Procurement professionals must be increasingly aware of the importance and benefits of sustainable procurement. Procurement is identified as sustainable when environmentally conscious decisions are made throughout the entire procurement process. This takes into account the environmental, social, and economic consequences of design, material use, processes, transportation and logistics, disposal, and so on.
Benefits of Sustainable Procurement
There are many benefits to an organization for pursuing sustainable business practices. Below are some that pertain specifically to procurement, both internally and for the supplier base:
Purchasing decisions, including supplier selection, can have an impact on reputation and brand image based on perceptions of stakeholders and/or customers on how companies are behaving. For this reason, it is important that procurement find and source from responsible suppliers who hold the same kind of ethical and sustainability standards as the buying organization.