ABSTRACT
The central theme of the four case studies was the extent to which the EMAS regulation led businesses to engage in selfreflection and to learn about the environmental effects of their own activities. Did it offer a potential to improve? Did it bring about a change in company structures and procedures? As the aim was to find out whether and how EMAS might work, no attempt was made to seek out companies that were in any way representative. Rather, the focus was on interesting developments, that is, sites where changes and processes of this kind were likely in the light of preliminary inquiries.1 Sites were chosen which had introduced EMAS relatively early (between 1994 and 1996) and which therefore had become familiar with the requirements of the regulation. Other criteria for selection included companies in those industrial sectors which were well represented in the list of EMAS registered sites and companies of different size, measured by number of employees. The four cases studied in detail were Lincoln in Walldorf (Baden-Wurttemberg), Confidessa in Berlin, PoBneck Stadtwerke (Thuringen) and the Hanau-Wolfgang site of Degussa (Hessen).
