights from a new petroleum industry report benchmarking performance,policies, and expenditures

Environmental Information Services, Inc. (EIS) publishes detailed reports and offers custom research related to the full spectrum of environmental issues facing corporations. This article highlights several key sections from EIS's new 1998 Petroleum Industry Report. It details the environmental performance, policies, and expenditures of the largest companies in the petroleum industry. EIS industry reports contain data on five key performance criteria—toxic waste management, hazardous waste generation, penalties, spills, and Superfund sites. Here we examine one of those—penalties—and the policies of the three largest companies. In the full report, which can be obtained from EIS, 15 corporations are analyzed based on all the performance criteria.     

Environmental Reporting by the Fortune 50 Firms

/ The extent and use of industry-reported environmental data are increasing, warranting an in-depth analysis of this information. This paper reviews the environmental reporting guidelines issued by several business and nonprofit organizations and evaluates the environmental reports published by the Fortune 50 companies, half of which publish reports. After describing the history of environmental reporting and the content of the guidelines, a comparative evaluation is made to indicate the types of companies producing reports, the topics reported, the intended audiences, the scope and depth of the material reported, and the effectiveness of the reports as communication devices. These reports are mechanisms to enhance a firm's image, public relations, and marketing and are aimed largely at concerned individuals, affected communities, and investors. Significant differences in the content and the depth of reports are seen as firms report on topics that are perceived by the public as high risks. The most complete reports are published by industries with poor or controversial public images, e.g., the chemical and timber industries. Still, no report provided information that was sufficient for comprehensive or comparative analyses of environmental performance. Recommendations are provided to increase the quality and effectiveness of environmental reporting.KEY WORDS: Communication; Environmental management; Performance reporting; Reporting; Stakeholder     

Metrics,decisions, and strategies: Environmental performance measurement in the electric utility industry

The twin challenges of increased competition and environmental consciousness are causing companies in the utility industry to re-examine their methods for measuring environmental performance. A new paradigm is emerging which has already appeared in other industries—treating environmental quality as a potential source of profitability and competitive advantage. This article discusses how utilities and industrial companies can develop an environmental performance measurement framework, integrate it into their strategic and operating business practices, and use it for evaluation of alternative environmental strategies.     

Questioning the local: environmental regulation,shale gas extraction,and the politics of scale

ABSTRACT

The exploration and potential extraction of shale gas – better known as fracking – has emerged as one of the most contentious dimensions to local environmental politics in the UK. Local residents and environmental activists have raised concerns about health, noise, ground water contamination, seismicity, environmental amenity, and other impacts of the industry on communities. Despite the complexities of shale gas extraction, an emphasis on the local has shaped key dimensions of the debate around the appropriate location for well pads to the relative exclusion of other issues. This paper draws on fieldwork in Lancashire, UK, to reflect on the political construction of scale in order to explore how an emphasis on “the local” can restrict political debate over shale gas to narrow concerns with land-use planning thereby obviating a fuller engagement with wider questions concerning risk, energy policy, and climate change. It is concluded that a more nuanced conception of scale is necessary for understanding how concerns with shale gas are diminished rather than strengthened through the current planning policy and regulatory regime operating in the UK.     

The application of environmental certification to the Province of Siena

The SPIn-Eco project has provided very broad and precise data collection regarding the Province of Siena. These data and their elaborations have also been developed as a basis for the environmental certification of this organization. In this way, the Administration of the Province of Siena (the first Province in Italy) has reached its goal of obtaining better knowledge of the state of the system and of constructing its environmental management system (EMS) according to the environmental aspects directly and indirectly arising from the organization's activities. Indirect aspects are mainly related to the territorial monitoring and planning. Indicators based on the classical pressure-state-response approach, as well as more complex ones based on CO(2) balance, emergy and ecological footprint analyses, have been used to assess the environmental performance of the EMS. This paper presents how this EMS is constructed, as well as the indicators that are used to analyze the system, paying particular attention to sustainability indicators.     

A fuzzy multi criteria approach for evaluating green supplier's performance in green supply chain with linguistic preferences

Today's international business environment has forced many firms to focus on supply chain management to gain a competitive advantage. During recent years, supplier selection process in the supply chain has become a key strategic consideration. With the growing worldwide awareness of environmental protection and the corresponding increase in legislation and regulations, green purchasing has become an important issue for companies to gain environmental sustainability. Traditionally, companies consider criteria such as price, quality and lead time, when evaluating supplier performance and do not give enough attention to environmental criteria as a means to evaluate suppliers. Now, many companies have begun to implement green supply chain management (GSCM) and to consider environmental issues and the measurement of their suppliers’ environmental performance. This paper examines GSCM to propose a fuzzy multi criteria approach for green suppliers’ evaluation. We apply fuzzy set theory to translate the subjective human perceptions into a solid crisp value. These linguistic preferences are combined through fuzzy TOPSIS to generate an overall performance score for each supplier. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

A hybrid design methodology for structuring an Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) for shipping business

The International Safety Management (ISM) Code defines a broad framework for the safe management and operation of merchant ships, maintaining high standards of safety and environmental protection. On the other hand, ISO 14001:2004 provides a generic, worldwide environmental management standard that has been utilized by several industries. Both the ISM Code and ISO 14001:2004 have the practical goal of establishing a sustainable Integrated Environmental Management System (IEMS) for shipping businesses. This paper presents a hybrid design methodology that shows how requirements from both standards can be combined into a single execution scheme. Specifically, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Axiomatic Design (FAD) are used to structure an IEMS for ship management companies. This research provides decision aid to maritime executives in order to enhance the environmental performance in the shipping industry.     

Do environmental management programs improve environmental performance trends? a study of standard & poors 500 companies

In this article, environmental management programs of Standard & Poors (S&P) 500 companies were evaluated using a series of industry and size-adjusted environmental trend indicators. The statistical analysis shows that a handful of corporate policy, governance, human resources, auditing, and financial parameters are highly relevant to improving corporate environmental performance. The results have implications for corporate environmental efforts as well as future government policies to foster environmental improvement.     

中国大型发电上市公司ESG评价体系开发与分值研究

如今,世界各地上市公司正将利润最大化这一短期目标转向环境、社会及管治(ESG)可持续发展这一长期目标,更加清楚地认识到ESG已经构成了企业风险的重要来源之一,并可能影响公司的财务绩效。本文基于状态、压力、响应与层次分析(PSR-AHP)指标分类与权重配比方法构建中国大型发电上市公司ESG评级体系,并应用该评价体系对中国大型发电上市公司ESG绩效进行研究。结果发现,其ESG综合得分波动性大,在研究期最后两年走势不甚理想,其中社会绩效得分及其趋势表现优于环境及管治绩效;在环境及社会绩效方面,响应性指标表现优于压力性指标,而状态性指标走势较为稳定。最后,本文从披露深度及质量、第三方介入、奖惩及强制性披露措施等方面给出政策建议。     

Performance assessment of mining operations using nonparametric production analysis: A bootstrapping approach in DEA

This paper presents a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model combined with bootstrapping to assess performance in mining operations. Since DEA-type indicators based on nonparametric production analysis are simply point estimates without any standard error, we provide a methodology to assess the performance of strip mining operations by means of a DEA bootstrapping approach. This methodology is applied to a sample of fifteen Illinois strip coal mines using publicly available data (Thompson et al., 1995). The applied approach uses a mixed mine environmental performance indicator (MMEPI) that is derived by means of a VRS DEA environmental technology treating overburden as an undesirable output under the weak disposability assumption, and we compare this measure with a traditional output-oriented mine performance indicator (MPI) omitting overburden. Although omitting undesirable output results in biased performance estimates, these findings are based on sample specific results and indicate this bias is not statistically significant. The confidence intervals derived by the bootstrapping of the proposed MMEPI point estimates indicate that significant inefficiency has taken place in the analyzed sample of Illinois strip mines.     

Are EMS environmentally effective? The link between environmental management systems and environmental performance in European companies

Based on the analysis of a large dataset on the environmental performance of European companies in five industrial sectors, this paper examines the question of whether the presence of an environmental management system (EMS) has a positive impact on the eco-efficiency of companies. It begins with a review of evidence about the link between EMS and environmental performance in business organisations, finding that, despite much research, there is still little quantitative evidence. The second part of the paper uses three independent statistical methods (simple correlations, Jaggi-Freedman indices and a ‘trend differences’ approach) to assess whether companies and production sites with EMS perform better than those without and whether performance improves after an EMS has been introduced. The paper shows that there is currently no evidence that EMS have a consistent and significant positive impact on environmental performance. Policy action based on the simple assumption that companies with an EMS perform better than those without therefore seems inappropriate.