Environmental Purchasing
Environmental purchasing policies are an integral part of both good environmental and sustainable management. Increasingly, organisations are incorporating environmental and social responsibilities into their purchasing policies.
Purchasing policies enable organisations to weigh up options for purchasing decisions against a number of priorities. Often, similar products may have different ‘costs’ involved in their production, but currently these costs (such as transport, material input, company social responsibility) are difficult to measure. As consumers factor environmental and social impacts into their purchasing decisions, companies will respond by providing greater product information and by changing their own practices.
Environmental Purchasing decisions may consider and give preference to:
- Companies which meet a recognised certification scheme, for example ISO14001
- Locally sourced products
- Products which are made from environmentally friendly materials
- Products that are biodegradable
- Products with lower embodied energy than otherwise comparative products
- Products which are made from recycled materials and can be recycled after use
- Companies that minimise packaging.