Weather-related disasters, air pollution and global warming have been recently increased in frequency. In order to make the planet more liveable and sustainable. This has prompted the need to adopt more eco-friendly practices such as green procurement. Companies can practise green procurement through including green code of conduct and enacting of green procurement policy within company operations. In addition, companies could also adopt green practices such as sourcing for energy-efficient product and service, producing optimal packing and improving on their recycling capabilities. It cannot be viewed as a separate sort of knowledge.
Table of Contents
Enacting Green Procurement Policy
The goal of a green procurement policy is to support the creation of a sustainable society by working with businesses that are actively preserving the environment and having the preference to purchase materials and other items that have minimal negative impact on the environment. The green procurement policy should include the rationale for the new policy as well as an outline of the goals and strategies. This includes a sustainability mission statement and an explanation of how the policies align with the company’s short and long-term sustainability goals. The green procurement policy is an important tool that ensures a company makes purchases that are environmentally and socially responsible. Some advantages of green procurement policies include resource, operational efficiency, improved employee health and safety, risk mitigation, improved company image and as a result, this could increase the profit in many aspects.
Selecting the Right Technology
Many businesses have benefited from technological advancements in their efforts to produce green products. Utilizing supply chain management tools like e-procurement, e-sourcing and others have undoubtedly decreased the mountains of paper that led to needless deforestation. These solutions have been used to aid in the establishment of procedures and give stakeholders visibility to support green procurement strategies. Technologies could provide better solution in green procurement. Adapting e-sourcing system, the companies are increasingly developing scorecards to identify and investigate suppliers who use green technologies. These processes are to benefit the environment when evaluating suppliers of any important commodity. Modern sourcing solutions include project management tools and built-in processes that guarantee proper due diligence and approvals at each stage of evaluation for each product category. E-procurement systems are the best way to guarantee appropriate information is available at the appropriate time, using e-procurement or procure-to-pay platforms. The procurement teams are responsible for making sure the catalogues are constantly updated with green ratings. Information about product components because an e-procurement process is essentially end-user-driven. The end user has the authority to request any good or service from the catalogues. If there is no such catalogue available, the suppliers should automatically suggest to the requester. For such a strategy, it is crucial to pick a reliable solution partner.
Sourcing Energy-Efficient Product and Service
A very simple way to save energy is to purchase energy-efficient goods and services. Process of acquiring products and services with improved energy efficiency levels. Goods and services may cost a little more upfront but their value over time is much higher. Energy efficiency can be used in different ways for all energy-intensive services which includes lighting, buildings, transportation. Saving money, preserving the environment and enhancing the quality of life are all benefits of efficient energy use. Energy-efficient appliances that by utilizing energy-saving equipment can reduce energy use and costs. These include appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, heaters, fans and thermostats. Water and energy resources are used up quickly by washing machines, especially when they are obsolete. To have better energy saving, washing machines should be replaced with most recent models that are both energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Energy-efficient transportation is another area that causes the emission of carbon dioxide. In result, higher usage of fossil fuels such as gas and oil. Energy-efficient transportation can reduce fuel use and safeguard the environment. Utilizing electric vehicles been recommended as best replacement. These automobiles run totally on renewable energy sources and do not use fossil fuels.
Energy-efficient building have various ways to improve a building’s energy efficiency and numerous areas of a building can be modified to raise this number. Energy efficient can be accomplished more by keeping an energy-efficient building design in mind as construction is being done. While offering the same energy services, these resources are less energy intensive. Energy savings can be achieved in buildings by focusing on energy-efficient design and thermal insulation. Energy-efficient homes are good for the environment and ultimately by decreasing in energy costs. Renewable resources are one of the best ways to use energy effectively is with solar panels. This panel are much better as more energy is produced. Solar power can be used to generate electricity for many usages. It also able to generate energy services by using wind, hydro, wave, geothermal energy. These resources are all renewable and cost-free. It also respects the environment.
Developing a Green Code of Conduct
The development of a green code of conduct can help enterprises effectively achieve green procurement.A furniture and homeware retailer has a green code of conduct for its suppliers. The atmosphere and work environment are the main themes of the Code of Conduct. The information will be verified by an external organization. If a supplier keeps breaking the rules, they may be removed from the approved supplier list after being asked to make the necessary corrections. The code contains the list of rules which should not been done by any suppliers. Processes such as waste reduction, discharge, handling, storage, disposal of hazardous chemicals, restricted chemical compounds, substances and wood sources.
Improving Recycling Ability
The continuous purchase of low-emission, low-waste goods and services. All works can lead to favourable environmental outcomes. Improving recycling capability in procurement can be done in several ways. Auditing and tracking of recycling programs are to make sure recycling targets are in line by auditing and tracking the process. In such waste collection, hauling and other phases of the recycling lifecycle able to be in place. Another area is the increased awareness of recycling and waste management in order to sort recycling and general waste. Increased public awareness of recycling are best practices for various materials, products and items that could lead to higher recycling rates. An important area is to upgrade recycling Infrastructure. This will allow companies to improve in collection of delivery trucks, recycling facilities and other aspects of the recycling infrastructure. Recycling should be better effective by contributing more.
For instance, modernizing recycling facilities might boost their capacity as well as the capacity of the current recycling system. Reusable transport packaging is typically comprised of pallets, bins, tanks, intermediate bulk containers, reusable plastic containers, hand-held containers and totes. Although growth of e-commerce, home delivery applications is creating opportunities to use of reusable packaging. For transporting goods to households, reusable transport packaging products are primarily designed for business-to-business applications.
Producing Optimal Packaging
Targeting products and services with little packaging is another simple strategy used in green procurement. Organizations should try to reduce the packaging of their products. However, a person can save pounds of packaging material by understanding that packaging should only contain the minimum quantity of material. Going forwards, teams can particularly target products that solely employ packaging materials made up of recycled materials. By doing so, the committee’s workload could increase, and green procurement methods will be encouraged.
Conclusion
If companies do not take any green procurement seriously, plastic waste will keep rising. This means that if plastic garbage is not utilized or recycle, it will turn into toxins that remain in the environment forever and build up, causing significant harm to the ocean and ecosystem. As environmental concerns grow, green procurement processes are to be recommended to public and private stakeholders. Green procurement guarantees that businesses make ethical and socially responsible in purchasing. Green procurement could be more effective and successful with the cooperation of all stakeholders.
References
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Serene Ke Quan Ling, DPSM (2020). Key Considerations for Green Procurement Practices. SIPMM Publications. Available at https://publication.sipmm.edu.sg/key-considerations-green-procurement-practices/ (Accessed: 8 September 2022).
Soto, N.S. (2021). What Is A Green Procurement Policy? Available at https://greenbusinessbureau.com/blog/what-is-a-green-procurement-policy/ (Accessed: 8 September 2022).
Sunil Gunwani, GDLSCM (2021). Best Practices for Building Sustainable Supply Chains. SIPMM Publications. Available at https://publication.sipmm.edu.sg/best-practices-building-sustainable-supply-chains/ (Accessed: 8 September 2022).
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