5 ways procurement can lead on government sustainability

A seat at the table.” “No longer a back-office function.” “Purchasing is tactical, procurement is strategic.”

You can’t spend a day diving into the world of public sector procurement without running headlong into this sentiment. Conference keynotes, webinars, certification curricula and more have been dedicated to advancing the premise that procurement is at its best when it takes a leading role in government decision making.

Similarly, it also doesn’t take long spending time in public procurement spaces to recognize that this aspiration is easier said than done.

But a renewed focus and emphasis on sustainability efforts (and the availability of additional funding to meet sustainability goals) has opened a door. No government department or function is more suited to serve as a strategic leader on sustainability than procurement.

The what and why of sustainability
When we are talking about contemporary sustainability efforts, the language from 1969’s National Environmental Policy Act still provides a broad and succinct description of the goal: “To create and maintain conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.”

Today’s urgency on sustainability is a result of that ideal harmony between humans and nature falling into discord. We are seeing the impacts of man-made climate change daily with record heat across the globe, glacial melt, extreme weather events and more. Returning to that harmonic equilibrium between human and nature has become an all-hands-on-deck effort. And there are many ways that procurement teams can take the lead on sustainability efforts, big and small.

Sustainability effort measurement
For governments just starting to build out sustainability efforts, a critical first step is to begin measuring and assessing impact. In an interview with Senior Executive, REI’s senior manager of sustainability identified four core focus areas for measurement:

• Energy consumption: How much energy is being used, how much of that energy is from renewable sources?
  • Water usage: How much water is being used, and how much of that is produced from sustainable sources? How much wastewater is being produced?
  • Waste generation: How much trash is being created? What does our recycling program look like?
  • Carbon: What is our carbon footprint? Are we offsetting our emissions?

Now, your procurement team should not be responsible for the assessment and measurement of these categories. That said, if you have a sustainability program or a colleague responsible for sustainability efforts, they will be able to give you insights into your performance in these areas. This person should be an active partner as you introduce plans to have an impact via procurement efforts going forward.

Similarly, making sure the procurement team is familiar with these focus areas and to which procurement projects they might apply is critical when taking a leadership role.

Five ways procurement can take the lead
1. Introduce sustainability questions into RFPs and RFIs
Procurement leaders can empower their teams starting during the intake process to introduce the idea of sustainability questions (if not requirements) into new RFPs and RFIs. Buyers should be encouraged to have a dialogue with departmental end-users to determine areas of the project where sustainability best practices can apply.

Will new buildings meet certain green standards? What kind of packaging will goods be delivered in? Does your fleet use EVs or Alternative Fuel Vehicles? This PDF from Practice Greenhealth has several examples of sustainability focused questions to consider just for the procurement of office supplies alone.

Incorporating sustainability questions and requirements serves a double purpose. First, it lets you find and award vendors who are prioritizing sustainable practices. This is even more important if your contract can be piggybacked on, as you will be sharing the sustainability benefits beyond the bounds of your agency.

Second, it sends a message to suppliers. Highlighting sustainability in RFPs and RFIs makes it clear: “Sustainable best practices are important to government buyers. If you want to work with government, you need to invest in this.”

2. Leverage supplier insight tools
Today’s buyer has more information on supplier behavior and performance at their fingertips than ever before. Make sure that buyers at your agency are accessing this data and incorporating it into their processes.

Companies like Procurated provide insights on suppliers that go beyond references. Buyers can find information on suppliers regarding their sustainability efforts and credentials. With more than 58,000 reviews of suppliers exclusively from government and higher ed purchasers, Procurated can be a great way to see what colleagues have said about supplier performance, including against sustainability goals.

Similarly, look to organizations like CDP—a nonprofit where companies can disclose details of their environmental impact—or companies like EcoVadis, a provider of sustainability rankings for additional data and insight when making purchasing decisions.

3. Prioritize sustainability during QBRs and at renewal
Whether you are telling them about new institutional sustainability policies or goals, or simply opening a dialogue about sustainability efforts, QBRs and renewal periods are a great time to check in with your existing suppliers and gauge sustainability efforts. Take time to discover what they may be doing for other clients to meet new sustainability standards. Enlist them as allies and partners in exploring more sustainable methods with you.

Maybe they are thinking about using EVs for delivery or using ecofriendly packaging. You can only know by starting the discussion and getting them involved as a partner in building a more sustainable future.

4. Become the (sustainability) hunter
Successful procurement teams walk along the strands of the intricate web of government, getting involved with most major projects and interacting with every department. This gives procurement a uniquely holistic view of governmental behavior.

Without being the sustainability police—leave this to the aforementioned sustainability team—empower procurement practitioners to keep their eyes open for areas of improvement. Is the highway department starting to experiment with EVs, but other departments don’t know about it? Make a connection! Is one department still using a paper process instead of an available digital tool that can reduce paper waste? Help them change!

Procurement is in such a unique spot to help find efficiencies and small sustainability gains that will quickly add up.

5. Run a sustainability “hackathon”
In tech companies, a “hackathon” is essentially an event where coders and engineers step away from their everyday work to come up with and collaborate on exciting projects that may not otherwise be prioritized or supported. A hackathon generally ends with a presentation of the project—often with a working prototype. Companies like Facebook have taken hackathon projects and made them into core features of their product offering.

Sustainability efforts in government can take a page out of the private sector’s book and leverage the deep knowledge of public employees to make change. Procurement—again in conjunction with sustainability teams—may be in a great position to run a “sustainability hackathon.”

Set up time for the event, open the doors to all colleagues and see what amazing projects they can come up with to boost government sustainability. Procurement can be on hand to assess projects after the fact for cost viability, impact and more. You never know where we might find the next great idea really moves the needle on government sustainability efforts.

The time for change is now
As a society, we face an unprecedented sustainability challenge. But by focusing on sustainability efforts, trying new things, pushing the envelope, and then sharing our successes, we can start to make a difference. Government procurement—stewards of massive spending power—are uniquely positioned to make sustainability a strategic priority and to deliver world changing outcomes.

Steve Isaac is the director of marketing for Procurated, helping government procurement professionals to leverage the power of peer insights in their procurement processes. He has spent a decade working with tech startups across the fields of procurement, spatial data science, and nonprofit fundraising and communications. Isaac lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., with his wife, Lorna, and his daughter, Quinn.