News

Smarts Awarded ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems Certification

18 February 2010

Profile systems company Smart Architectural Aluminium are proud to announce that they have been awarded certification to the ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems standard.

ISO 14001 is a management tool that allows businesses to identify and control the environmental impact of their business, to work continually to improve environmental performance and to implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets.  

Attaining ISO 14001 is the next step for Smarts who are committed to reducing the impact of their activities on the environment and already hold certification to the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems standard. The journey to attaining ISO 14001 is a challenging one where a company must ensure they have suitable systems in place for indentifying, reducing and recycling each type of material waste; oil, paper, plastic, cardboard, aluminium, chemicals and batteries must all be dealt with separately. Impressively, the systems that Smarts have in place currently capture and recycle over 100 tonnes of packaging per annum.

The management system standard also helps businesses to better understand their carbon footprint and then plan to reduce this impact. Smarts has been able to identify several areas where over the next twelve months they aim to cut their carbon footprint. Primary among these is reducing the impact of their transport fleet on the environment through investment in low-emission vehicles and more efficient transport planning systems.   

Smart’s commitment to improving their environmental impact extends beyond management systems. The company is also encouraging its staff to consider where they can make a difference and also to participate in environmentally friendly schemes such as cycling to work or car sharing. 

“Organisations are under growing pressure to keep the confidence of customers, employees, shareholders and a growing array of other organisational stakeholders,” says Victoria Barron, Product Marketing Manager, Sustainability Portfolio at BSI. “By establishing a meaningful framework and embedding responsible decision making into all of its business activities, an organisation has the opportunity to demonstrate good business practice and ethical trading as demonstrated by Smarts.

“All businesses must start recognising what impact their activities have on the environment and take steps to reduce that effect”, explains Eddie Robinson, Managing Director. “By taking these first steps we are affirming our commitment to the environment and believe that we are on course to achieving our target of being carbon neutral by 2012”.