Approaches to Environmental Management by Workplaces

According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Environmental Management is not only, the management of the environment per se, but rather the management of interaction by the modern human societies and their impact upon the environment. Environmental management is therefore not the conservation of the environment solely for the environment's sake, but rather the conservation of the environment for humankind's sake (Owen, 1995).

According to Thornton & TideMann (1998), There is a broad range of Environmental Management approaches on the market right now. Depending on the definition the total number ranges between several dozens. Most of the Environmental Management systems have been developed in Europe, especially Northern Europe, a second stronghold is Japan which now counts for quite a number of local environmental management approaches. There are indications that more and more countries are getting involved in the development of new Environmental Management approaches. Most of the EM approaches have seen a rapid increase in participating companies within recent years. Sometimes growth is even exponential. In many regions already more companies participate already in an Eco - Management & Audit Scheme (EMAS) than in ISO 14001 or alternative Environmental Management approaches. Most of those schemes which already attract several hundred participants were established in the second half of the 90’s. However, the majority of the approaches currently on the market were developed later and have only been operating a few years. (Ibid) Therefore, the need for environmental management can be viewed from a variety of perspectives.

Environmental Management Systems Approach - Staged Approach.

Though several systems claim to follow a staged approach, i.e. to lead towards Eco-Management Audit Scheme (EMAS) / ISO 14001