Initial ISO 14001 Gap Analysis Tool and Environmental Management Guide for SMEs
Shupik, Elena (2014)
Shupik, Elena
HAAGA-HELIA ammattikorkeakoulu
2014
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2014110615297
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2014110615297
Tiivistelmä
Via participating in ECO-Sup-PORT Project and based on the data gathered for it, it was concluded that nowadays many SMEs operating in Europe do not bother themselves with taking any voluntary actions related to environmental management. The main reason for this phenomenon is poor SMEs’ awareness of the benefits that EMS’ implementation and environmental certification may bring in addition to the apparent complexity of the existing tools for environmental management.
In order to reduce environmental impacts from business activities of SMEs, to motivate those companies to enhance their sustainability and to guide them on the path towards EMS’ development and implementation, as well as environmental certification, the product titled “Initial ISO 14001 Gap Analysis Tool and Environmental Management Guide for SMEs” was created and developed during ECO-Sup-PORT project and afterwards, during the process of thesis writing.
The product itself is a model of reliable and highly efficient tool, which is user-friendly, practically applicable and designed as for the SMEs which already have EMS, and for those ones which have not considered environmental issues before, regardless of their business sector. The tool had been developed taking into consideration the features of SMEs and based on theoretical concepts, relevant information resources, workshops under the supervision of professionals and analysis of the already existing EMS tools such as ISO 14001 and EMAS.
In order to reduce environmental impacts from business activities of SMEs, to motivate those companies to enhance their sustainability and to guide them on the path towards EMS’ development and implementation, as well as environmental certification, the product titled “Initial ISO 14001 Gap Analysis Tool and Environmental Management Guide for SMEs” was created and developed during ECO-Sup-PORT project and afterwards, during the process of thesis writing.
The product itself is a model of reliable and highly efficient tool, which is user-friendly, practically applicable and designed as for the SMEs which already have EMS, and for those ones which have not considered environmental issues before, regardless of their business sector. The tool had been developed taking into consideration the features of SMEs and based on theoretical concepts, relevant information resources, workshops under the supervision of professionals and analysis of the already existing EMS tools such as ISO 14001 and EMAS.