Writing an Environmental Policy
An Environmental Policy
is a statement outlining your business’s environmental strategy and the
driving force behind your objectives. It should include time-related
targets and a measurable management programme.
Introduction
With the environment being a topic constantly
in the news, it is no wonder that many supply chains and tenders
require an environmental policy to be in place. For additional
weight, many organisations formalise their policy with the
environmental management
standard ISO 14001 (where an environmental policy is
mandatory). For a public facing company, having a policy in place
demonstrates to customers and your organisation's other
takeholders that you're both responsible and committed with
regards to your environmental impact.
Your organisation's environmental policy should be formed by
management, but it's certainly worth including all staff at the
ideas stage too. After all, your staff are stakeholders in the
organisation, including them may prove motivational, turning your
policy into positive action.
Benefits of an Environmental Policy
A well written environmental policy has many benefits. It helps
your organisation to:
Meet current environmentally related
legislation.
Save money in terms of consumption,
waste and recycling.
Reduce chances of incidents resulting
in liability.
Differentiate you from the competition.
Improve reputation with stakeholders.
In order to work as well as it can, an environmental policy should
be part of the overall business strategy. It is also important to assess
your policy, ideally through external verification (ISO 14001). By being
assessed independently, your policy is far more credible and reliable.
Getting Started
An in-house risk assessment should bring to light most
issues. How does your organisation affect the environment and what risks
face it? You can check industry related laws by checking the
Government's NetReg's
website.
No two policies are exactly the same, as there isn't an agreed set layout
on how you should write one. The key is to have a environmental policy that
is both easy to understand and that clearly states the organisation's aims
and objectives, similar to a Mission Statement. It doesn't need to be longer
than a single page.
If your organisation is keen to become part of a supply chain, or is
already part of one, it's worthwhile trying to obtain policies from key
customers so your statements can reflect their own requirements.
A good environmental policy allows management to communicate its aims and
objectives to employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers and other
stakeholders. All goals should be measurable, realistic and have accountable
actions with deadlines.
Your environmental policy should outline:
The organisation's mission and information
about its operations.
A commitment to continually improve and monitor
environmental performance.
A commitment to managing your environmental
impacts.
Your compliance with relevant environmental
legislation (as a minimum).
Your expectations from suppliers and
sub-contractors.
A commitment to employee awareness and
training.
Your policy could be categorised by different business activities, such
as:
Choosing like-minded suppliers.
Energy usage (incl. water).
Recycling and waste management.
Use of stationary and other goods.
Transportation.
To help you get started writing your own environmental
policy, you can see our
sample environmental policy. You can also see links to the policies of
well known organisations below.
> IBM's Environmental affairs policy
> Going Green at Google
> Oxfam Sustainability Policy
> General Motors Environmental Policy
> McDonalds Environmental Policy
Once your environmental policy has been finished and signed off by senior
management, you should distribute it to all employees as well as your
customers.
Maintaining your environmental policy
Keeping on top
As already mentioned, the aim of continually seeking to
improve environmental performance should be part of your policy. Regular
walk-arounds (at least twice a year) of your premises should be carried
out in order to see if you are using energy and water efficiently,
detailing whether measures to reduce waste and pollution are so far
effective. You can read our Eco
Friendly Office Guide for more ideas.
Be sure to involve employees in the policy review process. If employees
are expected to deliver on environmental policy commitments, they may be a
good source of ideas for improvements.
Bear in mind that if your business activities or operations change
significantly, the policy may need to be amended. The walk-around will
provide an opportunity to set more specific targets. If your policy does
change, make sure your staff can read the latest version by making it
available on your intranet or website.
A justification for getting your environmental policy externally
verified is that, if not kept up-to-date, it becomes meaningless. If your
policy says that you are taking your environmental responsibilities
seriously and you fail to back this up, you may face questions over the
quality of operations in other parts of your organisation. This could
tarnish your reputation both customers and suppliers. Getting your policy
checked ensures that doesn't happen.
Influencing others
All organisations have suppliers. Use your influence as a client to
encourage suppliers and contractors to uphold similar environmental
standards, you may even want to make it a requirement if you have
significant weight.
You could integrate your green message into your marketing materials,
encouraging customers to adopt a similar ethos. By communicating your aims
and objectives, it may even bring your organisation more work.
The British Assessment Bureau's reputation was
established in 1969 and we achieved pre-eminent status
in 1997. Today we are a revered UKAS accredited
Assessment Body with an enviable reputation for customer
service.
As well as providing certification to internationally
recognised standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, we
provide bespoke assessment services for people, services
and organisations of all sizes.
For more information visit
www.british-assessment.co.uk.
Introduction
With the environment being a topic constantly
in the news, it is no wonder that many supply chains and tenders
require an environmental policy to be in place. For additional
weight, many organisations formalise their policy with the
environmental management
standard ISO 14001 (where an environmental policy is
mandatory). For a public facing company, having a policy in place
demonstrates to customers and your organisation's other
takeholders that you're both responsible and committed with
regards to your environmental impact.
Your organisation's environmental policy should be formed by
management, but it's certainly worth including all staff at the
ideas stage too. After all, your staff are stakeholders in the
organisation, including them may prove motivational, turning your
policy into positive action.
Benefits of an Environmental Policy
A well written environmental policy has many benefits. It helps
your organisation to:
Meet current environmentally related
legislation.
Save money in terms of consumption,
waste and recycling.
Reduce chances of incidents resulting
in liability.
Differentiate you from the competition.
Improve reputation with stakeholders.
In order to work as well as it can, an environmental policy should
be part of the overall business strategy. It is also important to assess
your policy, ideally through external verification (ISO 14001). By being
assessed independently, your policy is far more credible and reliable.
Getting Started
An in-house risk assessment should bring to light most
issues. How does your organisation affect the environment and what risks
face it? You can check industry related laws by checking the
Government's NetReg's
website.
No two policies are exactly the same, as there isn't an agreed set layout
on how you should write one. The key is to have a environmental policy that
is both easy to understand and that clearly states the organisation's aims
and objectives, similar to a Mission Statement. It doesn't need to be longer
than a single page.
If your organisation is keen to become part of a supply chain, or is
already part of one, it's worthwhile trying to obtain policies from key
customers so your statements can reflect their own requirements.
A good environmental policy allows management to communicate its aims and
objectives to employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers and other
stakeholders. All goals should be measurable, realistic and have accountable
actions with deadlines.
Your environmental policy should outline:
The organisation's mission and information
about its operations.
A commitment to continually improve and monitor
environmental performance.
A commitment to managing your environmental
impacts.
Your compliance with relevant environmental
legislation (as a minimum).
Your expectations from suppliers and
sub-contractors.
A commitment to employee awareness and
training.
Your policy could be categorised by different business activities, such
as:
Choosing like-minded suppliers.
Energy usage (incl. water).
Recycling and waste management.
Use of stationary and other goods.
To help you get started writing your own environmental
policy, you can see our
sample environmental policy. You can also see links to the policies of
well known organisations below.
Once your environmental policy has been finished and signed off by senior
management, you should distribute it to all employees as well as your
customers.
Maintaining your environmental policy
Keeping on top
As already mentioned, the aim of continually seeking to
improve environmental performance should be part of your policy. Regular
walk-arounds (at least twice a year) of your premises should be carried
out in order to see if you are using energy and water efficiently,
detailing whether measures to reduce waste and pollution are so far
effective. You can read our Eco
Friendly Office Guide for more ideas.
Be sure to involve employees in the policy review process. If employees
are expected to deliver on environmental policy commitments, they may be a
good source of ideas for improvements.
Bear in mind that if your business activities or operations change
significantly, the policy may need to be amended. The walk-around will
provide an opportunity to set more specific targets. If your policy does
change, make sure your staff can read the latest version by making it
available on your intranet or website.
A justification for getting your environmental policy externally
verified is that, if not kept up-to-date, it becomes meaningless. If your
policy says that you are taking your environmental responsibilities
seriously and you fail to back this up, you may face questions over the
quality of operations in other parts of your organisation. This could
tarnish your reputation both customers and suppliers. Getting your policy
checked ensures that doesn't happen.
Influencing others
All organisations have suppliers. Use your influence as a client to
encourage suppliers and contractors to uphold similar environmental
standards, you may even want to make it a requirement if you have
significant weight.
You could integrate your green message into your marketing materials,
encouraging customers to adopt a similar ethos. By communicating your aims
and objectives, it may even bring your organisation more work.
The British Assessment Bureau's reputation was
established in 1969 and we achieved pre-eminent status
in 1997. Today we are a revered UKAS accredited
Assessment Body with an enviable reputation for customer
service.
As well as providing certification to internationally
recognised standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, we
provide bespoke assessment services for people, services
and organisations of all sizes.
For more information visit
www.british-assessment.co.uk.
