Sustainable Procurement

The University of Sheffield acknowledges that the Higher Education sector has a significant impact on the environment, society and the economy when purchasing its goods and services. Sustainable Procurement is an objective in the University’s Environmental Policy which states:

“We will reduce the environmental impact of the products and services which the University buys by developing an environmentally responsible purchasing policy and by working in partnership with our key suppliers”.

The aim is to promote Sustainable Procurement as an underlying principle of governance, planning and decision making throughout the University by all staff and not just those with financial responsibilities.

The benefits of Sustainable Procurement include:

• Value for money
• Elimination of waste
• Improved energy efficiency
• Enhance the corporate image
• Compliance to legislation
• Helps to secure future supply

To help us achieve these benefits, the University has agreed the following targets;

1. Develop and implement a Sustainable Procurement policy by December 2013.
2. Identify the University’s key suppliers which have a high impact/value on environmental and social factors by December 2013.
3. Identify baselines for Sustainable Procurement and create actions against them for improvement by March 2014.
4. The Procurement team will work towards achieving Level 3 on the ‘Flexible Framework for Sustainable Procurement’ in all categories by July 2016.