High standards of environmental management lead to ISO 14001:2004 standard

With environmental concerns high on the list of priorities expressed by Portakabin customers, the Company is working hard to ensure their priorities are met. Portakabin has now gained the ISO 14001 accreditation for high-standards of environmental management and commitment to environmental responsibility. For our customers, this means that the environmental impact of products they hire and buy from us is reduced through the successful implementation of an Environmental Management System.

ISO 14001 is the internationally recognised standard relating to environmental management. To gain accreditation a company must actively reduce the use of resources and costs. Portakabin has already generated significant savings in carbon emissions following the implementation of an energy saving and environmental programme across its business. Initial results recorded year-on-year reductions in carbon emissions of 17%, a decrease of 643 tonnes over the last 12 months alone - equivalent to 338 flights from London Heathrow to Sydney.

Steve Edison, Facilities Manager here at Portakabin says: "In order to achieve the accreditation, Portakabin worked closely with the British Standards Institute (BSI) to undertake a gap analysis, which determined the areas that we needed to improve upon to meet the ISO 14001 standard. This meant recording and targeting savings in energy consumption and waste materials, aiming for better than average performance in our sector. We manage all our processes to ensure that we are always within acceptable limits with regard emissions of, for instance, solvents and noise. We aim to be a 'good neighbour' at all times."

The benefits of ISO 14001 accreditation include waste minimisation, improved process efficiencies, credibility through third party validation and a basis for environmental reporting. Steve adds: "We are delighted with the accreditation and so are our customers who are secure in the knowledge that their Portakabin solutions are built to exacting environmental standards."

The ISO 14001 accreditation is a further step forward in recognising the important role that sustainability plays in our product development programmes.

For further details about ISO accreditation visit www.iso.org or www.bsi.org.uk