ISO 14001 and reduction of toxic emissions

For the last few decades, as the impact of industrial organizations on the environment has become more evident, harder to hide, and more costly, companies worldwide have been searching for a management tool which would enable them to reduce their negative impact on the environment, or even better, simultaneously enhance their economic performance. Among the various tools and policies that have emerged to address that concern and immediately have gained international attraction and adoption are Environmental Management Systems (EMS). The most popular and prevalent example of EMS is the voluntary international standard ISO 14001. This paper attempts to determine the length of time after which ISO 14001 starts to take effect by reducing the emission of toxic releases at a facility that has adopted it. Furthermore, by using the Kaplan-Maier method of survival analysis it investigates whether some companies are better predisposed to reduce their emissions faster than others. The sample is a group of 264 manufacturing facilities in the USA.