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SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT
STRATEGY
Produced by the Corporate Procurement Unit, North Ayrshire Council
Approved by:
Version 3.0: October 2012
INTRODUCTION
This Sustainable Procurement Policy has been prepared to support the Scottish
Government’s Procurement Action Plan for Scotland, which contains 10 steps for public
bodies to embed sustainability in the buying of goods and services. This document sets
out the aims of North Ayrshire Council on Sustainable Procurement and provides guidance
on how to consider sustainable issues when procuring goods and services.
North Ayrshire Council spends around £140 million per year on a wide range of goods,
works and services. All goods and services procured from stationery to waste
management services have a significant impact on both the local and wider environment.
It is the Council’s policy, as stated within the Environmental Policy – A Local Agenda for
the 21st Century, to implement appropriate controls and policies to reduce any
environmental damage by fostering an environmentally friendly purchasing strategy for
goods and services.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)
Corporate Social Responsibility in public procurement is essentially about how, as part of
overall value for money and affordability considerations, contracting authorities take
account of the economic, social, environmental and equality impacts of their purchasing
activity, maximising the positive outcomes and minimising the negative.
North Ayrshire Council has a responsibility to consider when procuring all goods, services
and works. This includes, but not limited to, recycling targets, environmental
considerations, transport, packaging and ethical issues.
WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT?
Sustainable Procurement can be defined as
“a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities
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”.
Sustainable Procurement should consider whether or not products are actually needed,
what they are made of, where they come from, who has made them, how they are
transported and how they are eventually disposed of.
Sustainable Procurement is about:
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Getting lasting value for money;
Avoiding or reducing environmental damage;
Delivering social and economic benefits locally.
Sustainable procurement should consider the environmental, social and economic
consequences when procuring goods and services taking into account the 7Rs:
Re-think
Ensure goods or services are really required?
Reduce
Ensure waste is reduced. This could include paper, transport costs, energy
costs and much more.
Re-use
Ensure second hand equipment is considered rather than purchasing new
items?
Recycle
Ensure procured goods are made from recycled materials where possible.
Also, when the working life of the goods is complete, can these be recycled
i.e. toner cartridges, computer equipment?
Repair
Ensure options of repairing or refurbishing goods are considered?
Return
Ensure goods or packaging can be returned for recycling or reuse.
Renewable Ensure procured goods are purchased from sustainable resources managed
to FSC or equivalent accreditation or consider if renewable energy be used?
COUNCIL POLICY
It is North Ayrshire Council’s Environmental policy to demonstrate sound environmental
management in the acquisition of goods and services so as to ensure that such
acquisitions have the minimum impact on our environment.
The Council has demonstrated its commitment to sustainable development via the
following
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
The Council’s energy management team provides the supervision of energy and water
services. This includes the management of electricity and gas contracts for non-domestic
properties, provision of energy efficiency consultation, surveys and advice, management of
energy efficiency projects to reduce consumption throughout the Council and management
of the domestic energy efficiency programme.
In June 2011 North Ayrshire Council launched its Energy Target newsletter, part of the
Council’s Energy Target energy awareness campaign which was officially launched on 25
March 2011. The Energy Target energy awareness campaign aims to increase energy
efficiency and staff awareness while ultimately reducing carbon emissions.
North Ayrshire Council is committed to reducing its “….impact on climate change from our
daily activities by reducing our carbon emissions in order to contribute towards the creation
of a cleaner, greener, safer community”.
CARBON MANAGEMENT PLAN
“Building a Better North Ayrshire” Council Plan identified the need for a Carbon
Management Plan.
By developing a Carbon Management Plan, the following benefits will be achieved:
Improved understanding of how the Council’s activities impact on carbon emissions;
Improved management, and subsequent reduction of, the Councils carbon emissions.
Improved energy efficiency throughout the Councils operated buildings.
Reduced operating costs, mitigating against rising fuel and utility costs;
Consideration of the impact of waste management practices on carbon emissions;
A contribution to the Council’s sustainable development strategy, helping to make the
local environment cleaner, greener and more attractive.
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Since 2005 the Council has annually exceeded its targets for the reduction of carbon
emissions by an average of 2.6%.
With targets set for carbon reductions of 80% by 2050 from a 1990 baseline set by
Scotland’s Climate Change Declaration, as well as North Ayrshire Council reduction
targets of 29.6% over the period of 2005-15.
North Ayrshire Schools have obtained the Carbon Saver Gold Standard, for their efforts in
reducing their carbon emissions over the last 3 years.
The Carbon Saver Standard is a robust independent standard, which ultimately supports
North Ayrshire Councils strategy to reduce Energy and Carbon consumption.
WHOLE LIFE COSTS
When procuring any goods, services or works, whole life costing is a major factor to take
into account to achieve best value for money. Whole life costing must be considered
within all Procurement exercises and the following should be considered:
Acquisition Costs
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Initial purchase price;
Any transport costs associated in the delivery;
Any installation costs if applicable
Operating Costs
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Repair and maintenance costs throughout the entire lifecycle;
Energy used in the running of the goods;
Training costs, if applicable;
Licence fees;
Direct and indirect costs;
Administration costs;
Cost of consumables (for example, if the purchase relates to a printer, the costs of
toner cartridges will also need to be taken into consideration).
Disposal Costs
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Uplift and disposal costs of old equipment;
Refuse collection costs;
Disposal of hazardous waste.
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
North Ayrshire Council will ensure that all effort will be made to reduce the environmental
impact through tendering opportunities, procuring of any goods and services or works and
utilities, drawing up specifications, placing orders, paying invoices etc,
North Ayrshire Council will take into account the 7 Rs as described previously as well as
the following:
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Consolidate deliveries to reduce transport pollution;
When tendering, ensure that any suppliers who tender provide a sustainability
policy and include sustainability issues as part of the tender evaluation process;
Do not allow the use of products or processes which are potentially damaging to the
environment where a less environmentally damaging alternative is available;
Use of the Corporate electronic purchase to pay system;
Promote a level of environmental awareness amongst the Council;
Where possible, when legislation allows, purchase products and services from local
suppliers and work closely with the Council’s Economic Development Team to
source local suppliers;
GUIDANCE ON THE PURCHASE AND USE OF SPECIFIC PRODUCTS
PAPER
Where possible minimise the use of all types of paper
Using recycled paper in preference to virgin paper and recycling waste paper reduces
negative environmental effects and will save energy, reduce pollution, reduce the need to
cut down trees, help protect natural habitats and reduce the amount of waste produced
which will in turn help to reduce what goes into landfill.
The growing demand for paper has serious environmental implications. It takes 16 trees
to make enough wood pulp to produce 1 tonne of paper.
In order to reduce the amount of paper consumed every attempt should be made to
minimise usage of paper.
If the use of paper cannot be reduced then recycled paper should be used where the
quality and application of the finished goods allow.
The following guidelines should always be applied:
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Use electronic communication where applicable;
Use electronic diary where appropriate;
Only print if absolutely necessary;
Print double-sided where applicable;
Cancel any communications you receive or no longer need;
Circulate just one copy of a document around a department.
Any unwanted paper should be re-used or recycled
STATIONERY
The contracted supplier must provide any ‘green’ information on items, which have been
manufactured using environmentally friendly processes or materials.
Stationery suppliers should be encouraged to provide all their products and prices on their
website or on an electronic price list rather than producing paper catalogues.
The Council should also consider implementing reduced delivery days from daily or 2 or 3
times a week.
ELECTRICAL GOODS
To maximise the use of energy efficiency all electrical goods must be specified with the
most up to date energy ratings.
When purchasing any electrical goods, computers, domestic white goods, photocopiers
etc, The Waste Electrical Equipment Regulations 2006 (WEEE) must be taken into
account. If an item is being replaced, it is the legal responsibility of the supplier to arrange
for the uplift and appropriate disposal of the old equipment.
MOTOR VEHICLES AND POWERED MACHINERY
The running of vehicles is the biggest single source of pollution in the world and is the
main global environmental threat. In addition there is also other powered machinery, such
as grass cutting equipment and plant.
Whether they are being leased, hired or bought outright, those procuring the vehicles must
ensure the most environmentally efficient ones are obtained. Departments should
consider fuel efficiency, not just for running costs, but also taking into account the
environmental gains of a more fuel-efficient vehicle.
It is generally considered that vehicles running on diesel are the least environmentally
damaging, due to the fact that diesel is more fuel efficient. Diesel engines do not produce
the concoction of poisonous gases that petrol engines emit.
All staff should be encouraged to use alternative modes of transport where possible.
Information on the benefits of walking, cycling, car sharing and using public transport are
available on the Council website.
TIMBER AND WOOD PRODUCTS
The UK government’s procurement policy on timber and timber products was announced
in July 2000. All central government departments have to comply with the UK government
timber procurement policy. Currently the policy requires that they actively seek to
purchase legal and sustainable or FLEGT licensed or equivalent timber and wood derived
products, including paper, furniture and construction timber.
North Ayrshire Council will encourage the purchase of any timber or timber materials and
products from suppliers who can provide evidence of using managed forestry to the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) or equivalent accreditation.
The UK government strongly encourages local authorities to choose sustainable timber. It
provides support through its Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET).
North Ayrshire Council has received a bronze pledge award from World Wildlife Fund
(WWF) for attending a training workshop on the steps needed to implement a sustainable
timber procurement policy. The Council is now working towards achieving silver and gold
pledge awards in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
CHEMICALS
All chemicals purchased must comply with current COSHH regulations and should not
contain any environmentally harmful substances such as Chlorine or Chlorofluorocarbons
(CFC’s). Products manufactured using CFC’s must be avoided unless absolutely
necessary and where no alternatives exist.
Urea Formaldehyde foam must be avoided on health and safety grounds.
SUMMARY
North Ayrshire Council is committed to working towards Sustainable Procurement and our
aim is to manage the environmental impact, prevent pollution and continuously improve
our performance in regards to any environmental issues.
When procuring goods and services, all effort should be made to obtain best value for
money whilst complying with the various legislation including EU, UK and Scottish. In
addition, challenges should be made as to whether or not the goods are required, both for
economic and environmental reasons.
Finally, North Ayrshire Council will make every effort to minimise reliance on nonrenewable resources, promote and facilitate the 7 Rs. Suppliers should demonstrate a
willingness to work with the Council to reduce waste, pollution and introduce recycling
initiatives.