ISO 20400:2017
Sustainable Procurement
Procurement is a powerful means by which organizations can be a responsible global citizen. Companies striving toward more sustainable procurement practices make decisions that foster and support positive environmental, social, and economic impacts from material purchases as well as procured services.
Reworking the standard purchasing flow adds up to long-term business value by opening an organization up to:
- Creating efficiencies
- Responsible use of natural and human resources
- Reducing supply chain risk
- Improving communication and innovation among the supply chain
- Drive diversity and inclusion of minority and women owned businesses (MWOBs)
The act of sustainable purchasing must be intentional, that is, until it is built into your processes and management system where it becomes standard operating procedure.
Globally Recognized Sustainable Procurement Framework
ISO 20400:2017 Sustainable Procurement — Guidance assists organizations in meeting their sustainability responsibilities by providing an understanding of:
- What sustainable procurement is
- What the sustainability impacts and considerations are across the different aspects of procurement activity such as policy, strategy, organization, and process
- How to implement sustainable procurement in your organization
This document is applicable to any organization, public or private, regardless of its size and location and considers the context and characteristics of each organization, scaling the application of the concepts to suit the size of the organization. Utilization of this framework by larger organizations promotes adoption for small and medium-sized organizations in their supply chains.
ISO 20400 Strategically Guides Sustainable Procurement Adoption for your Entire Organization
This internationally recognized ISO document strategically addresses key areas of business from top-down needed to create, maintain, and continually improve sustainable procurement processes for your business. ISO 20400 is a framework that guides:
- The Organization: Education for the entire organization to understand the concepts of sustainable procurement. It describes the principles and core subjects of sustainable procurement and examines why organizations undertake sustainable procurement
- Top Management: How to integrate sustainability into the organization’s procurement policy at a strategic level to ensure that the intention, direction, and key sustainability priorities of the organization are achieved. It is intended to assist top management in defining a sustainable procurement policy and strategy
- Procurement Management: Organize the procurement function towards sustainability and management techniques needed to successfully implement and continually improve sustainable procurement. The organization ensures that conditions and practices are in place to assist individuals with responsibility for the procurement can integrate sustainability considerations into the process
- Buyers/Purchasers: Integrate sustainability into the procurement process for individuals who are directly responsible for procurement within their organization and those closely associated with it
Work with SRI, a Qualified, Independent Assessment Body
Be confident you’ve comprehensively implemented Sustainable Procurement across your organization and provide evidence of your commitment to sustainable development and the UN SDGs with a 3rd-party assessment.
SRI has been in business since 1991, and since its inception has been a leader is sustainability assurance and committed link in your supply chain as a UN Global Compact Signatory committed to the achievement of the UN SDGs. With decades of experience, no firm can provide a better assessment than SRI. Contact us today to get started by submitting the Request a Proposal form, emailing info@sriregistrar.com, or calling 724-934-9000.