ISO14001 certification for the adhesives industry

In 2000, China's adhesive industry developed rapidly, with an annual output of 2.45 million tons, an annual growth rate of 10.5%, and an output value of 17 billion yuan. However, the market competition has also intensified and the requirements for product quality and performance have become higher and higher. Standards to overcome resource waste and environmental pollution. Currently, there is an upsurge in the implementation of ISO14000 environmental system certification worldwide. This is an effective way to promote the implementation of “green projects” in China's adhesive industry, and is also the main channel for participating in international “green trade”5.

The development trend of adhesives in the 21st century is to comply with the increasingly stringent requirements of environmental protection regulations, attach importance to environmentally friendly synthetic adhesives and natural adhesives, and vigorously develop and develop water-based adhesives, hot-melt adhesives, and low formaldehyde, low organic solvent synthetic adhesives that meet international standards. Such as urea-formaldehyde rubber, neoprene 2. This will inevitably lead the adhesive industry to pay more attention to environmental protection issues in order to solve the environmental pollution caused by the production process. Obtaining the ISO14001 environmental management system certification is an important prerequisite for accelerating the development of the industry.

1. ISO14001 Environmental Management System Certification

The ISO14001 standard is currently the internationally accepted environmental protection management standard, including the environmental management system, environmental audit, environmental labeling, and life cycle assessment. The core standard is the ISO14001 environmental management system. With the increasing attention paid to global environmental protection issues, and complying with the needs of global economic integration and WTO trade, companies actively respond to the promotion and implementation of the ISO14001 standard. As of March 2000, there were 14,582 organizations accredited with the ISO14001 standard in the world, 3015 in Japan, 1900 in Germany, 720 in the United States, and 340 in China1.

1.1 Characteristics of the ISO14001 standard

Global attention has been paid to environmental protection and awareness of environmental protection has been continuously improved. Corporate shareholders, customers, investors, insurance companies, banks, suppliers, employees, the public, and non-governmental organizations are all increasingly concerned about environmental issues. The ISO14001 standard encourages enterprises to adopt voluntarily, conducts industry self-discipline on environmental factors and their influence, and integrates environmental issues into corporate strategic decisions. It also emphasizes continuous improvement and emphasizes market-driven forces to promote the implementation of environmental policies.

1.2 Operating Procedures for the ISO14001 Standard

The main idea of ​​the ISO14001 standard is the Deming cycle, the PDCA cycle, which means planning, skills, inspection and correction. This is to require companies to follow: the development of environmental policy environmental planning → implementation and operation → inspection and corrective measures → management review → continuous improvement of the operating procedures, continuous improvement in a gradual manner to achieve the company's environmental objectives. 1

2. Necessity of promoting ISO14001 in the adhesive industry

The adhesive industry has environmental pollution problems in raw materials, intermediates, reaction media, and finished products. Due to the lack of strict domestic laws and regulations, non-standard implementation of laws, and lack of corporate awareness, the adhesive industry's pollution has not attracted enough attention from companies. . However, in the process of accelerating market competition and accelerating global economic and trade integration, companies are also aware of the importance of strengthening environmental protection, which creates the necessary conditions for the promotion and implementation of ISO14001.

2.1 The problem of environmental pollution in the adhesive industry

(1) Inadequate understanding of relevant environmental laws and regulations and weak awareness of environmental protection;
(2) When selecting raw materials and processes, focus on product costs and neglect considerations on environmental protection, energy, etc.;
(3) The backwardness of production equipment, its poor sealing, and advanced technology, causing pollution to employees, users and the surrounding environment by harmful substances;

(4) Unreasonable discharge of waste gas, waste water, waste residue, dust, noise, toxic substances, etc., and the company also resists the enforcement of environmental laws.

2.2 Adhesive manufacturers lack awareness of ISO14001

(1) Of the 340 companies that have passed the ISO14001 certification in China, there is no adhesive production and service company. At present, companies in the industry are not sufficiently involved in the ISO 14001 standard certification work. They have poor understanding of the standard and lack environmental awareness and environmental protection. 4

(2) The majority of adhesive manufacturers are small and medium-sized enterprises. Their production and management levels are backward, and the quality of their products and services is not stable. They are even unsatisfactory. They are not taking the initiative in participating in international shopping malls. This is also an important reason for the ineffective promotion of the ISO14001 standard industry. .

2.3 Increasing market competition will promote the development of ISO14001 certification

Adhesives have developed rapidly in China. The variety of products and performance have greatly improved. Now it has become an indispensable component in the development of the national economy, especially in the high-tech field. The scale of the company has also grown and the level of technology and management has made considerable progress. With the accelerating pace of China's accession to the WTO, domestic companies have also realized the importance of implementing the environmental protection standard ISO14001.

3. Zhengguang Technology Co., Ltd. Actively Implements ISO14001 Certification

Zhengguang Technology Co., Ltd. is a non-governmental science and technology enterprise focusing on the research, production and operation of polymer materials, especially adhesives. It is a national high-tech demonstration project, and it is a national Torch Program, Spark Program, major scientific and technological projects, and small and medium-sized technology. Enterprise innovation plan implementation unit, its main product is hailed as "Chinese magic glue" by the majority of users. In October 1999, the company passed the ISO9001 quality management certification, and in December 2000 obtained the national high-performance adhesive industrialization demonstration project 3 . In order to speed up the company's development, it also started working on the international trade of adhesives, which raised the issue of ISO 14001 certification.

3.1 Zhengguang Technology established the ISO14001 System Certification Leading Group in January 2001. The chairman of the company, Ruan Helun, served as the top manager and the China Import and Export Quality Certification Center assisted in certification.

3.2 The company carried out the certification of the mobilization of the standard, and according to the ISO14001 standard to establish a documented management system, improve the ability to adapt to environmental protection laws and environmental protection and protection, and open up a green channel for export enterprises.

3.3 The company is sterilized and harmless in the production environment and protects the surrounding environment. At the same time, it strengthens the ISO9001-2000 quality management system when it passes ISO14001 certification. In the research and development of the product, we use environment-friendly adhesives, water-based adhesives, hot-melt adhesives, and high-performance environmentally-friendly adhesives as the mainstay, and continue to promote Zhengguang Technology's technological innovation and adhesive development3.

4. The development of adhesives and the development of international trade promote adhesive manufacturers to fully realize the importance of obtaining ISO14001 environmental certification, and allow companies to solve their own environmental pollution problems, promote technological innovation and management innovation, and increase market competitiveness. Its own core competitiveness. In particular, driven by the ISO14001 system certification, the company continuously improved the industrial standards of China's adhesives, improved its management capabilities, and promoted the development of adhesive products in the 21st century toward high performance and environmental protection, and participated in international competition. The integration of WTO accession trade is a topic that every Chinese company, including adhesive companies, must face. Obtaining the ISO14001 standard is a necessary condition for this issue.