Pollution prevention: increasing environmental capabilities of SMEs through collaboration

The concept of sustainability increasingly impacts the nature of industry’s operations. Whereas in the past sound economic performance was expected to guarantee success by companies and its shareholders, now increasingly business is led by the so-called triple bottom line. Achieving good economic results needs to be accompanied by minimisation of environmental impacts and increasing attention to social aspects. Over the years, environmental management has therefore developed into a strategic issue for industry. Adopting the triple bottom line implies that environmental management in organisations has to go beyond regulatory compliance and needs to include concepts such as pollution prevention, product stewardship and social responsibility