Why environmental management and the ISO 14001 standard are important

Environmental management is the key to tackling environmental factors in a company's production and operations. With ISO 14001 you can systematize your efforts - read on and understand how.

It can be challenging to gain an overview of environmental conditions in a company and not least their impacts on the outside world. However, being aware of environmental risks is essential to ensuring efficient and sustainable operations. It is not only about the benefits of reducing environmental impacts, but also about tangible benefits such as reduced costs.

Environmental management systems play a central role in the process of addressing environmental factors. ISO 14001 is the internationally recognised standard that specifies the structure of environmental management systems. It follows a 'Plan-Do-Check-Act' cycle that ensures continuous improvement across the organisation.

What is environmental management?

Environmental management is a way to concretize and systematize your data about and work with environmental factors related to the company's production and operations. Especially in large companies, it can be difficult to get an overview of the environmental conditions you are dealing with and the environmental impact that is caused.

An important part of environmental management is, among other things, mapping the company's environmental conditions, setting environmental goals and formulating an overall environmental policy and, as a result, preparing a concrete action plan to achieve the goals and comply with the policy. However, the work is not done yet - it is an essential part of environmental management to continuously evaluate and adjust the initiatives the company has taken to ensure continuous improvement.

If you as a company want to reduce your environmental impact and signal that you take sustainability seriously, you can benefit from integrating environmental management. However, there are more benefits to be gained than 'just' this. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency has formulated 8 good reasons to work with environmental management:

1. Better management of consumption of energy and raw materials
2. Fewer costs for energy and raw material consumption
3. Fewer costs for waste disposal, wastewater disposal and environmental taxes
4. Improved cooperation with authorities
5. Greater credibility with customers
6. Improved market position, new customer groups and retention of existing customers
7. Increased collaboration with suppliers
8. Improved reputation

Environmental management systems

When working with environmental management, you must use environmental management systems. They make it possible to work with environmental impacts in a holistic way; that is, to include all factors and look at the big picture to ensure the most effective solutions. Regardless of how you work with environmental management, the overall purpose is always to ensure continuous improvements in the company's environmental conditions.

ISO 14000 family

The ISO 14000 family includes a number of standards for environmental management. Together, they form an overall framework for environmental management work. The family consists of the main standard ISO 14001 and a number of supporting standards that deal with, among other things, labelling and communication.

ISO 14001

ISO 14001 is an internationally accepted standard that specifies what environmental management systems should look like. The standard was first developed in 1996 and has been updated several times since then. It contains specific requirements for how to develop an environmental management system and provides a concrete framework for environmental management.

The framework follows a 'Plan-Do-Check-Act' cycle (PDCA). This means that you continuously work to examine impacts, set goals, implement measures, and monitor and improve them. You go through the cycle again and again as the company's goals become more ambitious, thereby ensuring continuous improvement.

So – roughly speaking:

Plan: Define environmental policy, identify environmental impacts and aspects, and set goals

Do: Implement actions to achieve goals

Check: Check the effect of measures

Act: Improvement of deficient areas

The ISO 14001 standard can be purchased from Dansk Standard. To become ISO 14001 certified, the company must be certified by an accredited verifier. Before you hire this verifier, you must have developed an environmental management system that meets the requirements of the standard and implemented it.

Assessment of significant environmental conditions

As part of the environmental management system, the company must assess which environmental aspects are significant and where the greatest improvements can be achieved. There is no specific list of the most important environmental aspects, as this is subjective and varies from company to company.

You can work based on different criteria for materiality, but most often the size, frequency, probability and duration of the impact will be particularly critical factors. In addition, you should consider how dangerous the impact is to the environment. There are also other factors that may be worth considering, for example, whether applicable legal requirements are met, whether the effort can improve the working environment or whether stakeholders have highlighted specific conditions.

Therefore, this assessment is an essential part of the PDCA cycle, where you continuously re-evaluate and improve on different aspects at different times.

Energy as a significant environmental factor

Often a company's energy consumption will be one of the significant environmental factors, especially if this is particularly high. If energy consumption is a significant aspect for your company, you will, among other things, have to formulate goals and measures in environmental management that ensure an improvement in energy performance. In addition, energy performance must be monitored and employees and external partners' awareness of energy consumption must be ensured. It is also important that energy consumption is addressed in connection with the evaluation of processes and functions that affect it, as well as in the evaluation of the environmental management system as a whole.

If your company wants to support a sustainable future, it is worth examining your current environmental management and giving it a comprehensive overhaul. ISO 14001 provides a thorough framework for developing an environmental management system that does not only work with individual factors, but takes the entire company and external factors into account.

If energy consumption is a significant part of your environmental conditions that you would like to work on improving, it may be worth considering investigating the possibilities for optimizing your ventilation system. A leak of just 10% in the ventilation system can lead to a 33% higher energy consumption. This is an obvious opportunity to minimize your environmental impact.

Contact us at Better Climate for a non-binding chat about the options for your ventilation system.

FAQ

What is ISO 14001?

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems. It is a framework that makes it easier for companies to work with environmental management.

What are the benefits of working with ISO 14001?

In addition to the signal value of being a company that makes an effort for sustainability, effective environmental management can often reduce costs and use of resources.

How do I know where my company can improve its environmental impact?

The relevant environmental factors are individual for each company. Therefore, the company should assess which factors play a role in production and operations. An overview of criteria for materiality can be found, for example, at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.