WORKING POLICY TYPE · ENVIRONMENTAL
Environmental policies,
built around your business.
An environmental policy is more useful when its commitments relate to the activities a business can influence. Policy Logic is being developed to start with those activities, then help structure a draft around the answers.
Working prototype · Browser only · Download your draft before leaving
Questions that get beyond a company name
1. What activities and locations are involved?
Describe the services or products, premises, transport and site work within the intended scope.
2. Where do you use resources or create waste?
Identify relevant materials, energy, water, waste streams and other impacts, including uncertainty about what is measured.
3. Who owns the arrangements?
Explain who makes purchasing decisions, coordinates waste arrangements and investigates environmental concerns.
4. What improvements can you support?
Choose commitments the business can act on and identify how progress would be reviewed.
From broad promises to practical commitments
A question-led approach should help distinguish a relevant commitment from a generic claim. If a business uses vehicles, the draft might need to reflect how journeys are planned and reviewed. If it buys materials, the questions might explore purchasing decisions and waste prevention. The answer should describe the business's actual approach, not assume a programme already exists.
For example, “we are carbon neutral” should not appear merely because a user selected an environmental policy. Claims about performance need their own evidence. A useful draft can instead identify an area the business intends to improve and the person responsible for agreeing the next steps.
Connect the policy to a wider process
ISO's environmental management overview discusses resource use, waste and environmental performance as parts of a management system. A policy is one part of the picture; it does not replace the arrangements, evidence or wider work needed for a management system.
See ISO's environmental management systems overview. The proposed builder does not certify a business or establish conformity with ISO 14001.
Review before publishing
Check scope, responsibilities and proposed commitments against what the organisation can actually deliver. Keep missing information visible and arrange an appropriate review before approving the policy.
See the question-to-draft approach
Explore a fictional business example, then use the review checklist when checking a policy. Compare the four policy types →
Policy Logic is in development. These pages explain the proposed approach and example questions.