Environmental management is often regarded as an extra bureaucratic organization which generates a great deal of paperwork and is an additional burden on everyday company business. If the EU directives on Eco-Audit or the international ISO 14.000 standards and the relevant literature are considered, one has to ask what the point is of all this, what use it is and why it is all so complicated. Even the preparation of an environmental manual can be a challenge, one clings to familiar names. This standardized bureaucracy is then finally rounded off with the formulation of operating procedures. These are supposed to precisely describe and document every action, every decision which has an environmental relevance. We at Reemtsma have not taken this long and wearisome path. In the early nineties, we took the view that an existing and living organization is better for lasting environmental protection than a standardized one. For this reason, we matched our environmental management to the actual situation in the production plants. Development and extension takes place from the bottom up - from the operative at the machine to the manager at his desk. The environmental manual did not come at the start but was only developed and recorded at the end. Our system features a minimum of documentation and operating procedures. Instead, a lot of time has been and is being invested in the training and instruction of our staff. Our environmental management is a system which lives and is being constantly improved. It needs only a few routine regulations and relies on a high standard of personal initiative and responsability from the individual members of our employees. In spite of this unconventional way the Reemtsma system meets the current international environmental review standards.