How to Maximise Resource Efficiency Through ISO 14001:2015

New IEMA and AECOM Briefing Launched Today

Businesses worldwide have the potential to tap into a trillion of dollars’ worth of savings each year by adopting circular economy practices, but many are failing to capitalise on the opportunity. A new briefing launched today offers advice to organisations on how to drive sustainable resource management through the revised ISO 14001 standard.

Driving Sustainable Resource Management Through ISO 14001 has been devised and developed by sustainability body IEMA and global infrastructure services firm AECOM. It aims to support Environment and Sustainability Professionals to maximise available material and cost savings through effective sustainable resource management (SRM) approaches. The new management framework of the revised ISO 14001 standard provides the ideal opportunity and approach to stimulate efficient and effective use of resources. With over 300,000 organisations worldwide certificated to ISO 14001 - even at the mid-way point between transitioning from the 2004 to 2015 versions - this presents a significant opportunity to enhance global uptake of SRM approaches.

The new briefing outlines the principles and business benefits of sustainable resource management and circular economy thinking, as well as the opportunities available through environmental management systems and evaluating the transition to SRM. The document also signposts readers to further IEMA learning information and free access to the Resource Action Maturity Planner (RAMP) tool.

Co-author of the briefing - IEMA’s Policy Lead on Sustainable Resource Management - Josh Fothergill says that the briefing is much more than a reference document: “This briefing is about enabling Environment and Sustainability Professionals to move beyond waste management to managing resources – how and why they are purchased, though to their ultimate reuse or recycling. The circular economy approach will help every business to reduce their environmental impact, achieve savings and create new revenue streams. With this briefing we’ve broken the process down into manageable and achievable steps to help practitioners get to grips with what is possible and how to get going”.

David Smith, Technical Director, AECOM, said: “This important new briefing is designed to help businesses achieve significant savings and wider benefits by implementing circular economy principles. Greater awareness and understanding of the risks and opportunities related to resource management – and the impact that failing to adopt sustainable methods could have on the bottom line – can only be a positive thing for businesses”.

Driving Sustainable Resource Management Through ISO 14001 is available for free for IEMA members here.