Heated discussions about written work instructions, training about environmental impacts, meetings with detailed agendas specific to air, effluent, waste and pollution prevention. There are times when we wondered - was it justified to take employees away from their jobs, with so many other priorities demanding attention?

General Oil decided to pursue ISO 14001 back in 1998, when discussion among industry on Environmental Management Systems was just beginning. General Oil has always been on the forefront of environmental protection, working with industry to recycle oil in a safe, economic, and environmentally sound manner. We regarded the requirements of the ISO 14001 Standard as good business practices and thought we already had many of these conditions in place.

What we found was that meeting the procedural requirements of the 17 elements of ISO 14001 was just the beginning. The real work was integrating environmental management into our company culture. Our experience showed that ISO 14001 isn't about taking employees away from their jobs, but about making responsibility for the environment an integral part of their jobs; and that it isn't about documenting job tasks, but about implementing best practices. Doing all of this through a managed system has made ISO 14001 worth the investment.

Although we have achieved cost savings through pollution prevention initiatives and improvements in efficiency, the real benefits come every day and do not have dollar signs directly attached.

General Oil's EMS has become our tool for identifying, controlling, and monitoring our impact on the environment effectively and profitably. Every aspect of our business has potential positive and negative impacts to air, water, land, and resource conservation. Through our EMS, employees know that General Oil's Environmental Policy is about more than meeting regulatory requirements, and that their routine job activities contribute to the reuse and protection of important natural resources: supplying high quality recycled oil products saves virgin resources and can save our customers money; complying with the parameters in our wastewater discharge permit can effect the River; and odor control practices can affect the quality of life of our neighbors.

General Oil is committed to customer satisfaction. Registration to ISO 14001 has benefited our customers through enhancing their confidence in our environmental performance. General Oil has probably spent more resources on environmental management than other companies in our industry, but the efficiencies we have gained can reduce costs to our customers, protect the environment, and improve the bottom line.

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