Sustainable procurement balances economic, environmental and social considerations in the procurement process. Sustainable procurement can minimise the environmental impact of public sector organisations, as well as benefitting society, the natural environment and reducing overall operating cost of business.
Sustainable procurement achieves the Government’s commitment to spend public money efficiently, economically and ethically by considering issues such as:
Environmental management
- Pollution control, waste minimisation, recycling and disposal options
- Energy efficiency and resource consumption
- Adopting environmental technologies and biodiversity
Ethical procurement
- Planning laws and asset design use and maintenance, including heritage and culture
- Manufacturing and production effectiveness
Socio/economic benefits
- Social procurement and social investment
- Skills development, workplace and supply chain diversity
- Employee rights and conditions, unfair competition and ethical behaviour
Undertaking sustainable procurement will require agencies to integrate sustainability principles, planning and implementation into their procurement practice.
A section on sustainable procurement within the the NSW Procurement Policy Framework (July 2015) (PDF,695KB) gives agencies overarching guidance when applying sustainable procurement strategies.
Sustainable procurement memorandums, circulars and guidelines |
|
|---|---|
|
Code of Practice for Procurement, 18 January 2005 (PDF,108KB) |
Environmental Management System Guidelines (3rd edition, August 2013 (updated 30 May 2014) (DOCX,78KB) |
|
Motor vehicles - Incorporation of petrol/electric hybrid motor vehicles into the government fleet (C2003-32), Use of biofuels (M2012-08) |
|
|
The Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) National Green Leasing Policy |
Examples of sustainable procurement
The North West rail link - It has a clear vision around sustainable infrastructure delivery.
Liverpool City Council - It has a vision for the environment.