THE ISO 14001 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AS A MOTIVATION TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) standard has become an extensive environmental tool in the field of corporate responses to sustainability. Some organizations in Mauritius have actively participated in implementing this standard and much need to be done to train experts in formulating investment projects so as to move towards ISO 14001 implementation and certification, thus preserving the natural environment. The aim of the project was to investigate if the ISO 14000:1994 standards can be a pathway to environmental sustainability in
industries in Mauritius. A set of eco-efficiency indicators (water and energy indicators) were adopted to measure the environmental performance of organizations and to support the implementation of the standard. Two case studies were selected namely Plant A (a dairy plant) and Plant B (a dyeing plant from a Textile industry). Plant A is already ISO 14001 certified and it is making use these indicators for its energy and water consumption to monitor its performance. The same set of ecoefficiency indicators were implemented for plant B which is not yet
certified. Plant B is following the guidelines of the ISO 14001 standards to
achieve its environmental objectives. Results obtained show that both plants affirmed that they are adequately monitoring their key significant aspects and they are complying with environmental laws and regulations. The number of companies in Mauritius having implemented ISO 9001:2000 amounts to 259 (ISO survey 2007). Out of this, there are about fourteen ISO 14000:1994 certified companies to date. The remaining companies feel a great need to integrate the ISO 14000 system into their existing management system. The only problem is that the environmental standard is more costly and need more infrastructures to build up. But this does not stop the company from following the guidelines of the ISO 14000 series and to monitor its environmental performance from its ecoefficiency indicators taken up from the standards.

Keywords: ISO 14000, Sustainable Development, Eco-Indicators, Environmental
Sustainability