W. L. Gore & Associates GmbH (Gore) announced today that its fabrics manufacturing plant in Putzbrunn, Bavaria, has been certified according to the environmental and quality management standard ISO 14001.

With this latest certification, all three Gore-owned fabric plants around the world are compliant with this globally accepted standard for environmental management systems.

Bernhard Kiehl, Fabrics Division Sustainability Program Leader commented: “This ISO 14001 certification emphasizes our commitment to comply with the same high standards, partly going beyond legal requirement, in all plants of our Fabrics Division worldwide – for a smaller environmental footprint and safe working conditions.”

Environmental protection, together with social aspects, plays a key role in the sustainability strategy of Gore Fabrics’ division. Worldwide accepted standards of environmental management, such as ISO 14001, help establish internationally consistent processes at the plants in order to identify potential improvements within Gore´s environmental management system and support its implementation.

Daniel Eckardt, Regional Quality Leader Europe for Gore fabrics products and in charge of the ISO 14001 introduction in Putzbrunn, says: “I am glad that we received this important certification. Our team did an excellent job, and I am proud that our manufacturing plant in Putzbrunn completed the range of ISO 14001 certified fabrics manufacturing plants of Gore around the world.”

ISO 14001 was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 1996. It specifies worldwide accepted requirements for environmental management systems that enable organizations to improve their environmental footprint, comply with legal and other duties, and achieve their environmental goals. The international standard focusses on the concept of ‘continuous improvement’, based on the ‘plan-do-check-act’ process cycle.

In 2010, Gore began establishing management systems at their manufacturing plants for fabrics products inspired by the ISO standard. In order to obtain ISO 14001 certification, the plant in Putzbrunn was asked to fulfil a range of specific tasks and requirements similar to the Gore manufacturing plants for its fabrics products in Elk Mills, USA and Shenzhen, China:

• Identify significant environmental impacts such as gas or electrical energy usage and the waste from plants;
• Monitor energy usage to achieve sustained energy reductions;
• Measure environmental impact through greenhouse gas emissions;
• Track projects to show progress;
• Comply with all legal requirements relating to the environmental performance of Gore´s people, processes, plant and products (4Ps); an example would be, meeting the requirements of Gore´s environmental permit;
• Follow operational controls, meaning that Gore follows proper procedures for handling and storage of chemicals, and has trained Associates for emergencies in place.

Daniel Eckardt shares the team´s high motivation to work hard on preparing for the audit and certification in Putzbrunn: “Ensuring that our impact on the environment becomes transparent was one of the most important steps to make all Gore Associates understand and accept the true value of our activities for improving our environmental footprint.”

“Gore revolutionized the outerwear industry with waterproof, breathable GORE-TEX Fabric more than 40 years ago and remains a leading innovator of performance apparel. Gore fabrics products provide comfort and protection in challenging environments and in everyday life, enabling wearers to safely and confidently achieve and experience more. From hiking in downpours to defence operations and fighting fires, Gore’s deep understanding of consumer and industry needs drives development of products with meaningful performance advantages,” the company said in a statement today.

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