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Module 4 of 5 · ISO 14001:2026 · Block 4

Operation: circular economy and life cycle approach

Operational control strengthens the life cycle approach already present in the 2015 edition, with more weight on circularity.

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Strengthened life cycle approach

Considering the environmental impact of the product or service from design through end of life, with special attention to design for circularity.

Waste and resource management

The waste hierarchy (prevent, reduce, reuse, recycle) applied more systematically in operational control.

Suppliers and circular economy

Circularity and life cycle criteria built into the evaluation of suppliers relevant to environmental impact.

What an auditor usually asks for

  • Life cycle criteria in product or service design
  • Waste hierarchy applied in a documented way
  • Circular economy criteria in supplier evaluation
  • Circularity indicators tracked

How to cover this block in Kimobox

  1. 1Document life cycle criteria in product or process records in Kimobox.
  2. 2Log the waste hierarchy applied in each relevant process.
  3. 3Add circularity criteria to supplier evaluation from the supplier portal.

Circularity criteria get added to the same supplier evaluation record you already use today.

See Kimobox's supplier portal

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

  1. ISO 14001:2015 — Environmental management systems. Requirements ISO · 2015 ed., with Amd 1:2024
  2. Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 (EMAS) EUR-Lex · 25 November 2009