There are five key sustainable purchasing guidelines that lead to a successful program. It is important to mandate sustainable purchasing criteria, shifting focus from low-cost to value for money purchasing, including sustainability criteria in vendor contracts, striving for continual improvement, and tracking, measuring, and reporting progress. Implementing these sustainable purchasing practices can lead to increased adoption, improved outcomes, market competitiveness, and a cultural shift towards sustainability.

The first guideline is: Make Sustainable Purchasing Criteria or Guidelines Mandatory. 

Only about 62% of national governments have developed criteria or guidelines for at least one prioritized product/service category. Only 31% have mandatory applications of these criteria or guidelines. Voluntary only goes so far. My colleagues at ASU and I have seen this across our research, involving all types of organizations. Mandating sustainable purchasing increases adoption and leads to more consistent adoption. It sends a strong signal to procurers and can shift markets, mitigate risks, and change your organization’s culture in a way that improves successful sustainable purchasing outcomes.

The second guideline is a change in what you prioritize during procurement - Shift from ‘low-cost purchasing’ to ‘value for money purchasing’. 

Rather than just focusing on product price, ‘value for money purchasing’ includes social and environmental costs and criteria, which provides a more accurate assessment of the true cost of goods and services, while spurring market competitiveness from more sustainable vendors.

Third: Include sustainability criteria in vendor contracts. 

Sustainable product options often are limited and they can be difficult to find. While vendors typically have access to vital information about the environmental impact of their products, purchasing organizations generally do not have access to it. They have to ask. Organizations with successful sustainable purchasing policies require purchasing employees to incorporate sustainability criteria in vendors’ contracts. Almost two-thirds of organizations with very successful policies include sustainability criteria in contracts, whereas only 13% of cities with very unsuccessful policies do so. Sustainability criteria might include minimum product standards for recycled content or carbon emissions.

Fourth: Continual improvement. 

Developing a sustainable purchasing policy is not a “one and done.”

64% of organizations with very successful sustainable purchasing policies continually improve it over time. Plan to revisit your policy and update it every 1 to 3 years.

Last, but not least: Track, measure, and report progress. 

It’s no surprise that organizations that measure and track their spending related to sustainable purchasing report having higher success with their sustainable purchasing policies. Measuring policy progress and its financial benefits can help build momentum and support to justify more extensive implementation of sustainable purchasing policies. Tracking spending on sustainable purchasing also helps organizations identify opportunities for continual improvement and qualify for external sustainability awards and grants. Reporting the organization’s progress towards achieving its goals increases internal momentum and reinforces internal messages about the importance of sustainable purchasing. All these factors help shift an organization’s culture towards advancing sustainability.