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After Poland's entry to the European Union, Polish dairy companies were forced to change the way they functioned as far as ecologization was concerned. Efficient functioning of these organizations was possible only when environmental management had been properly implemented. This paper presents the results of research on environmental management of 32 companies conducting business activity in Poland. It was proven that in comparison to 2003, processes aimed at improving the environmental parameters of these companies were considerably intensified after Poland's accession to the EU. This resulted to a large extent from the need to adjust the organizations to EU regulations. In this case, small enterprises were in the most difficult situation for a number of reasons. First of all, due to financial reasons, such enterprises did not try to implement any, of a number of activities, that could improve their functioning. Secondly, the surveyed units took actions aimed at economizing on water supplies, minimizing waste, and changing the heating system to gas heating in order to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide. On the other hand, environmental management systems were implemented in large companies. However, such companies did not always notice the necessity of certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continual improvement is a key component of environmental management systems (EMS) according to ISO 14001 standard. But in contrast to most other specifications in the standard, it is difficult to assess. The following article discusses factors influencing the EMS improvement in Polish companies according to ISO 14001 standard. Research of the factors influencing the EMS improvement was conducted in Polish companies from July 2007 to April 2009 by the Department of Standardized Management Systems at the Poznań University of Economics. The research was carried out at 1,360 companies that have certified their Environmental Management System against ISO 14001 requirements. There is a significant number of factors that can influence improvement of the EMS and there are many elements that can be improved in it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]