Develop a Procurement Policy

Developing a Paper Procurement Policy

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Click here for a 5-Minute Guide to Green Paper

An environmentally responsible and sustainable paper procurement policy can be just as beneficial to your business or organization as it is to the environment. Procuring FSC certified paper will simultaneously advance corporate social responsibility efforts while protecting one of our most valuable environmental resources, our forests. Click the headings below or download as .pdf

Establish Executive Commitment and Develop an Organizing Committee
Define Benefits and Rationale
Perform a Self-Evaluation
Develop Paper Specifications and Identify Suppliers
Set Goals
Implementation and Evaluation
Communicate the Policy
Resources and Links

FSC Certified Paper

The contents of FSC certified paper are derived from legally harvested forests that are managed to sustain their biodiversity, productivity and vitality, and to prevent harm to other ecosystems and any indigenous or forest-dependent people. Using FSC certified paper will help your business or organization’s bottom line through an improved public image, strengthened credibility with customers, free publicity and public relations, value added quality and integrity of products, and improved employee recruitment, satisfaction and retention.

FSC-certified papers contain a combination of post-consumer waste/recycled fibre; FSC-certified fibre from well-managed forests; and fibre from controlled sources. Although recycled fibre is often considered the only alternative for responsible papers, it can only meet 35% of current paper consumption, and due to quality requirements not all paper can be 100% recycled. There is also no verification process for most recycled papers; you don't know whether the paper is actually made from the fibre it claims to be made from. With FSC papers you know; the recycled/post-consumer waste content is verified, and all other fibre comes from forest-friendly sources that meet the highest international standards. These standards are why FSC is the only certification system supported by environmental organizations like the World Wildlife Fund of Canada, Sierra Club of Canada and Greenpeace. FSC is your guarantee.

FSC Recycled papers contain 100% post-consumer waste/recycled fibre. For all other FSC papers (FSC Mixed Sources) a minimum of 10% of the fibre must come from FSC-certified forests. These forests are managed to protect wildlife habitat, ensure clean water, protect high value areas and respect the rights of local communities. Any remaining fibre must be controlled, meaning it can't come from:

Areas of social conflict and illegal logging;
Genetically modified trees;
High-conservation value forests; and
Large scale conversions which replace native tree species with faster growing non-native species.

Leading businesses such as Dell, Home Depot, L.L. Bean, Ikea, Kodak, Nike and Williams-Sonoma have adopted green paper procurement policies, and specifically name FSC certified paper as their paper of choice. So have governments in Alberta, New York City and the U.K. Find out who else has implemented green paper procurement policies here. Don’t be left behind – procure environmentally friendly paper and specify FSC!

How Do You Develop a Green Paper Procurement Policy?

1. Establish Executive Commitment and Develop an Organizing Committee (back to top)

It is important that commitment to change procurement and purchasing practices be initiated from senior management.
Those charged with the purchasing decisions are instrumental for evaluating and bringing about change
Include members from every level of the organization in the committee. This will help ensure goals are perceived as reasonable and attainable as well as increase program buy-in.
Companies and organizations often seek out the help of independent non-profit or non-governmental organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) or Metafore to help navigate the social, political and technical landscape and lend credibility to their environmental initiatives.

2. Define Benefits and Rationale (back to top)

The second step involves clarifying and explaining why your company or organization wants to pursue green paper procurement. This is an opportunity to evaluate how environmental and social values fit within your company’s objectives and focus.

Document why your company/organization is undertaking a green paper procurement policy
Document what you want to achieve by implementing this policy
Learn about the issues – what are the environmental performance criteria of papers?
Outline the various environmental efforts you have considered and will be supporting with this procurement policy
- What environmental issues should be considered?
  As outlined in the 5 Minute Guide to Green Paper, there are various environmental issues that can be considered in both the resource extraction for and the production of paper.
  
  An environmentally friendly paper can include any of the following characteristics:
  - FSC-certified (FSC recycled, FSC Mixed Sources, FSC 100%)
  - Contains recycled or post consumer waste
  - Endangered or ancient forest friendly
  - Derived from responsibly managed forests
  - Does not contain genetically modified tree species
  - Manufactured with minimal or without chlorine bleaching (PCF, ECF, TCF)
  - Manufactured with wind power or other alternative power sources

3. Perform a Self-Evaluation (back to top)

Completing a self-evaluation is an exercise to analyze current purchasing and consumption behaviour and will help in later stages when developing the implementation plan.

a. Purchasing
     i. Who purchases paper?
    ii. What types of paper are being purchased?
    iii. In what quantities?
    iv. At what costs?
    v. What purchasing policies exist?
          1. Are there preferential contracts?
          2. Do we receive volume discounts?
          3. Is there centralized buying?
          4. Who has the authority to change current policies?
    vi. Who are our current suppliers?
          1. Do they currently offer green paper alternatives?
          2. Would they be open to providing such alternatives?
          3. Ask them to provide the environmental specifications of the products they are currently offering.
          4. Evaluate these specifications against green paper characteristics

b. Consumption:
    i. Who are the major users?
    ii. What quantity of paper is being used?
    iii. What types of paper are being used?
    iv. For what purposes?
    v. What are the environmental specifications for these papers?
    vi. Are there any efforts in place to reduce paper use?
        If so, can they be improved? If not, what can be done to reduce paper use?
    vii. Are there any efforts in place to reuse paper? If so, can they be improved? If not, what can be done
        to reuse paper?
    viii. Are there any efforts in place to recycle paper? If so, can they be improved? If not, what can be
         done to recycle paper?

4. Develop Paper Specifications and Identify Suppliers (back to top)

In this step you must clearly specify what characteristics you will be seeking in your paper, then identify suppliers who can meet these requirements.

Discuss the key areas of environmental performance you are committed to seeking out. For example;
- Recycling and Pollution Reduction
- Responsible Forest Management and Conservation
- Reduction of Energy Use
Specify and document what characteristics are required of the various types of paper your organization consumes (e.g. copy paper should contain a minimum 30% PCW content, be chlorine free, FSC certified etc)
- Consider the various uses and purposes of the paper your company/organization consumes. Different uses may be better suited to different papers (e.g. internal paper can have a higher grade of recycled content than published documents etc)
Provide a glossary for environmental terms used in your specifications to clearly communicate your intentions (e.g. Post consumer waste is considered by this policy to be paper products used by the end consumer and then reclaimed through recycling programs).
To ensure best practices are being employed, stipulate requirements for suppliers to possess third party FSC certification in all tenders (e.g. “Tenderer shall be third party certified to FSC standards and offer FSC certified papers. Samples of each item for which the tenderer intends to quote shall be submitted in a separate envelope/cover superscribing “Technical Tenders” “)
- How can my supplier become certified? Click here
- Who are FSC certified paper suppliers? Click here
- What FSC certified papers are available? Click here
Comparison shop amongst existing and prospective suppliers to determine the degree to which they can offer products or employ practices consistent with the environmental specifications you have set out.

5. Set Goals (back to top)

Set goals using a two-pronged approach
- First set the final goals (with timelines) you wish the policy to achieve
  E.G. 100% use of environmentally preferable papers by January 1, 2008
- Second, set incremental milestones (with timelines) that work towards the ultimate goals
  E.G. Use of environmentally preferable paper for all public documents by June 1, 2006
Ensure targets are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound)
This approach allows all the stakeholders to understand it takes many small, measurable actions to achieve overall program success
These goals should be based on:
- The breadth of the change (i.e. company-wide, department-wide, regional level, national level, etc)
- Amount and purpose of current paper consumption
- Existing contracts with suppliers
- The availability of satisfactory green paper alternatives. See what FSC papers are currently available here.
In addition to purchasing environmentally friendly paper, set goals to reduce overall paper use and improve recycling.

6. Implementation and Evaluation (back to top)

Develop and document a detailed action plan based on the goals you have set out above
Establish an internal feedback and monitoring system to ensure continual improvement and adherence to the policy
Periodic review of the procurement program should be carried out to ensure that goals and objectives are being met.
- Assess what changes in consumption have been made:
  1. What products are being purchased?
  2. Do these products meet the specifications set forth in the policy?
  3. What is the level of employee knowledge and/or commitment to the policy?
- Conduct regular supply vendor reviews requiring all forest product suppliers to submit annual performance reports detailing their progress in environmental management and forest certification programs.

7. Communicate the Policy (back to top)

When communicating an initiative it is important to explain to all stakeholders how the set goals will be reached as well as why the program is being launched.

To Suppliers:
- Inform current suppliers of your new policy, why you have adopted it, and work with them to implement it.
- Encourage them to obtain FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certification and inform them as to how they can do it. See 'Chain of Custody' fact sheet for more information
To Employees:
- Communicate to employees why your company/organization has adopted this procurement policy
- Educate them as to how they fit into the process (through paper consumption, purchasing etc)
To Customers: Communicate to customers that you have adopted a green paper procurement policy in an effort to reduce the environmental impacts of your company/organization.
Make your procurement policy publicly available to further communication with employees, customers and stakeholders and to ensure transparency.