ISO 14001 EMS Implementation Assistance
From the Illinois Army National Guard to Caterpillar Inc., companies large and small this year received help from WMRC to do the right thing environmentally.
ISO 14001, the International Standard on environmental management systems (EMS), challenges organizations to communicate internally and manage the environmental impacts of their organization's business. The establishment of policies and procedures that work together to help organizations achieve their environmental objectives and targets is new to most organizations (if not daunting), and the road to ISO 14001 implementation isn't easy. However, the payback continues to reward organizations with financial savings in raw materials usage, process efficiency, energy savings, and reduced waste disposal costs. Presently, ISO 14001 is the preferred way to manage costly environmental compliance issues and in some cases may even help to reduce regulatory fines through its proactive corrective action procedure.
This past year, WMRC provided ISO 14004 EMS implementation assistance to six organizations, ranging from stand-alone manufacturing facilities to statewide multi-faceted organizations. Recently, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has dedicated resources to develop and sustain its own environmental management system.
As ISO 14001 implementation gains recognition, thousands of companies have successfully certified their environmental management systems to the ISO 14001 Standard. WMRC plans to continue offering the technical assistance need to make the future of EMS bright and increase organizations' participation.
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