Key Strategies For Implementing An Effective EMS In Australian Agriculture

In this, you have to need to select the appropriate title and then reflects the content of the paper accurately.

Then an appropriate research question is asked or a clear hypothesis is formulated.

You use all the readings (see the marking criteria) but you need to ask a research question within the context of "EMS implementation in Australian agriculture", (which could be about energy use, waste management, land use change, water pollution, air pollution, impact assessment, general EMS application to farming, ...etc). Then you answer that question in your discussion/reflection on the readings. NOT just the reading of one unit.

You need to review all the 9 journal articles in the reading list. A review does not mean simply summarizing each article on its own. Please do not do that, otherwise, my paper will be disjointed. Instead, read each article and extract the important points (ideas). Then, link the ideas from different papers according to a logical common theme or central concept. Comment on it and discuss it from you own perspective. From the argument 

Research Findings

Environment can be understood as our surroundings, such as air, water, soil, natural resources, plant and animal life as well as other humans and their inter relations. Pollution can be substances in the environment that can adversely affect life or natural environment. Management of the environment was practiced since millenias by humans with the development of human civilizations. The process has become quite complicated as the civilization and technologies developed. Environmental Management have become an important consideration with an increase in the environmental problems due to pollution and environmental impacts of the human civilization, continually requiring new resources and a rapid population growth. The environmental management has three main reasons to protect the environment from impact: the ethical reason of not engaging in activities that can harm environment, legal obligations and financial reasons. Sustainability can be achieved through addressing these concerns and supporting the environmental, social and economic factors. (Waters, 2013).

The aim of this paper is to analyze key journal articles to identify important aspects and knowledge that can be used to develop an effective EMS for the agricultural sector.

What are the best strategies for EMS in the agricultural sector?

Discussed below are some of the key journal article to identify key themes, concepts or strategies to inform an effective EMS applicable in the agricultural sector.

ISO 14001: De Oliveira et al. (2017) studied the importance of ISO 14001 in the effective implementation of EMS and Cleaner Production objectives. The authors studied the Brazilian farms and identified that ISO 14001 helped in the minimization of waste and emission as well as helps to reuse waste and emission in a more effective manner thereby supporting the implementation of EMS.

Funding Land Management: Cary and Roberts (2011) analyzed cropping, beef and dairy farming in Australia to study the efficacy of government supported programs that supports better land and water management for Australian agricultural lands. The authors studied both voluntary adoption of governmental policies of EMS and industry sponsored EMS. The study showed that direct funding the land management practice to be more effective than the adoption of EMS practice.

Institutional Theory: Daddi et al. (2016) studied the effect of coercive, mimetic and normative policies to support innovative and competitive responses by the companies with environmental certification in 242 EMAS certified organizations in Europe. The studies found that mimetic and normative policies are more effective strategy than coercive policy in the implementation EMS in the organizations.

Life Cycle Assessment: Lewandowska (2011) studied the utility of Life Cycle Assessment to identify and assess the environmental aspect of the EMS as a part of the requirement of the ISO 14001 certification process and European Union EMAS regulations. The author studied 36 organizations with EMS systems and it was identified that the LCA can be an effective tool to identify the environmental aspects of EMS.

Challenges to Life Cycle Assessment: Notarnicola et al. (2016) studied the challenges in the life cycle assessment due to the complex nature of the food systems and provide recommendations that can help in the further development and improvement in the LCS process and help in a more practical implementation of this process and shows that proper modeling approach as well as availability and interpretation of data is vital to develop an effective LCA.

Discussion and Reflection

Managing Agricultural Diffuse Pollution: Collins et al. (2016) studied the adoption of diffuse pollution management practices in the UK. Theire studies revealed that voluntary approaches in diffused pollution management practice fails to achieve the needed environmental outcomes mainly due to the failure to achieve significant adoption rates. The found that low cost, cost neutral or cost effective practices are preferred more than expensive practices of pollution management.

Wind Energy: Leung and Yang (2012) studied the importance of wind energy as a clean, environmentally friendly and renewable source of energy for farms. The authors studied the energy produced by wind farms in USA, China, Germany, Spain, India and other European countries. The authors concluded that despite the potential challenges, wind energy is a viable source of alternative and renewable energy.

Olive Solid Waste products: El Hanandeh (2015) analyzed the utility of solid waste from the olive industry as a potential source of alternate energy and management of waste in the olive industry of Australia. The study found that the solid olive waste from olive farms can be a source of energy but might not reduce environmental impact significantly.

Phosphate removal: Nguyen et al (2014) studied the use of agricultural waste or by products as the substrate to prepare phosphate biosorbents. The authors studied the existing strategies of phosphate removal of the waste. Their studies found the poor recyclability of modified agricultural waste is the cause for the limited applicability the modification of the waste strategy.

From the discussions of the 9 key article journals, the following recommendations can be given that can help to develop effective EMS strategies to manage the impact of agricultural industries on the environment:

Implementing ISO 140001 standard to support EMS and Cleaner Productions objectives. Following the ISO standardization can ensure minimizing the waste products from the agricultural sector and also help to reuse the agricultural waste apart from helping to reduce emissions, thus supporting environmental friendliness of the farming companies.

The environmental impacts of agricultural industries can be better assessed using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool, which can in turn help the organizations to implement the ISO 140001 Standards and also follow the regulations of the European Union EMAS regulation. The strategies can therefore help in the better implementation of EMS.

It is also vital the LCA should be modeled properly according to the organization’s process; ensure that it addresses the problems related to the differences between the techno sphere and ecosphere, functional units of the organization, the multi functional aspects of the biological systems as well as remodeling the emission systems. Additionally, the availability of adequate data and proper strategies to interpret them is also necessary for effective LCA that can support EMS.

Supporting direct funding for land management to the farmers. This strategy can provide the farmers with the resources and capital needed to manage their farmlands in a more sustainable way and thus support the adoption of EMS more holistically and ensure higher adoption of the practice.

Supporting farmers to adopt the agricultural diffuse pollution management practices in a more cost effective or cost neutral manner. Since cost of adopting these practices is one of the most significant deterrents for the farmers, economic support to adopt the practice can help to increase the adoption rates and achieve the objectives on EMS on a wider scale.

Utilizing mimetic and normative approaches in the design of the policies of institutional pressures instead of coercive approach can help in the better implementation and adoption of EMS. This strategy can also help to develop innovative capabilities, reputation and market capabilities of the organization providing them an over advantage in the market and supporting sustainability and long term viability.

Renewable and alternative source of energy is another important consideration that can be suggested. Using wind energy as a renewable source of energy can help to supplement or even replace conventional energy sources and thus help to minimize emissions from the agricultural industries. Setting up wind warms in wind catchment areas can help the farmers and agricultural companies significantly to meet their energy needs.

Olive Solid Waste from olive farms can also provide additional source of fuel that can be used in combination of other fuels to increase the reuse of agricultural waste and provide another alternative source of fuel.

Impact of agricultural waste on the environment can also be reduced through strategies to modify the waste by the removal of phosphates by phosphate biosorbants. This can minimize the effect of phosphate rich waste entering the water ecosystems.

Conclusion: 

Environmental management Systems (EMS) helps organizations to minimize their impact on their environment in a holistic manner through a well planned, structured and documented approach. It helps to optimize the companies to minimize wastage and emissions and improve utilization of the resources. In the agricultural industry, EMS is a vital aspect as it helps to minimize the impact of the industry on the environment (such as degradation of land, pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and increase in the number of pests). Nine key journal articles on EMS that have been analyzed in the study points towards vital strategies that can be used to adopt and implement EMS in a more effective manner. These strategies are adopting ISO 140001 Standards, providing direct funding to farmers for land management, using mimetic and normative policies for EMS, using LCA to assess environmental impact, properly modeling the LCA, supporting farmers to adopt pollution management practice, using wind energy and energy from olive solid waste and modifying agricultural waste through phosphate removal. I believe that by utilizing these strategies, the impact of the agricultural sector on the environment can be minimized and a sustainable future for this industry can be secured.

References:

Cary, J., & Roberts, A. (2011). The limitations of environmental management systems in Australian agriculture. Journal of Environmental Management, 92(3), 878-885.

Collins, A. L., Zhang, Y. S., Winter, M., Inman, A., Jones, J. I., Johnes, P. J., ... & Noble, L. (2016). Tackling agricultural diffuse pollution: What might uptake of farmer-preferred measures deliver for emissions to water and air?. Science of the Total Environment, 547, 269-281.

Daddi, T., Testa, F., Frey, M., & Iraldo, F. (2016). Exploring the link between institutional pressures and environmental management systems effectiveness: an empirical study. Journal of environmental management, 183, 647-656.

De Oliveira, J. A., Silva, D. A. L., Guardia, M., do Nascimento Gambi, L., de Oliveira, O. J., & Ometto, A. R. (2017). How can Cleaner Production practices contribute to meet ISO 14001 requirements? Critical analysis from a survey with industrial companies. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 19(6), 1761-1774.

El Hanandeh, A. (2015). Energy recovery alternatives for the sustainable management of olive oil industry waste in Australia: life cycle assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 91, 78-88.

Leung, D. Y., & Yang, Y. (2012). Wind energy development and its environmental impact: a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(1), 1031-1039.

Lewandowska, A. (2011). Environmental life cycle assessment as a tool for identification and assessment of environmental aspects in environmental management systems (EMS) part 1: methodology. The international journal of life cycle assessment, 16(2), 178-186.

Nguyen, T. A. H., Ngo, H. H., Guo, W. S., Zhang, J., Liang, S., Lee, D. J., ... & Bui, X. T. (2014). Modification of agricultural waste/by-products for enhanced phosphate removal and recovery: potential and obstacles. Bioresource technology, 169, 750-762.

Notarnicola, B., Sala, S., Anton, A., McLaren, S. J., Saouter, E., & Sonesson, U. (2016). The role of life cycle assessment in supporting sustainable agri-food systems: A review of the challenges. J. Clean. Prod, 140.

Waters, B. (2013). Introduction to Environmental Management : for the NEBOSH Certificate in Environmental Management. Routldge, London and New York, 15-55