LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE - GETTING ISO 14001 CERTIFIED

摘要

Environmental management systems (EMS) are being implemented at a variety of organizations throughout the world, with an increasing trend of applying EMS to address the activities in the waste management industry. The concept of implementing an EMS to manage the myriad of environmental interactions and regulatory requirements, which solid waste management facilities are confronted, is relatively new; however, one that makes perfect sense based on the extent of the environmental interactions of this industry. An effectively developed and implemented EMS defines the organization, responsibilities, and processes for managing, planning, and continually improving the management of existing solid waste operations and those to come. The management of the waste our society generates has and forever will be an ongoing challenge that confronts society and the responsibility to ensure that is done right has been imparted on the waste management industry in general. Many organizations define the scope of their EMS to exclude responsibility for the management of the waste they generate beyond the fence line of their facility. An effectively developed and implemented EMS is a growing trend and a key component for sustaining the waste management infrastructure in the years to come. Gannett Fleming, Inc. has assisted waste management operations in both the public and private sectors develop and implement EMS to meeting the increasing demands our society places on this infrastructure. We have prepared a paper, which describes the processes and tools for implementing an EMS, specific to a waste management facility. The paper discusses the benefits of having an EMS, as reported by the Keystone Sanitary Landfill two years after their EMS became the first landfill operation certified to the ISO 14001 EMS standard in the United States.