Today, customer demand is driving manufacturers and suppliers to become sustainable. Procurement can play a key role in driving the supply-chain towards sustainability. Green procurement refers to acquiring products, services, utilities, and work not based on criteria of price/quality only, but also with considerations of minimizing environmental impacts, of fairness and social justice, and economically viable, now and in the long term.

Read more about Successful sustainability initiatives in corporate America and Sustainability best practices among leading companies.
Examples of green procurement range from the purchase of energy-saving lightbulbs to utilizing 'green' office supplies, retrofitting buildings with solar panels or recycled materials. purchasing organic food to be served in cafeterias, replacing vehicle fleet with electric vehicles, and more. The ultimate green procurement is the avoidance of the purchase altogether.Companies that implement sustainability initiatives develop and publish a 'Sustainable Development Procurement Guidelines and Procedures' to their supply-chain.
However, there are varying shades of Going Green and some of the considerations for the supply chain may be:... read more
- • Recycled content
- • Bio-based content
- • Assessing toxic content (like Mercury in fluorescent lights)
- • Energy or water consumption
- • Products take-back and actual recycling