CIP in Environmental Management System: typical development paths

Have you ever wondered how corporate environmental development typically looks like? Well, of course, it depends...

However, we have looked closer at general development paths in organizations around the globe. We have tried to determine what are the popular fields in which ISO-14001-certified companies take action, and in which sequence. And here are the results:

At first, companies typically carry out risk analyses, looking at potential risks related to environmental issues. This includes legal matters and eventually leads to legal compliance. Then, they start over with waste and emissions management, before improving in-house processes. Not before all this is done, they take "outside matters" into consideration: They first look back along the value chain and check (and also change) suppliers. It is very common that products (eco-design) and customers are at the far end of action taken to improve the environmental situation of the company.

In the end, it is typically an inside-out development, and also a development that looks at the "musts" and the single measures first, whereas all action taken in the outside of the corporation seems to be more complex.

What are the experiences in YOUR company? Let us know!