Sustainability appears to be a topical issue for many organisations, with many opinions and angles to address. There are many varying definitions, each reflecting the values and needs of a particular organisation, person or society.
A recent CIPS Knowledge Summary took the opportunity to develop sustainable procurement in its business context and detail its application in the purchasing and supply management environment. Sustainable procurement appears to be an important issue to CIPS, being placed at the heart of their CIPS corporate strategy for 2007- 2010, reflecting the growing contribution effective sustainable procurement can make to organisations. For a copy of the report email research@depoel.co.uk
The UK Government's 2005 Sustainable Development Strategy set out the ambitious goal to make the UK a leader in the EU in sustainable procurement by 2009. The strategy recognised that this was important in moving towards a more sustainable economy, firstly because the scale of the public sector spend on goods, services, works and utilities 13% of GDP is capable of stimulating the market for more sustainable goods and services.
Secondly, because only with government leadership can the consumption patterns of business and consumers be shifted onto a more sustainable path. Acknowledging that simply continuing with current efforts would leave the UK short of that goal, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury established a business led Task Force under the chairmanship of Sir Neville Simms to devise a National Action Plan to deliver the UK objective.
The Task Force's membership was drawn from business - both major suppliers to government and representatives of best private sector practice; non-governmental organisations; trade unions; professional bodies; major public sector procurers and the
Sustainable Development Commission.
Its remit was to focus on the social, economic and environmental dimensions of public procurement. It analysed evidence, drew on experience and best practice elsewhere and commissioned research to show how the UK could become a leader in sustainable procurement. It concluded that for the UK to reach this goal, a systematic effort to mainstream sustainable procurement was required. The Task Force concluded there would be significant benefits from doing this: better stewardship of taxpayers' money; environmental and social benefits; public sector support for innovation and encouragement for more environment-friendly technologies. Risk could be better managed; concerns about upfront costs would be mitigated through less waste and there would be better information about purchasing patterns and improved supplier relationships and management. All these elements of sustainable procurement are, at the same time, simply examples of good procurement practice.
Many organisations are recognising the importance of managing their supply chains in a more responsible way. The word 'procurement' is now frequently preceded by 'sustainable' 'green', or 'responsible'. However it is widely acknowledged that the procurement profession is struggling to develop the skills to meet the sustainable procurement agenda. Pockets of good practice in this field do exist, and organisations are getting better at producing sustainable procurement policies, and strategies, yet there is a significant lack of relevant knowledge, skills and leadership in the procurement profession which impedes the implementation and embedding of sustainable procurement.
In order to address this challenge, BS 8903: Principles and Framework for Procuring Sustainability is currently being developed which intends to help organisations and individuals consider and implement sustainable practices within their procurement processes, and management of their supply chains.
Sustainable procurement means only purchasing goods that are really needed, and buying items or services whose production, use and disposal both minimize negative impacts and encourage positive outcomes for the environment and society. Sustainable procurement is basically good procurement achieving the optimum balance of economic, social and environmental impacts to ensure an organisation can operate both efficiently and responsibly.
It is hoped that the development of BS 8903 will:
BS 8903 aims to build on the success of the sustainable event standard, BS 8901. This standard was finalised in 2008 and has demonstrated how the publication of a standard can drive the sustainability agenda, stimulating organisations to address their sustainability impacts as a mechanism to deliver competitive advantage.
BS 8903 will be going out to public consultation in March 2010.
Business in the Community (BITC) is a unique independent business led charity whose purpose is to inspire, engage, support and challenge companies to continually improve the impact they have on society.
With a current membership of over 750 companies, including 71 of the FTSE 100, together Business in the Community members employ 12.4 million people in over 200 countries worldwide, including one in five of the UK private sector workforce.
Business in the Community is a unique independent business led charity whose purpose is to inspire, engage, support and challenge companies to continually improve the impact they have on society. With a current membership of over 750 companies, including 71 of the FTSE 100, together Business in the Community members employ 12.4 million people in over 200 countries worldwide, including one in five of the UK private sector workforce.
Established in 1828, Bureau Veritas is a professional services company. Bureau Veritas provides clients with all the necessary support required to achieve, maintain and demonstrate compliance with their environment, health & safety, quality, and social accountability obligations. Employing 25,000 people in 150 countries, Bureau Veritas supports clients in a wide variety of sectors such as transport, marine, oil & gas, construction, property, finance and retail.
For the past 15 years, Business in the Environment, the environmental campaign of Business in the Community, has worked with companies to inspire, challenge and support them in understanding, managing and improving the impact that their operations have on the environment. Over this time they have engaged with many businesses to help them further measure and manage their environmental performance.
"de Poel's custom made cost reduction solutions have enabled Sainsbury's to achieve cost savings of over £2.5m on our contingent workforce throughout the Supply Chain and Store Development areas of the business."
