ISO14001: Motivations and Benefits in the Italian Metal Industry

In recent years, metal companies have devoted increasing attention to environmental sustainability and the metal sector has become one of the industries with a higher propensity to certificate ISO 14001. However, at present, only limited research has analysed the implementation of ISO 14001 among metal companies, exploring the dynamics associated with the choice of companies to certificate. This paper aims to fill this gap, analysing motivations and benefits of the implementation of ISO 14001 in the metal industry. Data collection was performed through a survey among certified companies competing in the Italian metal industry. Overall 119 certified companies were contacted and we obtained 46 usable questionnaires (final response rate: 39%). The results of the analysis show priorities for the implementation and benefits of ISO 14001, and also a few areas where there was a decoupling between the importance assigned by companies to the potential benefit and the results achieved.