Environmentally Preferable PurchasingData obtained from the Pacific Northwest

Pollution Prevention Resources Center

How Can Environmental Procurement and Product Specifications Impact Supply Chain?

Buyers can use their purchasing power to influence suppliers and help create a more reliable market for greener products. By specifying purchasing preferences for products that have lesser environmental impacts, organizations can spur manufacturers to: use clean manufacturing processes and materials, design for the environment (DfE), consume less energy or water, minimize waste, or create less toxic products or emissions.

• Decide whether to adopt existing industry standards or to develop your own standards and criteria. A few examples of existing ecolabel product certification include Greenseal, Germany's Blue Angel, U.S. EPA's Energy Star, and certified wood per the Forest Stewardship Council

• Determine if the criteria will apply to supplier's practices and operations as well as their products.

• Decide whether criteria will apply to all products and all suppliers, e.g.,

o Will you differentiate standards for various classes of products? e.g., office supplies have different specifications than raw materials or equipment

o Will you give preference to certain products?

o Will you stop purchasing certain substances or products made using those substances?

• Will you only purchase products with low life cycle impacts?

Carefully, clearly and consistently introduce the information to

suppliers and contractors

Example: The Green Business Letter article "How Supply Chain Management Practices are Greening Procurement" says not to expect immediate acceptance from all suppliers. It "is not a matter of merely handing down an edict", and some suppliers may tell you to take your business elsewhere. "It's not that suppliers don't want to reduce the environmental impacts ... it's just that many find themselves facing a bewildering array of corporate environmental ... criteria".

Establish strong, two-way communication channels with Suppliers

Examples:

• Be accessible for interaction as needed

• Ask them for information

• Offer assistance and education

• Learn and understand their operations and capabilities

For applicable circumstances, establish an evaluation or

rating system

Examples:

Daimler Chrysler uses an environmental rating system for

their suppliers, to make their final purchasing decisions

See Supplier Evaluation and Certification Slide!

Work to establish long-term relationships and commitments with

your qualified, green suppliers

Example: According to a study conducted by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Suppliers' Perspectives on Greening the Supply Chain (2001), many suppliers have responded to requests from their corporate customers to address environmental issues in their products and practices. Several suppliers in this study "expressed frustration with customers who have issued environmental ... expectations which are not reflected in actual purchasing decisions" by their customers.

Many suppliers offer education to their customers with

environmental information on products they purchase from their

company

Example:

Volvo; provides customers with environmental information on their

products

All five (5) RU furniture manufacturer’s and our floor covering

suppliers offer extensive information on their products

Who's Doing It?Bristol-Myers Squibb, a developer of beauty, nutritional and pharmaceutical products,

educates their own procurers in environmental costs of products and materials they purchase

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a state agency, requires suppliers to provide environmental products

Hewlett Packard on procuring environmentally responsible materials from suppliers

Home Depot (& supplier Collinswood) pioneered market for certified sustainable wood products

Just a few of Nike's purchasing policy mandates include: no wood-derived materials from old growth or frontier forests, and, energy-efficient office equipment

Patagonia, an apparel manufacturer/retailer, specifies organically grown cotton from textile suppliers

The Gap, McDonalds, and Kinkos require suppliers to use certified sustainable wood

Herman Miller, a furniture manufacturer and service provider, holds conferences for employees and all suppliers on its environmental procurement policies

Daimler Chrysler, an auto manufacturer, rates suppliers and uses this rating to make purchasing decisions

Eli Lilly and Company, creates and delivers medicines. They fine tuned their purchasing specifications to eliminate lead in a raw material, which then eliminated lead content in the sludge.

Quantum Corporation worked with other electronics manufacturers to develop a database of environmentally restricted substances, which are prohibited (with a few exceptions) in supplier products

Fetzner Vineyards', a wine producer, published purchasing specifications requiring organic grapes

For Resources; See Resources Document