How Does ISO 14001 Certification Contribute to a Sustainable Future?

Most businesses today must commit to eliminate or minimise the impact of their operations on the natural environment, considering the rising concerns of global warming and climatic imbalances.  They urgently need to adopt steps to contribute towards reducing solid wastages, wastewater, and greenhouse gas emissions to reduce the degrading impact on the environment.  It is believed that the growth that business experiences can never be sustainable until the growth occur causing minimal impact on the environment. To help businesses in their commitment towards environmental preservation, ISO 14001 certification is the key. It helps them grow whilst managing all the environmental footprints with the implementation of a stern EMS (Environmental Management System).

Find out the ways ISO 14001 standard assists businesses to achieve their environmental goals and to build a sustainable future.

Implementation of EMS

The standard incorporates the implementation of EMS in the business with collective participation of all the members of the business. It requires planning, implementation, reviewing, and taking corrective actions wherever needed. With a systematic approach, EMS assists a business to comply with its industry-specific environmental policy, redefine codes of business principles, and fulfill their roles and responsibilities for environmental protection.

Promotes Environmentally Sustainable Practices

Achieving ISO certification for environmental management promotes awareness, training, and adoption of best practices in the company. It makes every member of the business responsible to replace the processes that are highly damaging, reduce the purchase of toxic materials, and drive energy reduction. The implementation of EMS also needs a business to focus on energy-savings and fuel-efficiency in the distribution of products. So, it calls for the use of alternative fuels (with lesser carbon-dioxide emissions) and optimising the distribution routes followed from factories to selling points. 

Make Stakeholders Environmentally Responsible

When a business achieves the ISO 14001 certification, the rules and regulations of the standard apply to all stakeholders of the business including the employees, third-party vendors, and suppliers. A company’s compliance with the highest environmental management standard sets out some mandatory requirements which its partners or suppliers must meet to continue doing business.

EMS Results in Continuous Improvement

The EMS works as a continuous cycle for improvements in the business, making its processes highly sustainable to the environment. Under it, the business first needs to set goals for environmental protection and create strategies to achieve them. The next step is to monitor the progress made with the strategies and modify them if needed to achieve the targets better. The key members of the management of the business are responsible for reviewing the plans and strategies for the successful implementation of the EMS. Once they assure that the goals are met, the business needs to find out new environmental goals that are still not addressed. Thus, the cycle goes on, resulting in consistent improvement in the business.

Key Takeaway

ISO 14001 certification is lot more a responsibility for a business than just a standard. It is the key to the implementation of a useful EMS which requires commitment and collective participation of all members of the organisation. The implementation of EMS lays down a regulatory framework for consistent improvement in the processes to reduce the use of resources, minimise carbon emissions and save fuel/energy. While achieving the standard and then maintaining them seems challenging at first, specialised ISO certification experts will help you in that.