Abstract
We performed investigation using a questionnaire in order to check effects of ISO 14001 on the environmental burden control in enterprises. Interest in applying the environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 to decrease the environmental burden from enterprises is growing. Although most of the enterprises made new policies and organizations to apply ISO 14001, they did not change actions concerned with environment enough. A few enterprises carried out PRTR and LCA. Influence on management of profit tended to limit investment to conserve environment. Many enterprises open their intelligence associated with environmental management systems only to inside of them, not to public. ISO 14001 had positive relation to the environmental actions and negative relation to the environmental burden control and advanced systems. The advanced systems were in positive relation to the environmental burden control. The positive relation was found between disclosure of the environmental conservation costs and the advanced systems, and also disclosure of inside audit results. Thus so far ISO 14001 as policy level had not changed the environmental burden control as practice level yet. It seemed possible that the disclosure of the environmental conservation costs and the inside audit results could advance the environmental burden control.
