United Utilities (UU) is a UK PLC based in North West England, providing operational services related to water and electricity utilities throughout the UK and around the world. The business is diversifying into solid waste management and has been successful in tendering for waste PFI contracts from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in the UK and overseas. UU match funded Defra's contribution to embed sustainable procurement across the company. With the UU funded portion, the company developed definitions of its 12 sustainability objectives (9 environmental, 3 social) and a 6 year target framework against each of the 12 impacts. These impacts were prioritised against all categories in UUs supply chain. All 90+ procurement staff have received training on general sustainable procurement principles, 1:1 category surgeries to help implement sustainability into their category plans. Measures are under development to understand the results related to each of the 12 sustainability impacts. The specific area of concentration for the Defra programme was to explore implementation through subsequent tiers of the supply chain. The capital programme was selected because 50% of the company's expenditure was made through 2 major contractors. These contractors were trained and informed of UU's prioritised requirements and invited to prioritise their own supply chains. A workshop with equipment suppliers in one of the prioritised categories was arranged and a similar prioritisation exercise was carried out. A working group has been established comprising UU procurement staff, specifiers, first tier contractors and second tier suppliers to address key impacts such as energy consumption in pumping systems. Benefits to UU include:
Benefits to suppliers and society include:
UU will continue to develop their supply chain strategy using the Flexible Framework as a guide. Key objectives for the next 12 months will include implementing measures against the 12 sustainability impacts, replicating the process to drill down the supply chain for other categories within the capital programme and beyond. To access the full UU case study, please click here.