What is sustainable procurement?

Sustainable procurement is an approach to buying products and services that takes into account the economic, environmental and social impacts of what you buy. The LSA is about supporting action on climate change and therefore this guide focuses solely on environmental impacts and particularly reducing carbon emissions in the supply chain - also referred to as green procurement. The aim is to explore how sustainability considerations complement other key business criteria such as cost, value-for-money and stakeholder preference.

Sustainable procurement means looking at the impacts of the product or service on the environment over its entire lifecycle from creation to disposal. Taking paper as an example, you would assess whether the paper is made from virgin pulp or a form of recycled product, the production process, how it is packaged, how it is delivered to you and whether you can recycle it.