Understand why ISO 14001 goes far beyond preserving the environment, and can bring financial results for your company
For a long time, the benefits of implementing ISO 14001 were somewhat overlooked. Which perhaps still occurs in many contexts. I say this because companies have never properly understood how environmental management systems work.
In large part, this is due to people’s limited view of the content of the standard. Almost always, the vision is restrictive, that is, it is based on just one of the benefits of having a management system focused on the environment and sustainability.
In today’s article, we intend to bring you some of the benefits of implementing ISO 14001. I’m going to focus on 3 main aspects, which have impacts across the entire company and end up creating a kind of domino effect. Positively increasing company results.
1. Sustainability and reduction of environmental impacts
Obviously, an Environmental Management System seeks to reduce the company’s environmental impacts and thus promote greater sustainability for it. We will see that this objective will serve as a purpose that will lead companies to achieve other benefits.
Often times, reducing environmental impacts is seen as an end in itself, that is, as something that only benefits the reduction of waste emissions, for example. However, despite this being really a great advantage and benefit for everyone, the reduction of environmental impacts will only be a consequence of the company’s own environmental awareness.
In this way, we can say that it will lead to much greater advantages, such as better management of resources, an improvement in the company’s image, and even more financial gains for the organization.
2. Conscious use of company resources
This is where things start to get more interesting, after all, to be able to control waste emissions, the company needs to be very aware of how it uses its resources.
By starting to monitor the waste it emits, the company also begins to find ways to reduce or reuse this waste. Now, it is not very difficult to understand that this will translate into lower resource consumption or reuse than what the company might throw away today.
With this, it is possible that other indicators, which are not directly linked to environmental management, are also positively affected. For example, the levels of rework can decrease while the levels of productivity and use of raw materials increase. All this as a result of understanding how resources can be better used and thus generate less waste.
3. Best image on the market
It’s no secret that the market is increasingly engaged with social causes and concerned about preserving the environment. Therefore, among the benefits of implementing ISO 14001 is the improvement of the company’s image.
Tragedies that cause negative environmental impacts affect companies. For example, the disaster of the Brumadinho dam in Minas Gerais in Brazil? These tragedies cause a lot of damage to the company’s reputation and greatly reduced the company’s share values, in addition, of course, not least, the death of several people and the destruction of workplaces for survivors, especially those who worked with the soil.
Therefore, worrying about having a good environmental management system running can be very beneficial for your company in terms of image, financial and social impact.
In conclusion: greater financial gain for the company
Generally, companies only attribute expenses to certification such as ISO 14001. Therefore, at the conclusion of the text, I would like to reflect on how these advantages can be transformed into financial results.
From the beginning of the article, we talked about the conscious use of resources. We point out, for example, the possibility of better use of raw material. If we put this at the end of the pencil, it means that we are going to spend less money to acquire resources, after all, we are going to use fewer resources. That is, lower cost to produce.
Obviously, this will depend on the size of your company and how much resources it consumes, but think with me: if you reduce 5% of spending on purchasing resources, how much more money will you have at the end of the month?
Furthermore, having a healthier image in the market translates into more sales. It is very common to see marketing campaigns aimed at brand sustainability, after all we all know how important it is to take care of the planet we live on. This means increased sales, that is, more financial results.
It’s worth noting that I didn’t mention all the Benefits of implementing ISO 14001. I didn’t talk about improving processes, for example, or increasing employee morale. However, I believe that the aspects highlighted are more than enough reason to understand and enter the world of ISO 14001. Now, tell us in the comments: does your company have, or is it planning to have, an environmental management system?
