Everyone contributes to the introduction of chemical substances into the environment. The presence of these substances represents a major challenge for our society because of the disparity of available knowledge about their environmental impact. Environmental assessment is a relatively recent practice that has evolved over time and continues to acquire new expertise.

For many years now, the Tecniplast Group has considered this challenge a priority in its commitment to sustainable development and therefore its management committed to developing and implementing an environmental management system which is now certified in compliance with ISO 14001:2004.   Download a copy of Tecniplast ISO14001 Certification here.

This rigorous ISO standard specifies requirements to enable an organization to develop and implement a policy and objectives which take into account legal and other requirements to which the organization subscribes. This calls not only for a serious ethical code of conduct but also for advanced technical know-how and capability. Not by chance Tecniplast is the only player in its field to have gained this prestigious certification.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a management technique that deals with environmental issues as an integral part of the production process, with activities based on prevention and involvement of all employees.

Tecniplast’s EMS states the following commitments: 

• Fostering prevention-based behaviour
• Increasing awareness towards environmental issues inside the company and a mong suppliers
• Definition of an ecological purchasing policy and purchasing products  with low environmental impact
• Reduction of production scrap materials 
• Separated waste disposal 
• Optimization of waste material recycling 

Based on these commitments, the EMS entails a documented, on-going process of continuous improvement. In 2007 considerable progress was made at Tecniplast. Here are here some highlights:

• Reduced energy consumption with insulation of new buildings and re-use of heat from compressors
• Reduction of the noise level in the plastic moulding department
• Widespread training of personnel in all aspects of EHS, with special sessions for newcomers
• Reduction of hazardous waste
• Implementation of an ecological purchasing policy
• Optimization of packaging and information for customers on recycling and disposal of packaging materials
• Definition of new codes for more accurate waste separation (from 8 codes in 2002 to 20 codes in 2007)

Additional goals set by the management and to be reached in 2008 include:

• Completion of a new area dedicated to waste collection
• Reduction in the consumption of paper and introduction of user manuals in CD format to replace hard copies
• Actions to reduce raw materials consumption and scrap levels in plastic moulding and to increase the re-use of scrap materials
• Product recycling - actions to re-use plastic materials at product life-end
• Implementation of a study to define the carbon footprint of Tecniplast products.

When properly implemented, with the commitment starting from the top management of the company, an EMS makes everyone a winner - there are savings for the company which can be passed on to customers, ensuring continued competitiveness in the market, the working environment is improved and the overall impact on the global environment is sustainable, to the benefit of future generations. It is a question of truly caring, and of concrete actions, not merely words.