The Effectiveness of Environmental Management in a Metallurgical Company’s Sustainable Development

Metallurgical companies, driven by the need to meet market demands and the quickly changing environment, carry out actions that enable them to reduce their negative environmental impact. The environmental management systems increasingly become an integral part of a company management. The systems introduced by metallurgical companies are based not only on the ISO14001 standard principles but also on EMAS regulations as well as on the international Cleaner Production programme. The environmental management system is based on the assumption that environment management is crucial for the improvement of both the environment and the company’s profit. The implementation of environmental management system ideas in metallurgical companies requires a modification of manufacturing processes management and auxiliary functions. The achievement of environment-related goals consists in the identification and elimination of negative environmental impact or their systematic reduction. The environmental management systems necessitate the application of the best available technique (BAT). The technique makes it possible to use the environment in a rational manner and leads to cleaner production 1 . The EMAS system, ISO 14001 standard and the international Cleaner Production programme are all different means of applying the corporate sustainable development concept. In general, sustainable development ensures a balance between a company’s economical and environmental and social targets. The concept is realized through a number of strategic and operational activities such as the Cleaner Production strategy, rational resources and space management, waste reduction procedures, product eco design and the economical and environmental effectiveness assessment procedures. The sustainable development concept is about the creation of conditions for a gradual elimination of processes and actions that are harmful to the environment and people’s health and promoting environment friendly management methods 1, 2 .