Guidance for implementation of standard ISO 14001 in a Galvanic Company

Abstract

Nowadays, with the increase of pollution and the advance of climate change, Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are becoming more important and necessary to help companies and society to be less harmful to the environment. The present work focuses on the implementation of the standard ISO 14001:2015, a practical tool for organizations aiming to successfully manage their environmental responsibilities. The implementation is done by following the standard specifications listed at European Community regulation 1221/2009 EMAS III, with the objective to comply with all the certification requirements of ISO 14001:2015. Furthermore, the implementation phases explained during this project can be considered as a guideline of how the standard can be implemented. Specifically, the rule is implemented at GALVANIX, a fictitious galvanic corporation created and described using data from Environmental Authorisations of companies of the same type, in this case galvanic sector. Located at Barcelona, Spain, GALVANIX main activity is to produce profiles and sheets of aluminium highly resistant. Furthermore, in addition of the EMS, an Initial Environmental Review is carried out with the objective to know better the starting point of the company, facilitating the progression and implementation over time of the EMS. During the description of the fictitious company, is noticed a lack of organization and efficient practices related on environmental aspects such as atmospheric emissions or waste management, as well as the suboptimal usage of resources like water, energy or raw materials. Thanks to the EMS, is believed these main problems are going to be solved while improving overall environmental performance.