At NatraTex, we believe in making our surfacing products the best they can be. One way we accomplish this is through official accreditation: by getting our products and procedures signed off and approved by oversight organisations. 

One of the most important of these is ISO 14001. This certification documents how NatraTex (as a company) handles environmental management. Specifically, it signals that NatraTex values ecological sustainability. 

What Are The Benefits of the ISO 14001 For NatraTex

For a company such as NatraTex, successful accreditation as an ISO 14001 compliant organisation offers numerous benefits to us. These are: 

Legal Compliance

Achieving the ISO 14001 certification means that we are fully compliant with all current government regulations and legislation in regard to environmental management. This limits our potential risk of future litigation, ensures the safety of our customers, and means that our products are as environmentally friendly as possible. 

Advantages Over Competitors

Achieving ISO 14001 tells our customers and partners that we are actively working to improve our processes – especially the processes that have a measurable environmental impact. This gives us a distinct advantage over our competitors. 

Waste Reduction

ISO 14001 ensures that our overall waste portfolio is as small as it can be and that NatraTex as a company doesn’t produce an excessive amount of plastic or paper waste. This means that our overall operational costs are much smaller, meaning that we can channel a greater share of our profit into research and development. 

Improved Consumer Reputation

As previously inferred in Advantages Over Competitors, achieving ISO 14001 tells our clients that we are moving into the future by incorporating sustainable practices. This increases our reputation amongst our customers and competitors. 

Long Term Reduction in Budget

By following ISO 14001 and reducing our overall waste profile, we are working towards shrinking our overall operating costs. As a result, we save money in the long run, which we can reinvest into further improving our services and products. 

Culture of Innovation

The final benefit of incorporating ISO 14001 into our everyday operations is that we implement a strong culture of innovation: we are continually improving on our existing practices, searching for new ones, and looking at ways we can minimise our operational footprint so that our business is more environmentally friendly. 

How To Achieve the ISO 14001

Unlike other accreditations, ISO 14001 is much less stringent in terms of specific steps the applicant has to take. Indeed, the most basic requirement is that the company implements a well-structured and functional Environmental Management System. 

In order to achieve that, ISO 14001 requires that the company in question uses the PDCA cycle in order to create a recognisable Environmental Management System. This cycle ensures that goals and processes are constantly being reevaluated and analysed to ensure they are achievable. 

Plan

This is the section where we establish objectives and work out methods for achieving these objectives. This part of the PDCA process ensures that all our goals are achievable. 

For example, let’s say that NatraTex is looking at ways of making NatraTex Colour, our coloured tarmac alternative, slightly more environmentally friendly than it already is. In the Plan section of the PDCA, we would set out our goal (Make NatraTex Colour as Environmentally Friendly as Possible) and start to work out methods of achieving this. 

Do 

In this part of the PDCA, we begin to implement the processes we developed in the earlier part section. The key people responsible for implementing the EMS are chosen and given their responsibilities. Processes and procedures are also established at this point. 

Following on from the previous section, the key people responsible for achieving our goal are decided upon and any processes and procedures are also determined at this point of the EMS. 

Check 

In this section of the PDCA, the performance of the processes and procedures set out in the Do stage, as well as those given responsibility to oversee the Environmental Management System, are evaluated. As well as this, internal audits are often completed to ensure that everyone is comfortable with the current set-up. 

As part of our efforts to make NatraTex Colour as environmentally friendly as possible, in this section, our efforts are continually being monitored. Any areas where we could improve are being noted, and ready for the next step…

Act

In this final section, any necessary changes to the EMS, discovered during the earlier Check stages, are modified to ensure that goals are being met. 

In this section, our efforts to improve NatraTex Colour are evaluated. Any necessary changes are made, and we will determine whether or not to continue. 

Confirmation

There are four methods in order to be certified in the ISO 14001. These are:

  • Make a self-determination and self-declaration
  • Seek confirmation of its conformance by parties having an interest in the organisation, such as customers
  • Seek confirmation of its self-declaration by a party external to the organisation
  • Seek certification/registration of its EMS by an external organisation.

Contact NatraTex Today

NatraTex manufactures high-quality colour tarmac alternatives, ideal for bus lanes, coloured driveways tennis courts, MUGA surfacing, as well as a wide range of other applications. Our products are available in a range of colours. In particular, our NatraTex Colour offers a range of colours. Our products are superior to both traditional porous coloured asphalt and self-binding gravel. 

For more information on how we are making our products and services more ecologically friendly and aesthetically pleasing, as well as the ways in which we are working to implement and improve our existing environmental management system, please get in touch with NatraTex today.

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