A Study on ISO 14001:2015 Requirementsand How to Fulfill Them in an Organization : Life Cycle Perspective in Product Design and Development

Sammanfattning: ISO 14001 is an International Standard based on the concept that better environmental performancecan be achieved when environmental aspects are systematically identified and managed. Nowadays,manufacturing organizations are emphasizing more on product sustainability and the prevention ofenvironmental problems. Environmental aspect consideration opens an opportunity to enjoy theeffects of better environmental performances in terms of competitive advantage. The revised standardISO 14001:2015 was created by market requirements to get better environmental performance,ensuring top management involvement, a more specific life cycle analysis, better risk-based thinking,and a better communication strategy. The standard applies to any organization, regardless of size,type, and nature but does not specify environmental performance criteria or explicit rules concerningpreventive actions (Haggar et al., 2019) (ISO 14001, 2015). ISO 14001 (2015) emphasis more on theevaluation of risks and opportunities, also in reference to significant environmental aspects andcompliance obligations (Tüv Nord, 2015). The new ISO 14001:2015 certified organizations shoulddetermine the negative and positive environmental aspects while designing a product considering lifecycle thinking. Life cycle thinking could be a better approach to figure out more suitable solutionsfor sustainable development (Milazzo P. et al., 2017).This study has presented the output of an extensive literature review, survey results, and informationfrom the interview session to understand how the ISO 14001:2015 certified organizations areconsidering the environmental aspects in their life cycle thinking. The organizations monitoringstrategies and the risks and opportunities results from the implementation of ISO 14001:2015 (EMS)during the design and development phase are also analyzed. The study also prevails whether themanufacturing organizations consider design for environment (DFE) as a way of getting betterenvironmental performance by their products or not and how they are approaching towardssustainable development and circular economy.