Environmentally responsible, sustainable or "green" procurement is the selection of products and services that minimise environmental impacts.

The University of Warwick has a long history of working with suppliers to improve services. It is keen to extend this to promote environmental improvement thoughout its supply chain.

For further information relating to sustainable procurement, take a look at the Sustainable Procurement Centre of Excellence for Higher Education website.

Recent examples of sustainable procurement practices include:

Printed Publications Best Practice Workshop

• Warwick Business School recently hosted a workshop to spread best practice regarding the environmentally responsible procurement of printed publications. The volume of printed publications procured by the University is enormous and WBS has made great strides in working with suppliers to:
  • Use greater volumes of recycled paper in the publications;
  • Investigate the potential use of vegetable-based inks in the printing of the publications; and
  • Seek alternative biodegradable coatings to finish the pubications.

Central Procurement Issues

• Appointment of University-approved travel management companies partially based on sustainability criteria.
• Rationalisation of stationery supply chain to significantly reduce delivery vehicle movements onto and around the campus.
• Assessment of environmental criteria within central tendering process.
• Consideration of green transport alternatives in vehicle procurement.

Estates Procurement

• The BREEAM Excellent target on all new builds and major redevelopments is guiding us in terms of sustainable procurement of building products.