subject: Waste Disposal Management Standards - ISO 14001 Accreditation [print this page] Waste Disposal Management Standards - ISO 14001 Accreditation
From collecting and gathering the waste or rubbish to transporting them to the dumps and landfills, to processing and recycling or disposing the waste materials. In this day and age where being green and environmentally friendly is so highly valued and reported, any business would want to operate with good waste management procedures.
Recently, a new executive order by President Obama is yet another sign that the federal government is taking environmental friendliness and sustainability seriously. To adhere to the conditions of Executive Order 13514, every federal organization and agency must submit plans that will decrease greenhouse gas emissions including both direct and indirect emissions. It is said that this meant to be an order for federal organizations to lead by example, and with that mindset, the high standards will probably trickle down to common businesses as well.
For most businesses, being accredited with the ISO 14001 standard shows that it is serious about being an environmentally responsible company. The ISO 14000 family of standards is an international standard mainly crafted and developed because of the 1992 Rio Summit on the Environment. Over these years, the ISO 14001 has become the main standard of the ISO 14000 series. It spells out the framework and standards of management in an environmental management system. Environment management refers to a company's ability to reduce and minimize any harm a company's activities could do to the environment. It also requires that a company continuously improve on the effects its processes on the environmental. A qualified third party will be able to assess if an organization meets with the standards and provide proper certification.
To adhere to these standards, one way may be to look into better waste disposal recycling. For example, waste that are organic in nature (plant, paper, food) could be recycled into compost for landscaping and agricultural applications. A vaporous waste gas like methane could be transformed into electricity. These are ways to improve the waste disposal management of a business and be a socially responsible corporate citizen.
Jeni Braxton is a freelance writer and researcher. For more tips about cost-effective waste management systems and software, check out her writing here on the Waste Management Software website, where she discusses the things to aware of when buying a hazardous waste software solution.
