Sustainable Procurement Guide 2 | Sustainable Procurement Guide Report prepared
Sustainable Procurement Guide 2 | Sustainable Procurement Guide Report prepared by ECO-Buy Limited Level 4, 460 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 www.ecobuy.org.au © Commonwealth of Australia 2013 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Public Affairs, GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 or email public.affairs@environment.gov.au 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures 5 List of tables 5 PART 1: KEY CONCEPTS 6 Introduction 6 What is sustainable procurement? 6 Principles for procuring sustainably 8 Key concepts in sustainable procurement 9 Benefits of sustainable procurement 12 Policy context for the Australian Government 13 National Waste Policy 13 Australian Government financial management framework 14 Options for including sustainability in procurement decisions 15 Agency policies 16 Sustainability issues in purchasing decisions 17 Additional reference and guidance material 18 PART 2: GUIDE TO SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT 19 Including sustainability in procurement 20 Getting started 20 Putting it into practice 21 Checklist 29 Additional reference and guidance material 30 Including sustainability in value-for-money assessment 31 Getting started 31 Putting it into practice 33 Additional reference and guidance material 38 4 | Sustainable Procurement Guide Greenwash 39 How does greenwash affect procurement? 39 How do I avoid being greenwashed? 43 What are ecolabels? 43 Additional reference and guidance material 44 Assessing supplier sustainability performance 45 Why should my supplier’s sustainability performance be assessed? 45 Getting started 46 Putting it into practice 46 Going further 47 Additional reference and guidance material 55 Sustainable procurement resources 56 Case study – Department of Defence: Sustainable procurement of ICT 60 Additional reference and guidance material 62 Contact 63 5 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Examples of key considerations in sustainable procurement decisions 7 Figure 2: The basic considerations when undertaking whole-of-life costing 11 Figure 3: Australian Government financial management framework relating to procurement 14 Figure 4: Sustainable procurement at each stage of the procurement process 20 Figure 5: Relationship of waste minimisation with the procurement hierarchy 21 Figure 6: Example of product life-cycle impacts and risks (hot water system) 23 Figure 7: Illustration of typical whole-of-life costing elements over time 32 Figure 8: Costs associated with the purchase of two different hot water systems 34 Figure 9: Assessment spreadsheet layout sample 35 Figure 10: Examples of ecolabels. 43 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Comprehensive list of items for consideration in a whole-of-life costing model 36 Table 2: Example of a whole-of-life costing assessment (hot water system) 37 Table 3: How to recognise and avoid greenwash 40 Table 4: Sample supplier questionnaire 51 6 | Sustainable Procurement Guide PART 1: KEY CONCEPTS Introduction Sustainable procurement decisions consider the environmental and social impacts (both positive and negative) from products and services alongside the cost. Considering the environmental and social impacts from procurement aligns with Australian Government obligations to spend public money efficiently, effectively, economically and ethically. As a large procurer (the Australian Government spent over $32 billion in 2010–11 1 on contracted goods and services), the Australian Government can have a leading role as a model purchaser to encourage good practices by its suppliers by using its purchasing power to achieve environmental and social benefits and, at the same time, reduce its costs. Part 1 of this document will build an understanding of the concept of sustainable procurement, the general principles underpinning it and options for including sustainability in procurement decisions. It describes the benefits sustainable procurement could have for government agencies, suppliers and other sectors of the community. Part 1: • defines sustainable procurement • explains some of the key concepts used in sustainable procurement • explains the benefits of undertaking sustainable procurement • describes the policy context for applying sustainable procurement in Australian Government agencies • provides some options and issues to consider when including sustainability in procurement • provides links to further resources. What is sustainable procurement? Sustainable procurement as a broad concept first emerged following the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. During the 1990s, environmental procurement policies started appearing at the European and international levels and some grew into sustainable procurement policies. Many governments, both overseas and domestic, have now implemented policies promoting sustainable procurement principles. 1 Department of Finance and Deregulation 2012, Statistics on Australian Government Procurement Contracts www.finance.gov.au/publications/statistics-on-commonwealth-purchasing-contracts/index.html 7 Sustainable procurement aims to reduce the adverse environmental, social and economic impacts of purchased products and services throughout their life. Examples of environmental, social and economic impacts are: • inputs of natural resources, energy and water in the manufacture, use and disposal of goods • pollution produced from the manufacture, use and disposal of goods • costs of operation and maintenance over the life of the goods • labour conditions in the manufacture, use and disposal of goods or delivery of services • loss of flora and fauna resulting from the removal or alteration of natural resources. Sustainable procurement looks beyond the up-front cost to make purchasing decisions based on the entire life cycle of the goods and services, taking into account associated costs, environmental and social risks and benefits, and broader social and environmental implications. Sustainable procurement considers: Environmental impacts E.g. inputs of natural resources, energy and water in the manufacture, use and disposal of goods E.g. labour conditions in the manufacture, use and disposal of goods or delivery of services E.g. costs of operation and maintenance over the life of the goods Social impacts Economic impacts Figure 1: Examples of key considerations in sustainable procurement decisions 8 | Sustainable Procurement Guide In 2005, the UK Government set up a Sustainable Procurement Task Force which developed a definition for sustainable procurement. This definition is now used by the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC), the UN and the UK Government: Principles for procuring sustainably Value for money is the core principle underpinning Australian Government procurement. This means that all relevant financial and non-financial costs and benefits should be taken into account over the entire life of the procurement. Sustainability should be considered as part of the value for money assessment. Other principles of sustainable procurement include: • adopting strategies to avoid unnecessary consumption and manage demand • minimising environmental impacts over the life of the goods and services by choosing products or services that have lower adverse impacts associated with any stage in their production, use or disposal • fostering innovation in sustainable products and services through the design and implementation of procurements • ensuring that fair and ethical sourcing practices are applied and that suppliers are complying with socially responsible practices, including legislative obligations to employees. A process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment. (APCC 2007, Australian and New Zealand Government Framework for Sustainable Procurement) Some ‘quick wins’ in sustainable procurement • Purchase paper with at least 50 per cent recycled content and progressively move to a higher content. • Check that cleaning contracts align with waste reduction goals. • Transition to more environmentally friendly vehicles. (Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) 2012, Public Sector Environmental Management Better Practice Guide, p. 149) 9 Key concepts in sustainable procurement A number of concepts and approaches assist with incorporating sustainability considerations into procurement decisions. Value for money: Achieving value for money is a core rule of Australian Government procurement. It should be noted that the price of a good or service is not the sole determining factor in assessing value for money. Comparing the relevant financial and non-financial costs and benefits of alternative solutions will inform the value for money assessment. The Commonwealth Procurement Rules (paragraphs 4.1 to 4.5, pages 14 and 15) describe value for money further. Sustainable development: This is commonly defined as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.2 Wellbeing: This reflects the combination of economic prosperity, community liveability and environmental integrity. Sustainability: This depends on maintaining or enhancing the wellbeing of society over time, and therefore requires that the total economic, social and natural capital is maintained or improved for future generations. Environmental management: This refers to strategic arrangements to reduce the environmental impacts of an organisation’s operations. One example of this is an environmental management system, which brings together all the environment-related elements of an entity into an overarching management strategy through planning, implementing and reviewing efforts to reduce environmental impacts.3 Another aspect of environmental management is environmental reporting, which measures whether environmental activities have effectively managed the impacts. For example, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 requires entities to report uploads/Management/ sustainable-procurement-guide.pdf
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- Publié le Sep 16, 2022
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