AbstractIn the fall of 2003 a project was started in the Swedish building sector that is called BASTA (the building sectors’ termination of especially harmful substances). The project is operated by the building companies NCC, Skanska, PEAB and JM, the Swedish Building Industry and the Swedish Environmental Institute IVL. The purpose of the project is to create a common Environmental assessment system for the entire building industry and with the help of this system phase out the use of especially harmful properties from building products.In a large sense BASTA works like this; On the BASTA web site there is a database, to which a supplier can register the company and the company’s products. Only those products with a substance content that fulfil the demands of the BASTA system, is to be registered. As it is the supplier himself that carries out the registration of the company and the company’s products to the system, the BASTA-organisation annually controls that the companies that are registered in the database, fulfils BASTA’s demands.Since NCC is one of the companies that operates BASTA, BASTA is probably going to be the Environmental assessment system that is recommended for the company in the future.

Sustainability work is something that is emphasized more and more. Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, is discussed and the question of how much responsibility companies should really take is frequently in the news. Companies tend to ask themselves how much responsibility they should take. CSR is a common concept of companies Environmental and social work and a concept we tend to see here and there in our modern society. CSR includes companies? social responsibilities, both in terms of carbon footprint, working conditions, social responsibility and more.

Miljö och hållbarhet är något som kommit att uppmärksammas allt mer sedan startskottet på 70-talet i samband med ökat fokus från regeringshåll och grundande av miljöorganisationer. I takt med konsumenters ökade medvetenhet har kraven höjts på svenska klädföretag och deras arbete med hållbar utveckling och hållbara produkter. Problematiken ligger i att svenska klädföretag utför sitt arbete på olika sätt och därav finns olika tolkningar av hur en hållbar produkt är framställd och vad denna ska innehålla. Det är även svårt för kunder att få ett grepp av en hållbar produkt, då de inte finns någon konkret definition.Den övergripande problemformuleringen i arbetet har berört hur olika svenska klädföretag och miljöorganisationer definierar en hållbar produkt. I uppsatsen presenteras olika definitioner av hållbar utveckling och den lagstiftning som ligger till grund för de produkter som produceras och säljs på den svenska marknaden.

Several theoretic and Environmental psychological models establish a connection between the environment and the reactions of humans and the research support that there is a mutual influence between individual, Environmental and behavioral factors. You often assume that a person both can influence and be influenced by the surrounding environment. This is evident, but it is less obvious how a given physical design influence people?s immediate behavior in the city. The aim of this study was to investigate if the physical design of a place influences people in an urban environment and to investigate how the behavior is influenced.

 Today a major part of the energy produced steams from fossil fuels, finite resources, and a change towards an energy sector based on renewable energy is necessary. Sweden is one of the leading countries with regards to investments in renewable energy but most other countries have a long way to go. This makes it interesting in developing renewable energy projects in new markets in countries like Poland where still a lot of fossil fuel is used. Large infrastructure development projects are very costly and therefore external investors needs to be involved. The investors play an important role in changing the usage of fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources.

The incineration of waste is steadily increasing in Sweden and so is the production ofashes. The bottom ash has for many years been used as construction material inlandfills. Now many of the nation's landfills are closed and there is a great need to findanother beneficial use for the ash. Bottom ash is a gravel-like material and with itsmaterial properties it can replace natural gravel in parts of roads and surfaceconstructions. Today this use is only approved within landfill areas where leachate iscollected and checked.

Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept whereby companies integrate social and Environmental concerns into their core business and in their interaction with stakeholders on a voluntarily basis. The purpose with our thesis is to study how Swedish insurance companies work with Corporate Social Responsibility and to analyse the underlying strategies of the companies? social, Environmental and economical activities. We will analyse where, how and for whom value can be created with CSR. Where does the value creation take place, how can it be created through these activities and who will benefit from Corporate Social Responsibility? Theories point out that companies need to assemble and value the total package of benefits to be able to create successful corporate initiatives.

AbstractIn the fall of 2003 a project was started in the Swedish building sector that is called BASTA (the building sectors’ termination of especially harmful substances). The project is operated by the building companies NCC, Skanska, PEAB and JM, the Swedish Building Industry and the Swedish Environmental Institute IVL. The purpose of the project is to create a common Environmental assessment system for the entire building industry and with the help of this system phase out the use of especially harmful properties from building products.In a large sense BASTA works like this; On the BASTA web site there is a database, to which a supplier can register the company and the company’s products. Only those products with a substance content that fulfil the demands of the BASTA system, is to be registered. As it is the supplier himself that carries out the registration of the company and the company’s products to the system, the BASTA-organisation annually controls that the companies that are registered in the database, fulfils BASTA’s demands.Since NCC is one of the companies that operates BASTA, BASTA is probably going to be the Environmental assessment system that is recommended for the company in the future.

The national spatial planning guidelines and the subsequent legal regulation in the Natural Resources Act and the Environmental Code has been a part of the Swedish planning system for almost 40 years. In the recent years, critics have claimed that the regulations are outdated and does not work the way it was intended. This paper examines closer why it is perceived that the regulations does not work, with a focus on how the national interests are managed in the municipal planning. Why is the national interests not applied in the municipal planning as intended? Is the error in the system or in the implementation of it? The aim of this essay is to study the gap between theory and practice by studying how the land management provisions in the Environmental Code is applied in five selected municipalities. The aim is also to find interesting issues for futher studies of the topic.

The purpose of this report was to identify the current waste management of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste in a few Swedish construction companies, based on the different steps in the waste hierarchy with a focus on waste prevention, reuse and recycle. Additionally, the purpose was to attempt identifying opportunities, obstacles and as well as to propose possible solutions from an Environmental perspective. The method used was a qualitative study using interviews conducted through emails and phone with employees occupying positions that could answer this reports questions. The results of this report indicates that waste management of construction and demolition waste has improved, and less waste goes into landfills. The concern is that the overall amount of waste being produced is not decreasing, thus calling for actions preventing the production of waste.

This thesis analyzes the effects of different fertilization strategies on forest management at Holmen Skog in Umeå district. Harvesting volumes, net present values and fertilization intensity are presented for each fertilization scenario. The planning reserve (percentage area older than minimum final felling age) was also analyzed in this study.The thesis covers the analysis of five different fertilization scenarios, varying in fertilization intensity, from no fertilization at all, to fertilization at every harvesting operation (thinning or final felling). A sub-study was also carried out so the reader in detail can see how the different fertilization scenarios affect individual forest stands of different nature. The analysis has been done with the planning tool PlanWise, which is an application of the Heureka analysis and planning system.

AbstractIn the fall of 2003 a project was started in the Swedish building sector that is called BASTA (the building sectors’ termination of especially harmful substances). The project is operated by the building companies NCC, Skanska, PEAB and JM, the Swedish Building Industry and the Swedish Environmental Institute IVL. The purpose of the project is to create a common Environmental assessment system for the entire building industry and with the help of this system phase out the use of especially harmful properties from building products.In a large sense BASTA works like this; On the BASTA web site there is a database, to which a supplier can register the company and the company’s products. Only those products with a substance content that fulfil the demands of the BASTA system, is to be registered. As it is the supplier himself that carries out the registration of the company and the company’s products to the system, the BASTA-organisation annually controls that the companies that are registered in the database, fulfils BASTA’s demands.Since NCC is one of the companies that operates BASTA, BASTA is probably going to be the Environmental assessment system that is recommended for the company in the future.

Sustainable development is a concept that has been interpreted in a multitude of ways in different contexts. This essay argues that the discourse of "ecological modernization" has strongly influenced the way in which the concept of ?sustainability? has been constructed in Swedish Environmental policy. This interpretation of the concept of sustainability offers the possibility of combining economic growth with ecological sustainability which stands in contrast to the assumptions of Deep Ecology and Green Theory. The aim of this essay is to explore how the concept of sustainability is being formulated in Environmental policy both on a national level and in the city of Malmö.Considering these issues in a specific context, this essay focuses on city planning that is as an important instrument to promote urban sustainability both on national and local levels.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a topic that is becoming increasingly important in today's society. CSR is a concept whereby companies voluntarily integrate social and Environmental concerns both in their business but also in interaction with their stakeholders. The society of today sets high expectations for how companies take their social responsibilities, especially in industries where the risks to individuals and the environment are high. In this study, we tried to answer the following questions; what kind of responsibility do companies in the plastics and chemicals industry claim to take and why might this be due? What differences exist between the investigated companies in the industry and what may these differences be rooted in? The purpose of this study was to obtain an understanding of the interest in working on sustainability in the plastics and chemicals industry.

Bakgrund:Miljöredovisningen är ett sätt för företagen att beskriva sitt miljöarbete. Den har fått allt större betydelse för företagen i takt med att miljöfrågorna blivit allt viktigare hos intressenter och allmänheten. Det gäller för företagen att visa att man tar ett miljö- och samhällsansvar för att skapa trovärdighet och förtroende i samhället.  Syfte:                                 Att ge läsaren en bild över hur och varför miljöredovisningen ser ut som den gör och vad företagen, som associeras med betydande miljöpåverkan, väljer att fokusera på i sina miljöredovisningar. Metod:                              En kvalitativ studie som grundar sig i legitimitetsteorin och institutionell teori har utförts. Vi har undersökt litteratur, vetenskapliga artiklar, miljöredovisningar samt fört intervjuer med personer som har behörig kompetens.  Slutsats:                            Studien visar på hur viktig miljöredovisningen är för företagen som associeras med betydande miljöpåverkan.