Green Procurement
Green procurement allows organisations to enhance their environmental performance by procuring products and services that have superior environmental performance.
The EcoMerit Supply Chain Greening model can be applied to support a Green Procurement strategy by encouraging suppliers to improve their environmental performance in a demonstrable fashion.
The model involves a simple, effective and low-resource process which uses two basic metrics:
- The percentage of selected suppliers which hold a credible environmental certification
- The percentage of annual spend which goes to certified suppliers
The model is currently being used by a number of EcoMerit Members.
Outline of the Process
- Refine Purchasing Strategy to include suppliers environmental certification status, agree acceptable certifications (such as ISO14001, EMAS, EcoMerit) and notify all suppliers of the new purchasing strategy.
- Develop a Supply Chain Greening Plan with agreed targets
- Rank existing suppliers by annual spend and select the top slice of suppliers, such that the combined spend is a significant proportion of the total spend (at least 25%).
- Establish the environmental certification status of the suppliers in this top slice. Identify priority suppliers to be targeted, such as those in the top slice who do not have acceptable certification.
- Engage with these suppliers and encourage them to go for an agreed certification.
- Monitor and record the achievement of the targets in the Supply Chain Greening Plan.
- Regularly review the Supply Chain Greening Plan to progress performance, year-on-year.
