Environmental management Systems PDF

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Implementing Environmental Management System in the Australian Agricultural
Sector
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Research Findings:.....................................................................................................................2
Discussion and reflection:..........................................................................................................4
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................6
References:.................................................................................................................................8

2ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Introduction:
Environment can be understood as our surroundings, such as air, water, soil, natural
resources, plant and animal life as well as other humans and their inter relations. Pollution
can be substances in the environment that can adversely affect life or natural environment.
Management of the environment was practiced since millenias by humans with the
development of human civilizations. The process has become quite complicated as the
civilization and technologies developed. Environmental Management have become an
important consideration with an increase in the environmental problems due to pollution and
environmental impacts of the human civilization, continually requiring new resources and a
rapid population growth. The environmental management has three main reasons to protect
the environment from impact: the ethical reason of not engaging in activities that can harm
environment, legal obligations and financial reasons. Sustainability can be achieved through
addressing these concerns and supporting the environmental, social and economic factors.
(Waters, 2013).
The aim of this paper is to analyze key journal articles to identify important aspects
and knowledge that can be used to develop an effective EMS for the agricultural sector.
Research Findings:
What are the best strategies for EMS in the agricultural sector?
Discussed below are some of the key journal article to identify key themes, concepts
or strategies to inform an effective EMS applicable in the agricultural sector.
ISO 14001: De Oliveira et al. (2017) studied the importance of ISO 14001 in the effective
implementation of EMS and Cleaner Production objectives. The authors studied the Brazilian
farms and identified that ISO 14001 helped in the minimization of waste and emission as well

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as helps to reuse waste and emission in a more effective manner thereby supporting the
implementation of EMS.
Funding Land Management: Cary and Roberts (2011) analyzed cropping, beef and dairy
farming in Australia to study the efficacy of government supported programs that supports
better land and water management for Australian agricultural lands. The authors studied both
voluntary adoption of governmental policies of EMS and industry sponsored EMS. The study
showed that direct funding the land management practice to be more effective than the
adoption of EMS practice.
Institutional Theory: Daddi et al. (2016) studied the effect of coercive, mimetic and
normative policies to support innovative and competitive responses by the companies with
environmental certification in 242 EMAS certified organizations in Europe. The studies
found that mimetic and normative policies are more effective strategy than coercive policy in
the implementation EMS in the organizations.
Life Cycle Assessment: Lewandowska (2011) studied the utility of Life Cycle
Assessment to identify and assess the environmental aspect of the EMS as a part of the
requirement of the ISO 14001 certification process and European Union EMAS regulations.
The author studied 36 organizations with EMS systems and it was identified that the LCA
can be an effective tool to identify the environmental aspects of EMS.
Challenges to Life Cycle Assessment: Notarnicola et al. (2016) studied the challenges in
the life cycle assessment due to the complex nature of the food systems and provide
recommendations that can help in the further development and improvement in the LCS
process and help in a more practical implementation of this process and shows that proper
modeling approach as well as availability and interpretation of data is vital to develop an
effective LCA.

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Managing Agricultural Diffuse Pollution: Collins et al. (2016) studied the adoption of
diffuse pollution management practices in the UK. Theire studies revealed that voluntary
approaches in diffused pollution management practice fails to achieve the needed
environmental outcomes mainly due to the failure to achieve significant adoption rates. The
found that low cost, cost neutral or cost effective practices are preferred more than expensive
practices of pollution management.
Wind Energy: Leung and Yang (2012) studied the importance of wind energy as a clean,
environmentally friendly and renewable source of energy for farms. The authors studied the
energy produced by wind farms in USA, China, Germany, Spain, India and other European
countries. The authors concluded that despite the potential challenges, wind energy is a viable
source of alternative and renewable energy.
Olive Solid Waste products: El Hanandeh (2015) analyzed the utility of solid waste from
the olive industry as a potential source of alternate energy and management of waste in the
olive industry of Australia. The study found that the solid olive waste from olive farms can be
a source of energy but might not reduce environmental impact significantly.
Phosphate removal: Nguyen et al (2014) studied the use of agricultural waste or by
products as the substrate to prepare phosphate biosorbents. The authors studied the existing
strategies of phosphate removal of the waste. Their studies found the poor recyclability of
modified agricultural waste is the cause for the limited applicability the modification of the
waste strategy.
Discussion and reflection:

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From the discussions of the 9 key article journals, the following recommendations can be
given that can help to develop effective EMS strategies to manage the impact of agricultural
industries on the environment:
Implementing ISO 140001 standard to support EMS and Cleaner Productions objectives.
Following the ISO standardization can ensure minimizing the waste products from the
agricultural sector and also help to reuse the agricultural waste apart from helping to reduce
emissions, thus supporting environmental friendliness of the farming companies.
The environmental impacts of agricultural industries can be better assessed using the Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool, which can in turn help the organizations to implement the ISO
140001 Standards and also follow the regulations of the European Union EMAS regulation.
The strategies can therefore help in the better implementation of EMS.
It is also vital the LCA should be modeled properly according to the organization’s
process; ensure that it addresses the problems related to the differences between the techno
sphere and ecosphere, functional units of the organization, the multi functional aspects of the
biological systems as well as remodeling the emission systems. Additionally, the availability
of adequate data and proper strategies to interpret them is also necessary for effective LCA
that can support EMS.
Supporting direct funding for land management to the farmers. This strategy can provide
the farmers with the resources and capital needed to manage their farmlands in a more
sustainable way and thus support the adoption of EMS more holistically and ensure higher
adoption of the practice.
Supporting farmers to adopt the agricultural diffuse pollution management practices in a
more cost effective or cost neutral manner. Since cost of adopting these practices is one of the

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most significant deterrents for the farmers, economic support to adopt the practice can help to
increase the adoption rates and achieve the objectives on EMS on a wider scale.
Utilizing mimetic and normative approaches in the design of the policies of institutional
pressures instead of coercive approach can help in the better implementation and adoption of
EMS. This strategy can also help to develop innovative capabilities, reputation and market
capabilities of the organization providing them an over advantage in the market and
supporting sustainability and long term viability.
Renewable and alternative source of energy is another important consideration that can be
suggested. Using wind energy as a renewable source of energy can help to supplement or
even replace conventional energy sources and thus help to minimize emissions from the
agricultural industries. Setting up wind warms in wind catchment areas can help the farmers
and agricultural companies significantly to meet their energy needs.
Olive Solid Waste from olive farms can also provide additional source of fuel that can be
used in combination of other fuels to increase the reuse of agricultural waste and provide
another alternative source of fuel.
Impact of agricultural waste on the environment can also be reduced through strategies to
modify the waste by the removal of phosphates by phosphate biosorbants. This can minimize
the effect of phosphate rich waste entering the water ecosystems.
Conclusion:
Environmental management Systems (EMS) helps organizations to minimize their
impact on their environment in a holistic manner through a well planned, structured and
documented approach. It helps to optimize the companies to minimize wastage and emissions
and improve utilization of the resources. In the agricultural industry, EMS is a vital aspect as

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it helps to minimize the impact of the industry on the environment (such as degradation of
land, pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and increase in the number of pests). Nine
key journal articles on EMS that have been analyzed in the study points towards vital
strategies that can be used to adopt and implement EMS in a more effective manner. These
strategies are adopting ISO 140001 Standards, providing direct funding to farmers for land
management, using mimetic and normative policies for EMS, using LCA to assess
environmental impact, properly modeling the LCA, supporting farmers to adopt pollution
management practice, using wind energy and energy from olive solid waste and modifying
agricultural waste through phosphate removal. I believe that by utilizing these strategies, the
impact of the agricultural sector on the environment can be minimized and a sustainable
future for this industry can be secured.

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References:
Cary, J., & Roberts, A. (2011). The limitations of environmental management systems in
Australian agriculture. Journal of Environmental Management, 92(3), 878-885.
Collins, A. L., Zhang, Y. S., Winter, M., Inman, A., Jones, J. I., Johnes, P. J., ... & Noble, L.
(2016). Tackling agricultural diffuse pollution: What might uptake of farmer-
preferred measures deliver for emissions to water and air?. Science of the Total
Environment, 547, 269-281.
Daddi, T., Testa, F., Frey, M., & Iraldo, F. (2016). Exploring the link between institutional
pressures and environmental management systems effectiveness: an empirical study.
Journal of environmental management, 183, 647-656.
De Oliveira, J. A., Silva, D. A. L., Guardia, M., do Nascimento Gambi, L., de Oliveira, O. J.,
& Ometto, A. R. (2017). How can Cleaner Production practices contribute to meet
ISO 14001 requirements? Critical analysis from a survey with industrial companies.
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 19(6), 1761-1774.
El Hanandeh, A. (2015). Energy recovery alternatives for the sustainable management of
olive oil industry waste in Australia: life cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 91, 78-88.
Leung, D. Y., & Yang, Y. (2012). Wind energy development and its environmental impact: a
review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(1), 1031-1039.
Lewandowska, A. (2011). Environmental life cycle assessment as a tool for identification and
assessment of environmental aspects in environmental management systems (EMS)
part 1: methodology. The international journal of life cycle assessment, 16(2), 178-
186.

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Nguyen, T. A. H., Ngo, H. H., Guo, W. S., Zhang, J., Liang, S., Lee, D. J., ... & Bui, X. T.
(2014). Modification of agricultural waste/by-products for enhanced phosphate
removal and recovery: potential and obstacles. Bioresource technology, 169, 750-762.
Notarnicola, B., Sala, S., Anton, A., McLaren, S. J., Saouter, E., & Sonesson, U. (2016). The
role of life cycle assessment in supporting sustainable agri-food systems: A review of
the challenges. J. Clean. Prod, 140.
Waters, B. (2013). Introduction to Environmental Management : for the NEBOSH Certificate
in Environmental Management. Routldge, London and New York, 15-55