Corporate Procurement

Sustainability

Green procurement

We are committed to a programme of environmental sustainability which will affect the procurement function in every area of the organisation.

Every reasonable procurement effort must be made to ensure future generations are enabled to live in a culture which is sustainable and causes minimal environmental impact.

Every person responsible for expenditure must be aware of the full effect of their purchase in environmental terms and must be able to justify their actions environmentally.

Policy

Our current procurement policy, with regard to environmental issues, is to:

Strive to adopt the highest environmental standards in all areas of our operation
As a minimum, comply with government and European Union environmental and health and safety requirements
Minimise the use by the council and its suppliers of materials, supplies and energy by cutting down on waste and repairing or reusing existing products

In order to meet the challenging recycling targets that we have been set by National Government, we as a council, have to significantly increase our current recycling rate.

This can only be achieved in a sustainable manner by stimulating genuine commercial demand for recycled products, therefore buying recycled goods. Recycled goods can range from pencils and books, through to building materials and office furniture.

Within this Council, as a buyer, you must buy and use renewable or recyclable materials and components wherever possible.

You should buy and use products that can be used with greater energy efficiency and all products bought should cause minimal environmental damage in their production, distribution, use and disposal, along with requirements for value for money and quality.

We have banned the use of certain specified environmentally damaging products. These include:

Chemicals on either the European Union 'Black List' or UK 'Red List'
Timber not certified as coming from a sustainable source (e.g. Forest Stewardship Council timber products)
Ozone depleting chemicals, including all CFC's and Halon
Peat for soil amelioration purposes

Practical steps

In your procurement role, it is important to act responsibly with regard to environmental issues. The following points provide some guidance when considering how to ensure this policy is implemented:

You should always include environmental considerations in assessment of suppliers and their products and services, including such consideration in every contract document
You should encourage the use of suppliers striving to improve their environmental impact. This may be demonstrated by holding ISO14001 (BS7750)
You should ensure where possible that you purchase products bearing the European Union environmental certification labelling

We are committed to ensure that areas which must be considered and recorded have already been outlined previously, but it is important that buyers fully appreciate that they must be able to show how they have compared their purchase options in such as:

Whole life

How long will these products last compared with other prices obtained?
How was this measured?
Is there a residual value or cost of disposal?
How do they vary across products offered?

Packaging

How are the various products packaged?
Are there ways you can influence such packaging in your terms of purchase?
Can inner and outer boxes be reduced to outer cases only?
Can shrink wrap be removed without damage to the product?
Can recycled packing be used?

Delivery

Will 1 delivery be made or several?
Will the delivery be scheduled with others to reduce mileage or are you requiring special delivery facilities?
Does the supplier use low sulphur fuels or similar?
Is the supplier or product manufacturer local?
Are raw materials imported or can alternative local materials be used?

Chemical use

How has the manufacturer reduced chemical waste or harmful disposal?
Can alternative chemicals be used
What is the disposal requirement for different chemicals offered?
Will there be longer or shorter waste effects on the environment following final disposal?
Is there a higher risk in use or storage of the product over others offered?

There can be significant cost savings in taking an environmentally aware approach to purchasing. Green products are often more energy efficient and cost less in the long term. If you take the full life cycle cost it is often better to pay slightly more initially to secure the long term financial benefits.

There is a rapidly growing market for greener products and, as a large consumer, we can play a leading role in the market for greener products and benefit from reduced prices.

Buying green also means buying less. There are a number of ways of reducing consumption of new products. You could repair or reuse existing equipment (e.g. office furniture) specify more durable and reusable items (e.g. rechargeable batteries, long life light bulbs) or change working practices to reduce the need for goods.

It is important that all products perform satisfactorily. Quality remains a key consideration in the purchase and specification of products.

All products cause environmental damage, but some less than others, the best way to assess a product is through a life cycle analysis of its impact on the environment i.e. at the production, distribution, consumption and disposal stages.

Green, but fair!

It is perfectly legal to include environmental conditions in a contract to provide a service to us so long as they meet these conditions:

They apply equally to all potential contractors
They are not anti competitive, that is, they do not make it unreasonably difficult for outside contractors to bid for contracts
They do not specify brand products (they should refer to generic product types or ingredients)
They do not refer to 'non commercial' matters. These concern issues such as the country of origin of the contractor and their political affiliations

The inclusion of strict environmental requirements in a contract should not disadvantage in-house providers who have a history of working with us and a commitment to the environment.

Can the council impose environmental conditions on their suppliers?

It is perfectly legal to include environmental considerations in the specification of the goods and products we want from suppliers. The same conditions as for selecting contractors apply
We can specify and purchase products to exacting environmental standards so long as we obtain value for money and the quality of the products is satisfactory
We can ask suppliers what steps they are taking to reduce the environmental impact of their products and indicate the sort of goods we would like to buy in the future. This will encourage suppliers to develop their own environmental policies

Procurement of services

When considering procurement of services you need to take on board all the points made above. Part of the tender process would probably include an evaluation of the Company's environmental policy, and also their methodology for improving the environmental impact of the products they use.

However, it may also be appropriate, where the service could potentially have a major effect on environmental issues, to include a range of performance targets for improvement within the contract.

Green Office Guide

The Green Office Guide is a reference tool for employees detailing how to improve environmental practices in the workplace. It has 5 topic areas which can be tackled all at once or individually - whatever works best within the workplace.