ISO 14000

The ISO 14000 series of standards is a set of standards that covers aspects of the environment, products and organizations, highlighting ISO 14001, an international management standard published in 1996, following the success of the ISO 9000 series of standards for quality management systems.

Description

The ISO 14000 series of standards is a set of international standards published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which includes the ISO 14001 Standard that expresses how to establish an Environmental Management System (EMS).) cash.

The ISO 14001 standard is applicable to any organization, of any size or sector, that under a voluntary assumption is seeking to reduce impacts on the environment and comply with environmental legislation.

History

The emergence of the ISO 14000 series of standards is a direct consequence of the GATT round of negotiations in Uruguay and the Rio de Janeiro summit of the United Nations on the environment, which took place in 1992.

Due to the rapid acceptance of the ISO 9000 Series of Standards and the emergence of a large number of environmental standards around the world, ISO recognizes the need to create management standards in the environmental area. In 1991, the Strategic Group for Consultations in the Environment (SAGE) had been created and in 1992, due to the recommendations of this group, the ISO/TC 207 committee was created, which would bring together representatives of the industry, standards bodies, the government and organizations environmental.

It must be borne in mind that the standards stipulated by ISO 14000 do not set specific environmental goals for the prevention of pollution, nor are they involved in global environmental performance, but rather establish tools and systems focused on the processes of production and organization within a company or organization, contemplating the effects or externalities that derive from these to the environment.

Two aspects of ISO 14000 should be highlighted:

1. The certification of the Environmental Management System, through which companies will receive the certificate.
2. The Environmental Seal, through which the products ("green seal") will be certified.

ISO 14000 is based on the old British standard BS7750, which was officially published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) prior to the UN Global Meeting on the Environment (ECO 92).

ISO 14001 is a set of environmental management documents that, once implemented, will affect all aspects of an organization's management of its environmental responsibilities and will help organizations systematically address environmental issues, in order to improve environmental performance and profit opportunities. The standards are voluntary, have no legal obligation, and do not establish a set of quantitative targets for emission levels or specific methods of measuring those emissions. By contrast, ISO 14000 focuses on the organization by providing a set of procedure-based standards and guidelines from which a company can build and maintain an environmental management system.

In this sense, any business activity that wishes to be sustainable in all its spheres of action must be aware that it must assume a preventive attitude towards the future, which allows it to recognize the need to integrate the environmental variable into its mechanisms. business decision.

The standard is made up of eight elements, which are listed below with their respective identification number:

• Environmental Management Systems (14001 Specifications and Guidelines for Use – 14004 General Guidelines on Principles, Systems and Support Technique).
• Environmental Audits (14010 General Principles- 14011 Audit Procedures, Audits of Environmental Management Systems- 14012 Criteria for Audit Certification)
• Environmental Performance Assessment (14031 Guidelines- 14032 Examples of Environmental Performance Assessment)
• Lifecycle Analysis (14040 General Principles and Framework- 14041 Definition of the objective and scope and analysis of the inventory- 1404.

Benefits

Benefits for companies

The adoption of international Standards makes it easier for suppliers to base the development of their products on the contrast of extensive market data from their sectors, thus allowing industrialists to compete more and more freely and with effectiveness in many more national and international markets.

Cost savings: ISO 14001 can provide cost savings through reduced waste and more efficient use of natural resources such as electricity, water and gas. Organizations with ISO 14001 certifications are better placed to face possible future fines and penalties for non-compliance with environmental legislation, and a reduction in insurance by demonstrating better risk management.

Reputation: As public knowledge of the standards, it can also mean a competitive advantage, creating more and better business opportunities.

Staff participation: Internal communication is improved and you can find a more motivated team through suggestions for environmental improvement.

Continuous improvement: the regular evaluation process ensures that the environmental performance of companies can be monitored and improved.

Compliance: ISO 14001 implementation demonstrates that organizations comply with a number of legal requirements. This can mitigate the risks of lawsuits.

Integrated systems: ISO 14001 aligns with other management system standards such as ISO 9001 or OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety, which provides more effective and efficient system management in general.

Benefits for governments

International Standards provide the technological and scientific foundations that underpin health, safety and environmental quality legislation.

Benefits for developing countries

International Standards constitute an important source of technological know-how, defining the characteristics expected of products and services to be placed in export markets, International Standards thus give these countries a basis to make correct decisions by investing your scarce resources wisely and thus avoiding wasting them. They are benefits.

Benefits for consumers

The conformity of products and services to International Standards provides assurance of their quality, safety and reliability.

Benefits for everyone

International Standards can contribute to improving the quality of life in general by ensuring that the transport, machinery, products and instruments we use are healthy and safe for human consumption.

Benefits for the planet

Because the existence of International Standards on air, water and soil quality, as well as on gas emissions and radiation, we can contribute to the effort to preserve the environment.

ISO develops only those standards for which there is a market requirement. The work is carried out by experts from the industrial, technical and business sectors who have requested the standards and subsequently intend to use them. These experts can be joined by others with relevant knowledge, such as: representatives of government agencies, consumer organisations, academia, testing laboratories and generally international experts in their own fields.

Series of Standards

The objective of these standards is to provide companies with adequate methodologies for the implementation of an environmental management system, similar to those proposed by the ISO 9000 series for quality management.

The ISO 14000 series of standards on environmental management includes the following standards:

• Environmental Management Systems (SGA): later.
  • ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems. Requirements with guidance for use
  • ISO 14004 Environmental Management Systems. General guidelines on principles, systems and support techniques
  • ISO 14006 Environmental Management Systems. Guidelines for the incorporation of eco-design
  • ISO 14011 Guidelines for Quality or Environmental Management System Audits

• Ecological Tags and Environmental Product Statements
  • ISO 14020 Ecological labels and environmental declarations. General principles
  • ISO 14021 Ecological labels and environmental declarations. Environmental Self-Declarations (Economic label Type II)
  • ISO 14024 Ecological labels and environmental declarations. Ecological labeling Type I. General principles and procedures
  • ISO 14025 Environmental Tags and declarations. Type III environmental statements. Principles and procedures.

• Environmental footprints:
  • ISO 14046:Environmental management. Water leak. Principles, requirements and guidelines
  • ISO 14064-1:2006 Greenhouse gas. Part 1: Guidance specification at the organization level for the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and remotions
  • ISO 14064-2:2006 Greenhouse gas. Part 2: Project-level specification for the quantification, monitoring and reporting of emission reductions or increased greenhouse gas remotions
  • ISO 14064-3:2006 Greenhouse gas. Part 3: Specification with guidance for validation and verification of greenhouse gas declarations
  • ISO 14065:2013 Greenhouse gass. Requirements for agencies that perform the validation and verification of greenhouse gases, for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition

• Life cycle analysis
  • ISO 14040:Environmental Management - Lifecycle Assessment - Principles and Reference Framework.
  • ISO 14044:Environmental management - Lifecycle analysis - Requirements and guidelines.
  • ISO/TR 14047 Environmental management - Lifecycle impact assessment. Examples of ISO 14042 application.
  • ISO/TS 14048 Environmental Management - Lifecycle Assessment. Data documentation format.
  • ISO/TR 14049 Environmental management - Lifecycle assessment. Examples of the application of ISO 14041 to the definition of objective and scope and inventory analysis

• Horizontals:
  • ISO 14031:Environmental management. Environmental performance assessment. Guidelines
  • ISO/TR 14032:Environmental management - Environmental performance assessment examples (ERA)
  • ISO 14050 Environmental management - Vocabulary
  • ISO/TR 14062 Environmental management - Integration of environmental aspects in product design and development
  • ISO 14063 Environmental Communication - Guidelines and Examples