It is now accepted all over the world that the resources of our world, which is getting smaller with each passing day, are not infinite, the environmental effects of products and activities are not local and regional, but global. This awareness brought along the need to control environmental impacts with market forces rather than legal practices.

Now, being in the global market is measured by the value and respect given to people. In addition to meeting the expectations and needs of today’s consumers at the highest level, they demand that the environment and the world they live in are valued and respected and questions this in the market.

These developments revealed the fact that there is a need for management systems that will enable businesses to keep their interactions with the environment under control and to continuously improve their environmental activities and achievements. Environment, which is one of the most important issues in integration with the European Union; In addition, the audits carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, etc., contain subjects parallel to the requirements of this standard.

The management system developed to systematically reduce and, if possible, eliminate the damages that businesses cause or may cause to the environment, is called the Environmental Management System.

ISO 14000 Environmental Management System is a management model established on the basis of risk analysis, which aims to reduce the use of natural resources and to minimize the damage to soil, water and air.

It is a series of standards published by the International Standards Organization, which describes the determination of environmental factors at every stage of the process from the raw material to the final product and the delivery to the customers, and the establishment of a system that minimizes the damage to the environment by controlling these factors with necessary inspections and measures.

It is a system standard, not a product standard, and deals with how it is produced rather than what is produced. It is based on the monitoring and continuous improvement of environmental performance. It stipulates to comply with the conditions defined by the relevant legislation and laws regarding environmental factors.

ISO 14000 Series Standards:

• ISO 14001 Environmental Management System-Features and User Manual
• ISO 14004 Environmental Management - Environmental Management Systems - General Guidelines for Principles, Systems and Supporting Techniques
• ISO 14020 Environmental Labels and Declarations-General Principles
• ISO 14031 Environmental Management-Environmental Performance Assessment -Guide
• ISO 14040 Environmental Management - Lifelong Assessment General Principles and Practices
• ISO 19011 Guidelines for Quality and Environmental Audit

History of ISO 14000 Environmental Management System:

The preparation of the ISO 14000 Environmental Management System Standard is based on the decisions taken at the world summit held in Rio in June 1992 and the principles contained in the Rio Convention. Approximately one year after the world summit in Rio, a technical committee consisting of representatives of about 50 different countries was established by ISO in 1993 to prepare international environmental management standards. As a result of the work of this committee, the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System standard was published and implemented in September 1996. Although the implementation of the ISO 14000 standard is based on voluntariness, it is estimated that the standard will turn into a mandatory practice in the near future with the enforcement of both the society, international organizations and governments.

• In 1973 they published the European Union principles I. Action plan (To implement environmental protective measures)
• BS 7750 Standard in
• 1992 Rio Declaration in 1992
• ISO / TC 207.Environmental Management Technical Committee was established by ISO in 1993 to develop the 14000 family Standards.
• 1994 TS 9719 standard (Environmental Management Systems - General Features)
• ISO 14001 standard in 1996
• September 2015 ISO 14001 current version

ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard Principles

Commitment to Obligation and Policy: The organization should determine its environmental policy and make a commitment to the environmental management system.

Planning:

The organization should determine the environmental dimensions of its activities, products and services and select the important ones. It should determine goals and targets in order to realize its commitments, and program the activities to be carried out to achieve these goals and objectives.

Application and Process:

The organization should develop a support mechanism with the necessary skills and opportunities to implement an effective implementation in order to realize its environmental policy and achieve its goals and objectives.

Control and Corrective Action:

The organization should measure, monitor and evaluate the environmental performance and the degree of success in this activity.

Review and Development:

The organization should review and continuously improve its environmental management system in order to improve its overall environmental performance and its overall degree of success.