Torp airport is the first in Norway to be certified to ISO 14001. ‘To the aviation industry in Norway, this may serve as a signal for take-off,’ says Norwegian Environment Minister Børge Brende. He firmly believes that environmental improvement is an economic and competitive opportunity, and that ISO 14001 can be an important element in business survival.
In a part of the world where care for the environment is high on most companies business agendas, it is remarkable that ISO 14001 certification for environmental management has been awarded to just one airport in the whole of Scandinavia.
That airport is the small, privately owned site at Torp, near Sandefjord in southern Norway. Handling primarily charter flights, Torp received its ISO 14001 accreditation from DNV last April in recognition of its many measures to safeguard the environment and ensure that staff awareness about such matters is high.
Says Brende: Norway lags far behind other nations as regards such environmental certificates. So its positive for Torp to go ahead and show the rest the way. He praised the airport management for accepting their responsibility to the community.
ISO 14000 and its voluntary standards address environmental management systems; environmental auditing and related investigations; environmental labels and declarations; environmental performance evaluation; life cycle assessment; and terms and definitions. These address the needs of organisations worldwide by providing a common framework for managing environmental issues.
Benchmarking
No company or airport can claim a good environmental record without some type of international standard against which to measure it. Such benchmarking is a prime role for Det Norske Veritas, whose lead auditor on the Torp contract was Dr Paul Liseth.
There were many things that impressed us about Torp airport, says Dr Liseth. The new aircraft engine testing site to reduce noise was one. Moving the fire safety training operation another. That used to release smoke, noise and polluted water: now it has been relocated from the airport to a nearby government site at Borre Havariskole.
I would also highlight the new de-icing system. This now takes place within one defined area and all runoff is collected in storage tanks, then further treated in a separate plant before being released. A comprehensive monitoring programme for groundwater quality, as well as for the nearby river, was also undertaken. It showed that no significant pollutants from the de-icing system were found, which is important to sustaining the local eco-system.
The airports commitment must be ongoing to retain certification, and Torp is now in the process of encouraging all companies operating at the airport to endorse its high environmental standards.
The airport management is committed to meeting all environmental authority requirements, and to continuous improvement. They recognise that he environment will need to be protected in the future, as new scientific and technical developments occur.
Says Dr Liseth, The enthusiasm from the whole staff at the airport in implementing and maintaining its environmental management systems, I believe, is the best guarantee for an environmentally friendly airport in the future. We certainly saw much evidence of this.
Liseth describes the experience of working with Torp as very positive for us, the airport, and most importantly the environment. He would like to see other airports in the region following Torps lead.
Presenting the ISO 14001 certificate to Torp CEO Alf-Reidar Fjeld, Norways environment minister was uncompromising: Research has shown that companies which focus on the environment also score high on other success factors. Previously, only the manufacturing industry has been concerned about obtaining such certificates. The fact that an airport has now done so is a signal, and I hope that more airports in Norway will follow suit.