Environmental management system ISO 14001: Effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in India

Numerous empirical and conceptual studies describe waste minimisation as a key environmental performance indicator for industry. ISO 14001certification in this regard is widely considered the tool of choice for driving waste minimisation efforts. To this day, however, the evidence remains mixed as i...

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Main Authors: Singh, Mitrabinda, Brueckner, Martin, Padhy, P.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15866
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author Singh, Mitrabinda
Brueckner, Martin
Padhy, P.
author_facet Singh, Mitrabinda
Brueckner, Martin
Padhy, P.
author_sort Singh, Mitrabinda
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Numerous empirical and conceptual studies describe waste minimisation as a key environmental performance indicator for industry. ISO 14001certification in this regard is widely considered the tool of choice for driving waste minimisation efforts. To this day, however, the evidence remains mixed as it pertains to the effectiveness of ISO 14001 in helping firms reduce waste, especially in developing countries. This paper explores the waste minimisation efforts among Indian small and medium enterprises. Specifically, improvements in waste minimisation are analysed from small and medium enterprises operating in the cities of Delhi and Noida. Our proposed model is tested for a model-fit, and the hypotheses are tested through regression coefficient (ß) scores to determine the influence of ISO 14001 on the degree of waste minimisation among certified and non-certified companies. The data reveal that ISO 14001 certification alone helped account for a 25% increase in waste minimisation in certified companies after controlling for other critical factors (correlated to the variable 'waste minimisation') that may influence this relationship. The analytical tools described in this paper lend themselves to be applied to similar research problems in future studies. The study provides baseline data for further research into ISO 14001 effectiveness in the Indian SME context - a field with still only limited research insights - and offers policy prompts for targeted environmental management improvements in Indian firms.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-158662018-03-29T09:07:23Z Environmental management system ISO 14001: Effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in India Singh, Mitrabinda Brueckner, Martin Padhy, P. Numerous empirical and conceptual studies describe waste minimisation as a key environmental performance indicator for industry. ISO 14001certification in this regard is widely considered the tool of choice for driving waste minimisation efforts. To this day, however, the evidence remains mixed as it pertains to the effectiveness of ISO 14001 in helping firms reduce waste, especially in developing countries. This paper explores the waste minimisation efforts among Indian small and medium enterprises. Specifically, improvements in waste minimisation are analysed from small and medium enterprises operating in the cities of Delhi and Noida. Our proposed model is tested for a model-fit, and the hypotheses are tested through regression coefficient (ß) scores to determine the influence of ISO 14001 on the degree of waste minimisation among certified and non-certified companies. The data reveal that ISO 14001 certification alone helped account for a 25% increase in waste minimisation in certified companies after controlling for other critical factors (correlated to the variable 'waste minimisation') that may influence this relationship. The analytical tools described in this paper lend themselves to be applied to similar research problems in future studies. The study provides baseline data for further research into ISO 14001 effectiveness in the Indian SME context - a field with still only limited research insights - and offers policy prompts for targeted environmental management improvements in Indian firms. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15866 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.04.028 Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle Singh, Mitrabinda
Brueckner, Martin
Padhy, P.
Environmental management system ISO 14001: Effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in India
title Environmental management system ISO 14001: Effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in India
title_full Environmental management system ISO 14001: Effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in India
title_fullStr Environmental management system ISO 14001: Effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in India
title_full_unstemmed Environmental management system ISO 14001: Effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in India
title_short Environmental management system ISO 14001: Effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in India
title_sort environmental management system iso 14001: effective waste minimisation in small and medium enterprises in india
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15866