What is ISO 14001 Certification?

Achieving the ISO 14001 Standard demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to the environment and reducing waste.

To get the certificate, the winery, vineyard, or the company owning it has to analyse the:

• environmental impact,
• set objectives to improve its environmental footprint, and
• set up an environmental management plan for managing waste products including grape marc (the used grape skins).

This is similar to ideas and ways of improving the carbon footprint except it is on grape production and the environment.

To attain this ISO 14001 Certification and standards all companies need to have produced a framework and objectives for future continual improvement.

The key benefits of having an ISO 14001 Certification include:

• reducing the use of natural resources, eg electricity
• reducing pollution and waste from the winery and vineyard. Most of the waste comes from the winery through wine production
• savings on the cost of raw materials and waste management

Being an organisation that can show it values environmental management also enhances its reputation amongst clients and stakeholders. This will be covered further in Week 4.