Poclain USA Achieves ISO 14001 Certification, Aligning with All Poclain Plants
>> Interview with Asa Estvall, Poclain Corporate Social Responsibility Director
At the end of 2025, Poclain USA achieved the ISO 14001 certification, concluding 12 months of collaborative effort involving operators, coordinators and senior management. The teams reassessed the plant's processes and procedures through an environmental lens, reviewing energy and water use, waste generation and disposal as well as document control. All employees were trained and involved in building and implementing the roadmap. We spoke to Asa Estvall, Poclain Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Director, to see how Poclain Hydraulics Inc.'s ISO 14001 certification fits within the group’s broader environmental strategy.
What motivated Poclain USA to pursue the ISO 14001 certification?
At the group level, we were committed to have all our legacy sites ISO 14001certified, as part of the CSR objectives and the energy and carbon emissions operations roadmap set in 2022.
How does ISO 14001 align with Poclain’s broader CSR and sustainability strategy?
The 14001 certification aims at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and streamlining waste management, as well as mitigating environmental risks. When our CSR strategy was redefined in 2023 it was natural to set the target to have all our manufacturing sites certified 14001. A set framework also helps us to have ongoing actions towards the United Nations sustainable development goal.
In what ways does environmental management contribute to Poclain's competitive positioning?
Many of our customers ask us to commit to reducing our impact and rate our sustainability using score cards, as we do for quality and on-time delivery.
How do environmental goals fit within the Group’s long-term vision?
Poclain has always cared about its employees and community. It is part of our DNA. Integrating sustainability into our long-term strategy came naturally.
When it comes to our product portfolio, we have relentlessly worked on optimizing efficiency with each new product launch. The top-tier efficiency of our products has a direct impact on the emissions of our customers’ IC machines. Our electrification offering, which caters to full-electric and electro-hydraulic vehicles, goes one step further, providing emission-free transmissions.
What corporate-level initiatives or support helped the certification process at the plant level?
Ever since starting the CSR program we have involved the plants in our project, especially regarding climate change. We have trained our site energy champions on climate change and how energy is translated into carbon emissions. Our corporate team of manufacturing CSR champions also regularly review the energy and carbon emission roadmap to ensure best practices are shared between production sites.
How do you evaluate environmental performance at the Poclain group level?
Our SBTi decarbonation targets and journey were validated by STBi in 2025. We have committed to reducing our scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42 % in 2030 versus 2022. Our key KPI is therefore related to absolute yearly carbon-equivalent emissions. Every year we publish our performance. And our plants measure energy consumption versus machine time. We also track any environmental pollution incidents (gladly we have not reported any lately).
What benefits do you expect, post-certification?
Increasing the competency of employees should yield better energy management.The ISO 14001 certification provides a framework and a methodology to better comprehend the environmental impact of our manufacturing process. The indicators enable us to track and focus on the most important topics, fostering our long-term vision.
How does the certification influence relationships with customers, suppliers, and local communities?
Many of our customers expect us to be certified for all production sites. It is definitely a great step to show that we have taken action. Not all of our competitors are certified for all sites. It is definitely something to be proud of.
As the focus on sustainability continues to increase in the audits—from customers, financial and insurance partners, as well as ISO 9001—we are proud to lead rather than follow. We believe this commitment supports long-term business performance and benefits our communities.
