Environmental Management
Enhancing Environmental Management Through ISO Certification
Schnitzer’s recycling, recovery, and manufacturing activities require water, energy, and other resources to function. To responsibly manage and proactively mitigate the environmental impacts of our operations, we deploy innovative technologies and process controls and partner with local utilities and national organizations. Through everyday actions and long-term investments, we strengthen our operations and enhance our ability to preserve the environment.
Sites representing 23% of Schnitzer’s workforce received ISO Certification in May 2022.
Our goal of 100% certification by 2026
reinforces our commitment to leading the way in environmental management.
Sustainable business practices begin with a sound Environmental Management System (EMS). Schnitzer’s EMS considers myriad operational complexities – from intake procedures and material inspection needs to air quality, water use, and stormwater management requirements. Through our Company-wide EMS, we record and analyze performance data to make thoughtful business decisions that protect our people, the environment, and the communities where we work and live.
In fiscal 2022, we streamlined our approach to environmental management by deploying an ISO 14001: 2015 certified EMS. ISO certification provides a framework steeped in international standards and best practices across hundreds of industries. It offers an independent audit and verification of the most widely recognized EMS certification in the world. To achieve our goal of deploying an umbrella ISO certification by the end of fiscal 2022, we selected six locations across our operations, choosing a variety of facility types and workforce considerations reflecting a broad sample of Schnitzer workplaces.
At each of the selected sites, teams coordinated two EMS audits, during which we gathered valuable feedback and recorded best practices that will be critical to certifying our remaining locations.
The audit process identified important opportunities to standardize our approach to environmental compliance, increase efficiencies, and enhance operational synergies as we work toward continuous performance improvement.
