Establish Sustainable Procurement in Support of Sustainable Business Practice
Overview
This standard is about establishing procurement processes that support more sustainable business practice. It ensures that the needs of an organisational supply chain are optimised within the overall social, economic and environmental limits of sustainable business practice.
The role described by this standard covers the establishment of procurement processes that take account of organisational sustainability targets and the drivers that influence sustainability within the supply chain as a whole.
The standard requires the interpretation of organisational sustainability targets to determine procurement needs. It also requires the identification of opportunities for improving sustainability via procurement. With opportunities identified, the standard then requires that new procurement processes and procedures are developed and implemented. The ability to work with suppliers is an important part of the standard, as is having knowledge of the wider issues that impact on sustainability within the industry sector.
Having an understanding of the wider issues that impact on sustainability within the industry/sector will help ensure the effective delivery of the required performance.
This standard would be appropriate for:
Those responsible for establishing and maintaining a procurement process to control the supply of products and services for an organisation. It is likely to apply to senior managers within large organisations and owner or managers within SMEs.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
P1 interpret organisational sustainability targets to confirm future procurement needs
P2 identify the sustainability drivers for the industry and/or sector
P3 identify opportunities where procurement can help achieve organisational sustainability targets
P4 integrate identified opportunities for improved sustainability into procurement processes and procedures
P5 consult with suppliers over opportunities for more sustainable procurement
P6 assess and rank opportunities according to likely risks and benefits
P7 develop sustainable procurement specification to meet the needs of organisational sustainability targets
P8 specify the metrics to be used to measure sustainability of procurement against organisational sustainability targets
P9 verify the ability of suppliers to deliver according to sustainable procurement specification
P10 develop a risk register and contingency plan to support implementation of sustainable procurement specification
P11 establish systems to monitor supplier performance against organisational sustainability targets
P12 gain approval and support for sustainable procurement criteria from decision makers
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
K1 the legislation, industry standards, circular economy and voluntary codes that support sustainable procurement
K2 how procurement can support the economic, social and environmental principles of sustainability and sustainable business practice
K3 how to use the principles of sustainability to promote and drive improved procurement in support of more sustainable business practice
K4 the sustainability drivers faced by the organisation and the industry sector within which the organisation operates
K5 how organisational sustainability can be improved via procurement
K6 organisational supply chain and procurement requirements
K7 the resources being procured by the organisation and the sustainability
issues associated with these resources
K8 recent raw material, product and service sustainability innovations occurring within the sector industry
K9 how sustainability issues are driving change in the industry sector
K10 procurement processes, procedures and criteria
K11 how sustainability targets influence procurement criteria
K12 the role of procurement in supporting innovation
K13 metrics and their role in sustainable procurement
K14 how to define and apply supplier approval criteria
K15 the processes used to monitor supplier performance
K16 how to assess and rank risk in support of procurement
K17 the role of risk registers and contingency planning in procurement
18 how to determine the sustainable credentials of supplies
K19 how to define and apply supplier approval criteria
K20 the processes used to verify supplier sustainability capability
Scope/range
Sustainability targets that cover:
1 economics
2 social and ethical issues
3 environmental issues
4 customer product or service requirements
Sustainability drivers include:
1 economic
2 social and ethical
3 environmental
4 resource availability
5 customer and stakeholder perception
6 customer product or service requirements
Risks including those:
1 internal to the organisation
2 external to the organisation
Procurement specification describing:
1 procurement processes
2 procurement procedures
3 product/service criteria