Environmental Management in the Netherlands: Expectations and Experiences of ISO 14001 Companies in the Netherlands

Environmental issues are among the most relentlessly discussed topics in world. A number of environmental laws and regulations have been enacted to have environmental sustainability and to hold organisations accountable for their environmental responsibilities in almost every country. Growing population, unabated use of natural resources by mankind, and development of new chemicals are threatening ecological balance of the earth. An Environmental Management System (EMS) provides a solid foundation for meeting such environmental challenges. ISO 14000 family standards on environmental management do provide a practical tool to assist in implementation of actions for sustainable development. In ISO 14000 family, ISO 14001 provides "Environmental Management - Specifications with guidance for use" and hence it is used as a model for implementing an EMS. Companies in the Netherlands have also accepted ISO 14001 to meet environmental challenges. An attempt has been made in this book to study ISO 14001 certified organisations in the Netherlands and to understand their expectations from the standards, and benefits they have achieved by adopting these standards.