environmental performance evaluation of applying iso 14001 ...the iso 14031 standard is a conceptual...

Environmental Performance Evaluation of Applying ISO 14001 in Laboratory

Rani Gustia, Dwi Nowo Martono, and Udi Syahnoedi Hamzah

School of Environmental Science Universitas Indonesia

Jakarta, Indonesia [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

The laboratory is an important service sector for providing scientific data. In a laboratory, the test results accuracy is an important thing, but apart from that in the operational process, the laboratory is also related to environmental aspects. The resources used and the waste produced need good management so that they can minimize the negative impacts on the environment. The focus of this study is a private environmental laboratory in Jakarta which has certified for the environmental management system (EMS) ISO 14001:2015. This study investigates the effect of implementing ISO 14001 on laboratory environmental performance. The method used is a descriptive analysis by evaluating the environmental performance of the laboratory after the application of EMS ISO 14001. The study used secondary data, reference data, and interviews with the key person in the laboratory. Upon the data analysis, the result shows environmental performance indicators that have been achieved base on the organization goals are emission test result that is meet the requirement, and minimize groundwater usage meanwhile the organization still have to improve the wastewater and hazardous waste management. Keywords ISO 14001, EMS, Laboratory, Environmental Performance 1. Introduction Increasing global attention to environmental issues demands all parties to contribute to saving the environment itself. In this case, the laboratory as a facility that contributes to environmental impacts must be responsible for reducing the environmental consequences of each of its activities (Lopez & Badrick, 2012). The increasing need for laboratory services has an impact on increasing testing activities carried out. Apart from its function as an important instrument in various aspects of life, activities carried out in the laboratory will also have an impact on the environment. Laboratories have the potential to produce environmental pollution and degradation either through the process they are carried out or through the disposal of test residues. The laboratory is also a facility for energy users and high water consumption and produces waste and emissions (Lopez et al., 2017). Many laboratories focus on test samples and strive to ensure the quality assurance of their test results and pay little attention to environmental impacts. Currently, many laboratories have implemented laboratory management system standards ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 that specifies requirements for testing laboratories. There is 1212 testing laboratory in Indonesia that accredited ISO 17025 until October 2020 (KAN, 2020). It indicates the demand to provide the best service is also getting higher because most of the customers required the laboratory to comply with this standard. Some consider that because the scale of activities carried out by the laboratory is small, environmental aspects are often neglected. Management of the negative impacts resulting from the laboratory around the environment is very important and requires compliance with regulations (Edwards & Jeggo, 2012). In line with other important activities in the laboratory such as quality assurance, safety, financial management, and human resources, environmental problems in the laboratory also need to be managed properly through an appropriate management system (USEPA, 2000). Therefore the laboratory also needs an environmental management system to reduce the environmental impact of the activities it carries out. To preserve the environment, the laboratory can also adopt ISO standards related to the environmental management system ISO 14001. Especially those who have implemented other ISO-based management system. It can be easier to

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integrate to simplify the system. However, based on ISO survey 2019, laboratories are not grouped specifically but can fall into the category of other service sector groups with the number of certifications in the service sector as much as 36 (ISO, 2020). The number is quite small when compared to other categories of groups. Therefore the evaluation is needed to assess how influential the application of this standard on company performance in a laboratory service provider. The effectiveness of implementing an EMS based on ISO standards will differ from one organization to another because of the detail and complexity that varies between organizations (ISO, 2015). This study was conducted in testing laboratory PT X which is a pilot private laboratory providing environmental services in Indonesia. This organization was accredited to ISO 17025 since 2004. The development of environmental issues encourages the top management of this organization to contribute to environmental protection in carrying out their operational activities as a form of environmental responsibility. Therefore they decided to adopt the EMS ISO 14001 and got the certification in 2017. The previous studies have been conducted to analyze the implementation of ISO 14001 in various sectors such as industry, small-medium enterprise, education, hotels, tourism. However, there are not many references that discuss the application of ISO 14001 in the laboratory sector (Dewi, 2014; Lopez et al., 2017; Ross et al., 2019). This study contributes by focussing on the environmental performance after ISO 14001 application in the selected company as a testing laboratory services provider in Indonesia. 1.1 Objectives The study aims to evaluate the result of EMS ISO 14001 that is applied in the context of laboratory organization on environmental performance to demonstrate its effectiveness. This study is expected to be considered by laboratory organizations in implementing an EMS and provide a database for the management to make continuous improvement. 2. Literature Review ISO 14001 is an international environmental standard that specifies requirements related to environmental management systems. The organizations that adopt this standard can formulate their policies and objectives taking into consideration legal requirements and information regarding significant environmental impacts (Campos et al., 2015). ISO 14001 provides a general framework for environmental management between various business sectors (Sorooshian & Yee, 2019). This standard was developed to appropriate any organization, industry or not, size, location, and level of environmental responsibility (Kumara & Weerasinghe, 2017). The systematic approach of the environmental management system contributes to sustainable development by protecting the environment and preventing adverse environmental impacts (Loste et al., 2019). Several studies have examined the effect of implementing ISO 14001 EMS on company performance, both from an economic, social, and environmental perspective. Comoglio & Botta (2012) found that environmental management systems have a positive effect on environmental performance, especially in terms of air emissions, waste management, and resource use. Another study states that the application of ISO 14001 to Small and Medium Enterprises in India is effective in minimizing waste by up to 25% (Singh et al., 2015). Therefore an EMS is an important tool for organizations wishing to manage the environment in terms of pollution prevention (Tambovceva, 2016). Research Nguyen & Hens (2015) proves the positive impact of ISO 14001 on the industry that can increase the profile of legal compliance, improve communication on environmental issues, and also increase employee awareness. From the economic aspect, several studies state that the application of an environmental management system can also improve the company's financial performance through increasing cost and energy efficiency and supports building legitimacy with stakeholders so that it can expand the market (Salim et al., 2018). The importance of managing activities to prevent negative impacts on the environment has been under the attention at this time so that organizational objectives need to be added to environmental performance indicators (Campos et al., 2015). Performance indicators must represent an integrated information network which is a source for benchmarking and strategic planning (Pasqualini Blass et al., 2017). The ISO 14031 standard is a conceptual reference for the selection of environmental performance indicators and is a standard that specifically addresses guidelines for environmental performance evaluation and indicator adoption (Campos et al., 2015). Environmental performance evaluation is a management process that uses key performance indicators to compare an organization's past and current environmental performance based on its environmental goals and objectives (ISO, 2013).



Based on ISO 14031 environmental performance indicators provide information related to the organization’s management of its significant environmental aspects. It is consists of management performance indicators and operational performance indicators. The use of indicators as a management tool demonstrates the effectiveness of an organization to ensure clear operational and environmental conditions (Turki et al., 2017). In this case, the performance assessment based on the indicators set by each organization is important so that management has a basis for continuous improvement. ISO 14001 requires organizations to control environmental aspects and impacts on their processes, products, and services because the organizations themselves know the best about their business processes (Kumara & Weerasinghe, 2017). Thus the company has the opportunity to identify general environmental performance indicators to achieve effectiveness (Turki et al., 2017). Companies most often use performance requirements indicators that are more directly related to legal requirements such as emergency preparedness and response, legal assessments, and other requirements and environmental aspects (Campos et al., 2015). ISO 14001 application leads to better environmental performance because it encourages organizations to set environmental goals and this greatly helps internal organizations to focus on environmental management activities with self-supervision (Mungai et al., 2020). To achieve good output, the management can carry out effective mitigation after analyzing the environmental aspects (Kumara & Weerasinghe, 2017). Identification of important environmental aspects and impacts of activities and processes carried out in the laboratory serves as a guideline for pollution prevention efforts. The application of ISO 14001 affected improving environmental performance with a significant reduction in the concentration of dust, SO2, NO2, and noise in the cement industry (Campos et al., 2015). 3. Methods In the early stages of the research, the authors conducted a data review. The method used to collect data in this study is the environmental indicator focussing on operational performance. The indicators are the result of wastewater analysis, emission test, the amount of hazardous waste, and water usage. A content analysis of the laboratory reports was used to obtain data on environmental performance. The requirement such as regulations from the government was identified. To get information related to the implementation of ISO 14001, the author interviewed the key personnel in the laboratory who are responsible to manage this system. 4. Results and Discussion The result of this study is presented as follows. PT X was established in 1990 and has been operating until now. They have a mission to providing services that are oriented to customer satisfaction and enhancing competitive value and corporate image and integrity. In their operational activities, they implemented an integrated management system, namely Sistem Manajemen Terpadu. This laboratory is a laboratory that carries out environmental quality testing and has 510 accredited testing parameters. There is 3 major of intended outcome from ISO 14001 implementation. First, enhancement of environmental performance, the second is a fulfillment of environmental objectives, and the third conformance to compliance obligations. In this case study, the planning for environmental performance evaluation for the laboratory is base on environmental performance criteria which are adjusted to the quality standard requirement of the government that must be fulfilled. The data collected will reports to the government as organization evidence in environmental management. The data consist of wastewater monitoring, hazardous waste management, and pollution control. Besides that, the organization also has a target to reduce the use of groundwater as their contribution to preventing land subsidence. 4.1 Wastewater analysis The laboratory monitors the quality of wastewater to an accredited external laboratory once a month and reports the results every 3 months to the local environmental agency.

Table 1. Fulfillment of wastewater quality standards

Year Quarter 1 (%)

Quarter 2 (%)

Quarter 3 (%)

Quarter 4 (%)

Average/year (%)

2017 92 100 96,14 100 97,03 2018 100 100 96,42 100 99,10 2019 95,24 100 100 100 98,81



The percentage of compliance with quality standards is obtained from the calculation of :

100 − �the amount of analysis data that exceeds quality standard total data analyzed

× 100%� From the calculation result as shown in table 1, after certification ISO 14001, the organization not yet fully able to achieve the environmental goals that have been made. There are still test results for wastewater that are above the quality standard. Consequently, the management should pay attention to the root cause of the non-conformity to ensure the same non-conformity is not repeated. Technically carrying out regular self-monitoring of the laboratory wastewater treatment plant helps early detection if there are wastewater quality parameters that do not meet the requirements. The laboratory must ensure that the absorbance material in the wastewater treatment plant can work optimally to absorb laboratory waste so that the water output that comes out to the environment meets quality standards. Although the management has made corrections to the non-conformity that has occurred, the most important thing is how management can take preventive actions such as handling the sources of pollution. This also requires the involvement of laboratory personnel as operational executors of the organization to work base on the standard operating procedure and have the awareness of the environmental risk of the activities carried out. 4.2 Emission test To control the pollution from emissions resulting from the foom hoods, the laboratory measured the fulfillment of chimney emission-quality standards every six months. The testing result from 2017 until now all parameters meet the requirement. In this case, the laboratory used a wet scrubber as air pollution control equipment. From this result, it can be seen that the organization is consistent in monitoring and controlling laboratory-generated emissions. Hence they can achieve environmental objectives. In this case laboratory personnel also can contribute to minimizing emissions. The simple thing to do is make sure the volatile solvent cap is tightly closed when not in use. 4.3 Hazardous waste For other environmental aspects, the laboratory carried out hazardous waste management. Laboratory waste contains various kinds of hazardous and toxic chemicals so it cannot be thrown away. The laboratory must ensure that its waste handling is safe for the environment. In this case, they identify the hazardous waste generated and collected in the containers provided shown in table 2. Then the hazardous waste is stored in a temporary storage warehouse and separated base on the characteristics of hazardous waste. Each package is given a symbol and label. Besides that, they have an emergency response procedure for hazardous waste spill/ leakage. The storage time for hazardous waste follows government regulation. They send the hazardous waste to be processed to the hazardous waste processing company that has a permit.

Table 2. Type and characteristics of hazardous laboratory waste

No Type Characteristics Packaging 1 The residue of the air test parameter analysis

such as H2S, SO2, NH3, HCL, HF Acid Jerry cans

2 Residu analysis of COD Acid, metal Jerry cans 3 Residu analysis of cyanide, chloride, fluoride,

DO Acid Jerry cans

4 Petroleum benzene Flammable Aluminum bottle 5 Chloroform Flammable Glass bottle 6 Metal waste Heavy metal Jerry cans 7 Sludge Heavy metal Drum etc

The increasing number of test parameters that the laboratory can perform, increasing the number of test requests from customers. Increasing demand for laboratory testing each time will also increase the amount of hazardous waste generated.



Table 3. Hazardous waste generated

Year Amount of laboratory testing (parameter)

Amount of hazardous waste (ton)

2017 664.455 2,3 2018 672.267 2,9 2019 746.027 3,6 2020 614.266 3,2

From table 3, there is a discrepancy in the amount of hazardous waste generated. The number of laboratory testing carried out in 2020 is less than before, but the production of hazardous waste is much greater. In this case, the management needs to identify the causes of the excess waste generation and control it. Monitoring spill or leak and ensuring the effective and efficient use of chemicals in the laboratory can be done to minimize hazardous waste. In the process of testing, laboratory personnel are required to carry out the work with high accuracy and very carefully, so they can prevent repeated testing. This repetition will have an impact on the use of more chemicals and increase the waste generated. Furthermore, it can also consider using fewer chemical testing methods, choose the right equipment, and maintain the use of chemicals in a first-in, first-out (FIFO) flow. 4.4 Water usage In water usage, the organization set a target to reduce groundwater usage. From 2017 until 2020 they able to reduce more than 80% (Figure 1). In 2020 they used only 19% groundwater from total water consumption for operational activities.

Figure 1. Comparison of water usage Efficient use of clean water is needed to improve the environmental performance of the laboratory. A water-saving campaign, replacing tap water with a spreader, using AC water to water plants has been carried out. Next, the laboratory can utilize rainwater to reduce the use of clean water and compile other programs related to efficient water use. 5. Conclusion This study evaluates the environmental performance of the laboratory after implementing the environmental management system ISO 14001. The analysis shows that the environmental performance of the laboratory is quite good, although several things that need to be improved and become a concern. The organization attempted to manage the impact of environmental aspects in focus. The results of the emission test from the chimney chamber are always below the quality standard, indicating that the management has been running well. Meanwhile, for

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wastewater management, the test results were not consistent, several parameters did not meet the requirement. The generated hazardous waste also shows that management is not optimal, there are conditions where the number of tests is less and the generation of hazardous waste is more. For the use of clean water, the organization has been able to reduce groundwater use and need to improve the overall clean water use efficiency program. The results of this study can be used as a reference for management organizations to make continuous improvements. This study was only conducted in one laboratory so that a comparative study can be carried out using more samples and a wider variety of environmental performance indicators. References Campos, L. M. S., De Melo Heizen, D. A., Verdinelli, M. A., & Cauchick Miguel, P. A. Environmental performance

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Biographies Rani Gustia is currently an accreditation officer in Komite Akreditasi Nasional-Badan Standardisasi Nasional. Rani’s major field of work is the testing laboratory. Rani graduated in Chemistry Department at Universitas Padjadjaran and now took a master’s degree in the School of Environmental Science at Universitas Indonesia. Dwi Nowo Martono is currently a full-time senior lecturer in the School of Environmental Science at Universitas Indonesia. He has taught the course in the environmental management system, environmental risk management, pollution management, and many others. Udi Syahnoedi Hamzah is currently a lecturer in the School of Environmental Science at Universitas Indonesia. His expertise is in QHSE. He has taught the course in the environmental management system and environmental risk management.



environmental performance evaluation of applying iso 14001 ...the iso 14031 standard is a conceptual...

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