Business and the Environment
Businesses that focus on environmental improvements not only help the planet but also gain competitive advantages, enhance their reputation, attract talent, and reduce operational costs. Cost savings can be identified through the Objectives and Targets programme :- an element of ISO 14001:2015.
Cost savings can be achieved as they usually go hand in hand with an environmental improvement whether this is reduction in waste, reduction in energy use, or travel.
Waste Reduction: Minimising waste, reusing materials, and recycling can lower operational costs, reduce waste disposal fees, and sometimes even generate revenue (e.g., selling scrap materials).
Once you achieve an objective you can identify cost savings sometimes overlooked in the reporting of the objective's progress.
A typical example is savings on paper by using electronic versions of documents and procedures only. There is no longer the need to have paper copies of procedures or Material Safety Data Sheets if these are readily available electronically, available to print off if urgently needed.
The environmental saving can be easily identified by monitoring month on month purchases of paper. We should also be quantifying these savings cost wise and making cost benefits a part of our Objectives/Targets and improvement plan.
Sometimes in order to achieve an objective, investment has to be made. e.g. purchase of new equipment. This should be included in the initial setting of the objective and payback time estimated. If it’s a short payback time then its probably worth the investment.
One of our November ISO Workshops has Environmental Objectives as the topic. The date is November 6th from 10.00 am until 12.00 noon. All of our workshops and training programmes can be found here.
