Specific Environmental Activities Research Articles

Too Costly to Disregard: The Cost Competitiveness of Environmental Operating Practices

Achieving the dual goal of improved environmental and financial performance has become a universal business concern. Our study distinguishes between firms’ environmental behaviors and their environmental performance, a distinction that has been largely disregarded in previous empirical studies that analyze the association between environmental performance and financial performance. As an improvement in environmental performance itself does not necessarily guarantee positive financial returns, our study pays particular attention to the value-added nature of preemptive environmental activities, investigating the effects of plant-level pollution prevention activities (PPAs) on environmental performance and financial performance in terms of cost competitiveness and market valuation. Drawing on detailed environmental information about 18,743 chemical plants in the U.S. and analyzing a multi-level panel dataset constructed bottom-up from plant-level data to their parent firms’ performance data, we find that more intensive PPAs are associated with both superior environmental performance and improved cost competitiveness but do not necessarily lead to higher market valuation. Our study illuminates the specific environmental activities and conditions linked to environmental and financial performance, thereby offering managers practical guidance in pursuing both sustainable and profitable businesses under increasingly stringent environmental standards.

Environmental Performance and Voluntary Disclosure on Specific Environmental Activities: An Empirical Study of Carbon vs. Non-Carbon Intensive Industries Legitimacy Proactive Approach

Adopting legitimacy proactive approach, this paper examines and evaluates relationship between levels of environmental performance (measured by environmental awards) and the quality of specific voluntary environmental disclosure using a sample of UK FTSE 100 companies. Companies in the sample have been grouped according to industry membership (carbon intensive vs. non-carbon-intensive) and environmental performance (poor performers vs. better performers). Statistical techniques have been used to test for variations in the quality of voluntary environmental disclosure between the companies in these groups. The findings reveal that the extent of quantitative environmental disclosure by companies with poor environmental performance in the carbon intensive group was significantly higher than similar disclosures made by either better environmental performers or poor environmental performers from non-carbon intensive industries for some activities. In contrast, quantitative environmental disclosure by better performers is found to be of a significantly higher quality than similar disclosures made by either poor performers or better performers from carbon intensive group for other activities. The results have some implications for various stakeholders and offers opportunities for future research, specially, in relation to environmental awarding bodies and their criteria for awarding.

PENGUNGKAPAN AKTIVITAS GREEN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT PADA PERUSAHAAN KATEGORI EMAS PROPER 2013 – 2014

The problems with the environment which has grabbed the public attention is the main reason for the development of green supply chain management.Companies need to take parts in this continuous development. One efforts which has been done is to disclose of environmental activities in sustainable reporting.This research is aimed to explore the information of companies’ activity in relation to environmental issues. This research classifies the criteria of green supply chain management into 4 categories : green purchasing; eco design; reverse logistic and regulator.This is a qualitative research. The researcher conducts an analysis on 6 companies listed in 2013 PROPER with gold predicate.This research finds that the most common activities conducted by the companies in taking their responsibilities to the environment is legislation and regulator pressure andPT. Medco E&P Indonesia which has devoted most of their activities to environmental issues. All of the company has achieved the environmental performance and few companies have increasing net income.There is a very limited research focused on companies activities as related to green supply chain management. This research will explain the specific environmental activities in which companies are focused on in responding the green supply chain management.<br />Keywords :green supply chain management; green purchasing; eco design; reverse logistic and regulator.

FORMATION OF THE STUDENT’S ECOLOGICAL CULTURE THROUGH VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY

The aim of the research is to study some aspects of the effective formation and development of the ecological culture of the students in the republic of Dagestan as well as to analyze the influence of the pedagogical potential of social volunteering on the formation of the socio-ecological culture of youth. Discussion. Many current socio-ecological problems, specific to Dagestan and many other regions of Russia, are of great interest and concern to modern youth. Student youth (aged 14-25 years) in Dagestan make up about 28% of the total population of the republic. Purposeful and systematic work with young people in order to form the right socio-ecological views and ideas, develop self-motivation and readiness to engage in specific environmental activities for the benefit of the society seems to us an extremely important direction of the educational process. Environmentally oriented volunteer activity of young people has a high potential for solving the problems indicated in the study. Conclusion. In recent years, the Republic of Dagestan has seen a steady growth in the number of young citizens and organizations involved in volunteerism, thus the scope of volunteer programs and projects is expanding. And one of the most important and effective areas, both in terms of the number of events and the scope and involvement of young people, is the environmentally oriented volunteer activity of young people.

Environmental performance and voluntary disclosure on specific environmental activities: an empirical study of carbon vs. non-carbon intensive industries. Legitimacy proactive approach

Adopting legitimacy proactive approach, this paper examines and evaluates relationship between levels of environmental performance (measured by environmental awards) and the quality of specific voluntary environmental disclosure using a sample of UK FTSE 100 companies. Companies in the sample have been grouped according to industry membership (carbon intensive vs. non-carbon-intensive) and environmental performance (poor performers vs. better performers). Statistical techniques have been used to test for variations in the quality of voluntary environmental disclosure between the companies in these groups. The findings reveal that the extent of quantitative environmental disclosure by companies with poor environmental performance in the carbon intensive group was significantly higher than similar disclosures made by either better environmental performers or poor environmental performers from non-carbon intensive industries for some activities. In contrast, quantitative environmental disclosure by better pe...

GRI Application Levels and Disclosure on Specific Environmental Activities: An Empirical Investigation of Industry Membership and Geographical Region of Top European Companies

This study investigates the link between voluntarily declared Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) application levels and the actual level of disclosure on the specific environmental concerns of packaging, waste, recycling, climate change activities and carbon footprint in European companies' reports. The study also examines the extent to which the geographical location and industry membership of European companies affects the level of environmental disclosure and GRI application levels. The study uses a two-stage approach: it explores the possible link between GRI application levels and actual disclosure on specific environmental activities in the first stage, and then categorises these on the basis of industry membership and geographical regions in the second. The results show that top European companies demonstrate considerable awareness that disclosure on specific environmental activities has become a theme of strategic choice. Additionally, specific environmental activities provide some positive evidences to establish a link between GRI application levels and actual environmental disclosures, although the outcomes are mixed. These linkages are also better understood when sample firms are categorised by industry membership and geographical region.

Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure: Factors Influencing Companies' Success in Attaining Environmental Awards

ABSTRACTThis study will identify the factors that may influence companies' success in attaining environmental awards. Based on existing literature, several variables that are expected to have an influence on the receipt of an environmental award were selected and their levels of disclosure were tested empirically using a sample of UK FTSE 100 companies. The selected variables considered were industry membership; stakeholder engagement; external (formal) assurance; the presence of an environmental management system (EMS); and specific environmental activities in the areas of packaging, waste management, recycling, climate change risk, climate change activities, and carbon footprint. The results reveal that the influencing factors for receipt of an environmental award are the presence of an environmental management system (EMS); stakeholder engagement; and disclosure on specific environmental activities (waste management, climate change risk, and climate change activities). The results also show that the level of environmental disclosure and the consequent possibility of receiving an award, are influenced by industry membership; the extent of environmental information disclosure are not the same in all industries. Companies belonging to carbon‐intensive industries were found to be more likely to receive an award than companies from non carbon‐intensive industries. Contrary to expectations, no evidence was found to support the influence of disclosure on formal or external assurance and some specific environmental activities (packaging, recycling). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Environmental retail supply chains: when global Goliaths become environmental Davids

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a scale that evaluates the environmental elements in retail supply chains and to examine the environmental supply chain management initiatives of the world's largest 100 retailing companies.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical evaluation has been undertaken through an investigative approach applying a web‐scan framework which included the analysis of web sites and publicly published documents such as annual reports and corporate social responsibility reports.FindingsThe authors identified 34 environmental sustainability initiatives which were grouped into eight categories; they refer to “fundamental environmental attitude”, “use of energy”, “use of input material”, “product”, “packaging”, “transport”, “consumption” and “waste”. The level of environmental supply chain management can be characterised as very operational and very short‐term oriented (green operations). Long‐term oriented green design initiatives were hardly observed. Furthermore, the specific environmental activities of three retailers from Denmark, France and the UK were compared.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical study investigates supply chain operations of retailers and excludes other areas of retail management. The results are based on material that is published by the respective companies and thus do not include internal reports.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this paper is to test the proposition that global retailers follow the path of the “Greening Goliaths”, where environmental sustainability becomes a quasi industry standard for the ecological sustainability transformation of global retailing.

MOSES, a promising concept for marine research

The objective of the EUROMAR project Mobile Station for Environmental Services (MOSES) is the optimization, promotion and harmonization of the design and use of containerized laboratories. The project is designed to study and implement innovative mobile laboratories having the same dimensions as standard shipping containers. They are used in specific environmental activities and designed to be installed on board a ship, an offshore platform or used on land as a multi-activity operative base.