At The Fulfilment Warehouse we are fundamentally committed to practising sustainability and environmental efficiency. In order to ensure the achievement of these commitments, we have implemented an environmental management system which satisfies the requirements of ISO 14001. Here we will outline how exactly this is achieved; principally working from the notion that the standard helps organisations improve their environmental performance by establishing how they can more efficiently utilise their resources and reduce their waste, allowing them to gain a competitive advantage and establish greater trust from stakeholders.

ISO 14001

Environmental management systems are implemented to allow organisations to manage, identify, control, and monitor any environmental issues they might face in a comprehensive, integrated manner. Other ISO’s will focus on different types of management systems, such as ISO 45001, covering employee health and safety, or ISO 9001, focusing on quality management.

ISO 14001 is favoured by organisations of all sizes and types, whether private or non-profit governmental organisations. The environmental management system is designed to force organisations to consider all the environmental issues that are relevant to the operations of that organisation, such as water, air and sewage pollution, contamination of soil, mitigation of climate change, waste management and effective use of resources.

ISO 14001 is truly unique primarily because there is a serious desire for consistent improvement in the environmental management systems that an organisation will employ to tackle its environmental issues.

Advantages

A business must consider the key benefits to ISO 14001 when choosing whether to implement the standards it sets out. ISO 14001 helps demonstrate that a business is compliant with present and future regulatory or statutory requirements, which can have quite a substantial impact on brand image and stakeholder interest. Engaging employees on the most important, central environmental issues a business might face has also been a positive to come out of implementing the scheme, which can in turn improve involvement from leadership.

If you want to achieve your objectives and strategic aims as a business you can do this by implementing environmental regulations into the management of the organisation. This might also provide you with a financial and competitive advantage over certain rivals by reducing overall costs and improving organisation efficiency. The knock-on effect this can have will improve environmental performance of suppliers and integrates them into the standards you have already set out.

The improvements

ISO 14001 presents us with a number of improvements on previous iterations. The latest 2015 version requires that we implement an effective environmental management system that is recognisable within the overall strategic direction of the business, with a solid commitment from our leadership on environmental issues. The implementation of initiatives that are proactive, such as the serious mitigation of climate change and a sustainable use of business resources, are also other fundamental requirements of ISO 14001 designed to protect the environment from the kind of harm and degradation we have recently seen.

A focus on stakeholder-specific communication strategy and life-cycle thinking is also required to ensure that there are considerations given to the full environmental picture, from development to end-of-life aspects.

Considerations

An ISO 14001 accreditation is not a certified requirement, but a certification from a third-party source – an independent body who audits your environmental practises against set standards – is a fantastic way to show your commitments to suppliers, buyers, customers, and any other stakeholders that have been involved in implementing ISO 14001!

The Fulfilment Warehouse are experts in providing small and medium sized businesses with fully packaged fulfilment services. We will safely store, package and dispatch all your orders with complete care, giving you a peace of mind and a trustworthy, professional service.  Take a look at our services here or give us a call on 0330 563 980 – we’d be happy to hear from you!