A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW (IER) IN EMS IMPLEMENTATION

Abstract

Organisations are increasingly interested in understanding the impact of the environmental issues associated with their sites on company competitiveness and strategies. Within the implementation of an environmental management system (EMS), the initial environmental review (IER) is a first step in which a company begins to consider systematically all the factors driving the complex relationships between its production system and the external environment. Therefore, IER plays a crucial role in the definition of effective environmental policy and programmes and demands significant company resources. The paper focuses on the identification of the main objectives of the IER and the features characterising a methodological approach. These are then used to develop a methodological framework for IER that allows to integrate business strategy in establishing significant environmental aspects of a specific site. Indeed, companies are increasingly involved in managing the environment as an opportunity for competitive advantage, that requires to highlight the relationships between environmental impact of their processes and company strategy and objectives. The methodology is presented by means of a real-world case concerning the IER of a large aluminium alloy foundry.