Sustainable procurement - beyond the Flexible Framework?

Article written by Shaun McCarthy, Director of Action Sustainability and Chair of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012

In 2006, major businesses were invited to advise government on the best way to leverage greater sustainability from their supply chains. In an attempt to explain how organisations can respond in a simple, one page guide, the sustainable procurement task force produced a 5 by 5 matrix detailing 5 workstreams and 5 levels of attainment. They called it the Flexible Framework and it has been widely adopted by the UK public sector and many public bodies across the world.

The Flexible Framework has been a success in helping organisations to enable sustainable procurement to happen, by recommending policy issues, training, process changes, supplier engagement and measurement, the framework enables an organisation to be well positioned to procure more sustainably. The next step is to actually do it. One of the leading companies in this field, United Utilities, has used the framework to develop a strategy and action plan to transform the way they procure. Having reached this plateau, they now plan to ditch the Flexible Framework as their key performance indicator in favour of the 12 outcome based objectives that have developed to make a real difference to the environment and society over the next 6 years. By measuring tonnes of CO2 saved, waste diverted from landfill and risk mitigation related to labour standards, they can move from enabling measures to outcome based measures, tracking real improvements that matter. In my view this is exactly the right approach, ticking all the boxes on the Flexible Framework is not the end in itself, it is a means to an end.

Currently there is very little guidance available to help people to make this transition to actually doing sustainable procurement. Thankfully help is at hand and the autumn of 2010 should see the publication of two important documents. A new British Standard, BS 8903 will provide guidance to help purchasers move seamlessly from transforming their procurement practice to actually practicing good procurement that delivers real benefits to the environment and society while offering long term value. This standard is currently available for public consultation on the British Standards Institution website 

The second document is to be produced by the Construction Industry Research Association (CIRIA). This will be a more comprehensive document describing sustainable procurement for the construction industry. This will address unique issues such as the nature of projects, which are all unique in their own way and the stages of a project where different resources are procured at each stage with different sustainability impacts. This is a significant but important challenge, construction has the greatest impact on the environment of all sectors and the industry needs to continue to make step changes in performance to remain competitive on a global stage. The document is in development now and is scheduled for publication in autumn 2010.

These two documents will represent a significant milestone in the maturity of sustainable procurement and a step towards making this common practice.

To view and comment on the Draft of BS 8903, Principles and framework for procuring sustainably, click here

Your Feedback

Related News

• United Utilities recognised for sustainable procurement success
• Interested in influencing sustainable procurement in the construction?
• A new British Standard for Sustainable Procurement