Environmental Progress - Winter 2000

Environmental Management:
A New Perspective

It’s better to minimize pollution upfront rather than address it after the fact

When the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency came into existence on July 1, 1970, the approach to restoring and protecting the environment was pretty straightforward – identify a problem, decide what would best correct it and require treatment or cleanup action.

Peter Wise, IEPA Associate Director, center, stands with Bridgestone/Firestone officials Pete Brinkoetter, environmental manager, left and Joe Ivy, plant engineer, as they received awards recognizing the firm’s participation in the Agency’s pilot EMS project. Each of the firms participating in the Illinois pilot MSWG/ISO 14000 project received one of these specially designed plaques.

When Illinois EPA, in February 1998, invited 50 Illinois companies to meet and consider environmental management systems, it illustrated how the face of environmental protection has changed.

The 50 firms at that meeting were introduced to a management concept that emphasizes minimizing the impact of products, services and processes on the environment before they potentially become a problem. This means integrating environmental considerations into day-to-day business practices and looking for ways to continuously improve environmental performance through measures like pollution prevention.

Two years ago, Illinois EPA joined forces with federal and state environmental agencies, non-government organizations and universities to encourage companies to pro-actively address their environmental affairs through environmental management systems like ISO 14001. Known as the Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Management Systems (MSWG), this group is also researching the effectiveness of environmental management systems and how this approach can influence environmental policy.

Twelve Illinois businesses are participating in the MSWG project, providing valuable information on how environmental management systems are affecting environmental performance at their facilities. In return, Illinois EPA provided technical assistance to help them implement their systems. Special workshops have been held on pollution prevention, process mapping and public involvement methods. The firms have also had access to independent research on the use of ISO 14001 environmental management systems.

In September 1999, Illinois EPA held a recognition ceremony for the 12 MSWG participating companies, where each firm received an award recognizing their involvement in the project. The ceremony was held at S&C Electric, in Chicago, one of the facilities in the effort.

Additional information can be obtained from Mark Gerberding at 217/785-8797 or at Mark.Gerberding@illinois.gov or on the Agency’s Web site at www.epa.state.il.us/iso14001/index.html

On the following pages, some of the company experiences with environmental management efforts are outlined briefly.

Those interested in additional information on Environmental Management Systems, the ISO concept, or the Multi-State Working Group’s EMS project have multiple resources available in print and electronically. Several books and pollution prevention journals have been published.