Results from companies

The results below are based on the checklists from 21 companies. Mainly large companies were chosen for the interviews and it seems that the companies chosen already had some ambitions concerning the environment. Only one of the companies has less than 10 employees. However there does not seem to be a significant difference in performance of small companies and large companies.

As can be seen in Table 1 below, companies in all countries are doing well. However the companies are not doing well in the use of green accounting, except in Denmark where they seem to be doing very well. This is in accordance with the notion that Denmark has been leading the field in green accounting, within the Nordic countries. In general, it does not seem to be the trend for the companies to have an environmental management system, except for the Danish and the Norwegian companies. The Icelandic companies are scoring lowest in having an environmetnal management system or intending to seek environmental certification. This can be explained by a small, and possibly also less enviromentally aware market in Iceland, which is especially applicable for companies who are not exporting their products. There is not much difference in the results for small and large companies.

Table 1

The results in Table 2 below show that the companies are doing well with waste. The figures are quite high and do generally not go below 60%. The figures are lowest for paper recycling and other categories of waste. The figures for Sweden are low for carton recycling and for planning reduction in the amount of waste. There is not much difference between small and large companies here.

Table 2

The results for energy are reasonably good, but vary, as seen in Table 3 below. Norwegian companies seem to be most aware of energy efficiency along with the Danish ones. For example, the use of ecobulbs is highest in the Danish and Norwegian companies. The figures for annual registration of energy use are reasonably high. Small companies seem to be doing slightly better in this category.

As can be seen in Table 4 below the results for travel and transport are generally not good, although companies in most countries have a bicycle stand outside. Travel and transport is the single worst category. Co-using cars is quite common in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, but is not a reality in Iceland. Smaller companies are doing slightly better here, but not well.

Table 3

Table 4

In the category purchasing and material use the Finnish companies score the highest, see Table 5 below. The small companies are doing better than the larger ones. Companies in Iceland consider energy efficiency as a procurement criterion to the least degree. The results show that the figures are highest in companies´ attempts to buy products that cause minimal pollution.

Table 6 below shows that companies in all countries are aware of water usage and treatment. The use of environmentally labelled cleansing agents is not an important concern in companies in Norway, Iceland and Sweden. Denmark is the only country where companies have instructions for the employees regarding water usage to any degree. There is not much difference between small and large companies.

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7 below shows the results for exterior surroundings and that with the companies in all countries, buildings are well maintained, company grounds and access venues are tidy and attractive and rubbish is regularly cleaned. However, the figures for good shelter from wind on the company grounds are low. There is not much difference between small and large companies.

The figures assessing the work environment are generally higher for companies in Denmark and Finland than in other countries, as seen in Table 8. In this area the small companies are doing slightly better. Companies in Norway and Denmark seem to have the highest emphasis on smoke free areas. The small companies are doing slightly better, although the difference is not much.

Table 7

Table 8

The table below shows an overview of the progress in companies in all five countries. The figures for Denmark and Norway are high in most categories and companies in Finland are doing well in some categories. The figures for companies in Iceland and Sweden are not as high. The figures for travel and transport are low for all countries. There is not much difference between small and large companies, although the small companies are doing slightly better.

  Photos by participants:

Gardabær, Iceland

Randers, Denmark

Uppsala, Sweden