Complying with environmental legislation and meeting the demands of the green lobby present major challenges to organisations today. With a proactive environmental management system in place, however, your organization can turn that challenge into an opportunity. EMS certification to ISO 14001 or related standards helps you achieve real cost savings. An effective EMS is based on a continual improvement cycle, in which the daily operation of your business drives further increases in efficiency. Continual refining and improvement in an ISO 14001 based environmental management system is a four-step process:

Continual refining and improvement in an ISO 14001 based environmental management system is a four-step process:

This spurs increased efficiency, positions you for growth and allows your organization to enjoy a number of other useful benefits.

Once implemented, an environmental management system will help your business achieve:

Many people may consider the practicalities of environmental care to be beyond individuals but, in reality, it is very easy for everyone to reduce environmental damage. The smallest measures can make a significant difference, such as reducing the volume of waste generated, or by using resources more efficiently.

There is also a collective result: if everybody and every organization decided that they could make a worthy contribution, then huge progress would be achieved to protect the environment. We see this at the organizational level when an EMS is put in place. Working together, staff generate real savings and other benefits from the ground floor upwards. For this reason, an EMS should be treated as more than just a regulatory necessity; rather, it is a: