RPS Limited reduce costs, energy consumption and waste with ISO 14001

Published on Wednesday, 06 March 2013 15:43

Posted by Vicki Mitchem

In a recent case study carried out by QMS International plc, Thomas Hudson of Returnable Packaging Services (RPS) Limited reported that the organisation was able to "Reduce Energy costs", "increase Health and Safety awareness" and "reduce current waste to landfill to under 2%" following ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 Certification.

This was possible because the Environmental Management System provided by the ISO 14001 assisted the organisation in continually monitoring and improving their environmental impact by identifying and managing aspects of the business which have a direct impact on the environment, such as:

• Recycling paper
• Separating Waste
• Increasing staff awareness
• Promoting greener modes of transport for staff
• Fitting energy efficient light bulbs

Then, by achieving the OHSAS 18001 Standard, RPS Limited were able to effectively monitor and control health and safety risks, implementing working practices which comply with relevant legislative requirements while also improving productivity.

By obtaining these Certifications, RPS are now able to "demonstrate our commitment to complying with international standards in HSE" as a direct result of "customer" and "industry demand" being "key drivers in obtaining these Certifications".

Thomas went on to highlight that the Certification Process for RPS Limited was much more straightforward than anticipated, stating that "Once an ordered system was put in place it was easy to make sure all the items required were in position" and "with effective co-operation from all RPS employees, the system has been well received and is a great success to our business."

RPS has always recycled where possible. However the formalisation of waste separation has helped them to re-evaluate the number of waste bins used, dramatically reducing their waste to landfill and as part of the ISO 14001's requirement for continual improvement the business aims for "zero waste to landfill by the end of 2013."

Source: QMS