Environmental issues have increasing prominence, in part, as a response to higher public awareness concerning the role of organisations in causing or preventing ecological problems (Bansal and Roth 2000). This is reflected in the growth in reporting standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the trend to align human resource management (HRM) with environmental management via environmentally sustainable policies and practices (Ehnert et al. 2016). Sustainability is embraced generally by governments, business leaders, consumers and communities (Jackson and Renwick 2011). Additionally, organisations are realising the benefits that emerge from engagement in sustainable practices and green behaviour (Buciuniene and Kazlauskaite 2012; Mandip 2012). Industry types in high and low carbon emitting sectors have been classified on their environmental impact as ‘high’ and ‘moderate’ (Banerjee, Easwar and Kashyap 2003) with their environmental performance demonstrating the degree to which they are committed to protecting the environment. If firms are seen to be responding to pressing global problems they can be viewed by internal and external stakeholders as good corporate citizens (Orsato 2006). A key premise of this study is aligned with the view that ‘being greener is good for business’ (e.g. Crotty and Rodgers 2012). Moreover, employees have a central role in their firm’s green practices (Harvey, Williams and Probert 2013; Huffman and Klein 2013) and, to foster long-term environmental sustainability, there is a need to ‘recognise and engage in green behaviours’ (Dilchert and Ones 2012, 189) such as recycling and waste avoidance. A distinctive feature of HRM is its assumption that improved performance is achieved through people. Practices that build and retain human capital and motivate employee behaviour lead to positive organisational outcomes (Boxall and Purcell 2011). Further, individual perceptions are a key intermediate mechanism linking HR policies to employee attitudes and subsequent behaviour (Chuang and Liao 2010).