Ministry of Justice: embedding environmental sustainability principles in the tendering process for frozen food

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has a commitment to procure in a more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. This case study has been prepared by Action Sustainability to illustrate the efforts made by MoJ to embed environmental sustainability principles into its tendering process for frozen food.

Background

The purpose of the project Action Sustainability embarked upon with MoJ was to deliver 'tangible and replicable results in sustainable frozen food procurement'. The decision to focus on frozen food was linked to the timescales for a tendering process which MoJ were embarking upon at the time.

The project was endorsed by the Director of Procurement at the MoJ, Vincent Godfrey. It was delivered in conjunction with the Senior Procurement Category Manager - Food & Catering, Julie Matthews and Action Sustainability's Tina Perfrement. The project was sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) through their Delivery Partnership Agreement with Action Sustainability.

The Government has set a national target to become a leader in sustainable procurement in Europe by 2009. With the MoJ's involvement in the Public Service Food Procurement Initiative, commitments to the Food Strategy Board, commitments to the Food Quality Standards and the Sustainable Frozen Food Procurement Project, MoJ is taking up the challenge and paving the way to help meet the Government's target.

Where are we now?

The Food Procurement team at MoJ plotted their sustainable procurement practices on the Flexible Framework in November 2008. The results showed varying levels of achievement in each of the five themes of the Flexible Framework. These levels ranged from 'no score' to 'embed'. Whilst the results of the Flexible Framework indicated areas for improvement they were not used to inform this project. Support with the delivery of the recommended actions from the Flexible Framework was outside the scope of this project but is listed below to demonstrate the position of MoJ at the beginning of the project.

What is the Flexible Framework?

The Flexible Framework is a national benchmarking tool funded by the DEFRA. It is designed to help both public and private organisations to understand how their supply chain compares to the good practice recommended by the Sustainable Procurement Task Force in 'Procuring the Future: a sustainable procurement national action plan'. Over 700 public and private sector organisations have self assessed their procurement practices on this national benchmarking tool.

How does it work?

Julie Matthews, Senior Procurement Category Manager - Food & Catering, was asked, in November 2008, to consider a series of statements relating to the five themes of the Flexible Framework (see Figure 1 below).

If the statements were reflective of Julie's view of current levels of sustainable procurement activity, she was asked to select the statements. If none of the statements applied then the check-box on the Flexible Framework tool was left blank. Julie was allowed to tick more than one series of statements if appropriate.

Julie's responses were then logged on the electronic Flexible Framework tool which plots an organisation's sustainable procurement activities in relation to the following scale detailed in figure 1.

This scale relates to responses in five themes :

1. People
2. Policy, strategy, communications
3. Procurement process
4. Engaging suppliers
5. Measurement & results

Flexible Framework results for the Ministry of Justice

FLEXIBLE FRAMEWORK THEME SCORE
Theme 1: People 0 = no score
Theme 2: Policy, strategy, communications 1 = Foundation level achieved
Theme 3: Procurement process 2 = Embed level achieved
Theme 4: Engaging suppliers 2 = Embed level achieved
Theme 5: Measurement & results 0 = no score

Recommended actions based on Flexible Framework results

People

• Make a formal announcement about your intent to develop a sustainable procurement policy
• Identify key people to take the policy forward and provide them with training
• Include sustainable procurement requirements in job descriptions and advertisements
• Identify and give recognition to sustainable procurement champions
• Sponsor one or two obvious sustainability initiatives coming from your team and tell people about them.

Policy, strategy, communications

• Set up a plan and working group to develop a sustainable procurement policy 
• Develop an over-arching statement of intent around sustainable procurement 
• Communicate the intent to key staff and suppliers

Procurement process

• Identify the high impact categories and sustainability issues. Apply whole life cost criteria to include sustainability. E.g. future cost of energy, disposal costs etc. 
• Develop evaluation criteria for priority sustainability issues and apply them consistently 
• Develop contract clauses to apply minimum standards for key issues. E.g. sustainable timber 
• Develop a risk management process for procurement. If you already have one, start to include sustainability/reputation risk.

Engaging suppliers

• Consult with your long term suppliers and start to engage them in the development of your policy and process 
• Communicate with your leverage suppliers to indicate your intention to set standards 
• Identify the key geographical areas in which you operate and start to communicate with local help groups. E.g. Business Link, the London Development Agency etc.

Measurements & results

• Identify the key sustainability issues for your organisation and decide how you will measure them 
• Review any current supply chain measurement processes and announce your intent to include sustainability measures.

Where do we want to be?

As part of this project, the MoJ Procurement Directorate developed a clear principle, or rule of play, for the 'Supply of frozen food'.

The principle is called eco-efficiency. Eco-efficiency is defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as reducing environmental impact through wise procurement, efficient use and responsible disposal of resources. Achieving these efficiencies will have social, environmental and economic benefits.

MoJ also developed, as part of this project, a set of targets by which eco-efficiency performance could be measured and suggested clauses which could be used throughout the procurement process.

The targets and clauses used by MoJ were created following a literature review and conversations with key stakeholders. They represent best practice in sustainable procurement, and in some cases break new ground in the supply of frozen food.

It is understood that in procuring the 'Supply of Frozen Food', MoJ is procuring both goods and the delivery of those goods. This is particularly the case for prison sites where delivery of frozen food is subject to stringent security restrictions.

Targets

To ensure it achieves the following Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) Targets, the MoJ Procurement Directorate is committed to measuring eco-efficiency performance through the 'Supply of Frozen Food' contract.

These targets were introduced in March 2007 in the UK Sustainable Procurement Action Plan and are mandatory for central government departments.

The SOGE targets are:

Why is MOJ focussing on waste, packaging and carbon?

An issues paper was produced by Action Sustainability so that MoJ was able to establish the background and justification for focusing efforts on waste, packaging and carbon emissions relating to transport. That document was a snapshot of information which could be adapted and used in the tendering process by MoJ in its 'Supply of Frozen Food' contract.

For the purposes of this case study, a summary of the information contained in 'Sustainable Frozen Food Procurement, Issues paper: waste, packaging and transport' has been provided below.

'It is understood by MoJ that in the provision of the frozen food contract to date, there are a number of key environmental impacts. These impacts are related to waste, packaging and carbon emissions from transport. Action Sustainability was able to provide an indication of the broad impacts of waste, packaging and transport emissions in the supply of frozen food. Baseline data for how these impacts relate specifically to MoJ was not gathered as it was outside the scope of this project. Providing MoJ specific baseline data for these impacts may become part of the successful contractor's responsibility within the lifetime of the 'Supply of Frozen Food' contract'.

'It is understood that, in general, the scope to take social issues into account during the procurement process is more limited than that for environmental issues because, by virtue of their nature, they are less likely to be clearly related to the subject of the contract . Frequently, there will be other, more efficient and effective, means of achieving social outcomes than through their consideration in the procurement process. However, there will be cases where social issues can legitimately be taken into account. Services contracts, for example, are much more likely to have a social aspect than supply contracts'.

With this in mind, to assist the delivery of their commitment to looking at waste and packaging, MoJ may investigate ways in which recycled material could be collected and processed in Prison workshops. This would provide a form of employment and training and could become part of the training and resettlement work being carried out in the Prison Service. International good practice examples could be used to inform this process. This would give a 'social' dimension to the environmental considerations that are being taking into account in the supply of frozen food.

The Food Industry Sustainability Strategy (FISS) says that the Food Industry can contribute to the UK's sustainability goal. This is important because the food industry accounts for:

• About 14% of energy consumption by UK businesses and 7 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year; 
• About 10% of all industrial use of the public water supply; 
• About 10% of the industrial and commercial waste stream; 
• 25% of all HGV vehicle kilometres in the UK; 
• Healthy food choices and information that will assist consumers to adopt more healthy and balanced diets; and 
• 12.5% of the UK's workforce.

The Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI), lead by DEFRA, aims to help deliver a world class sustainable farming and food sector, contributing to a better environment and healthier and more prosperous communities. Government departments adopted the PSFPI in 2003 when it was launched with the backing of the Prime Minister. In adopting the PSFPI they agreed to promote healthy food and improve the sustainability and efficiency of food procurement, catering services and supply.

Reducing adverse environmental impacts of the production and supply of food is one of the five primary objectives in the PSFPI. In particular waste and packaging are an issue in frozen food procurement.

The F3, Food UK Links and DEFRA report, 'Best Practice in sustainable public-sector food procurement' , suggests that minimising waste production and food packaging should be a priority. It says, in line with the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI), waste occurs at many levels within food procurement supply chains. It says where food is delivered highly packaged, much of this will end up in landfill. Suppliers may, in contrast, be able to make use of re-useable containers. There are also opportunities to reduce waste by avoiding disposable items and through recycling. Government and local authorities have targets for reducing the landfilling of biodegradable and recyclable municipal resources.

The European Commission's Green Public Procurement initiative states that waste generated during production, in the handling of products, in the preparation for sale and after purchase; and waste arising in the preparation and serving of meals, should also be considered. In these two last steps the excessive packaging and the use of single-use cutlery, crockery, glassware and tablecloths have the biggest impacts. Additionally, there is the waste generated after consumption. Where the waste is not selectively collected it may end up in landfills or incinerators. In this context, the focus should be on reducing the amount of packaging being used and promoting the need for secondary packaging and transport packaging are totally or partly made from recycled materials.

The issues paper produced for MoJ then goes on to explain the specific impacts of packaging and transport/logistics and recommends action to reduce these impacts over time.

How do we get there?

Specifications, award criteria & clauses
To achieve the SOGE targets outlined above, MoJ is keen to work with tenderers to prioritise packaging, waste and transport carbon emissions within the lifetime of the 'Supply of Frozen Food' contract.

The following table has been produced to assist MoJ throughout the procurement process from PQQ stage to contract management stage. This was reviewed by the MoJ Procurement Directorate and the contents were then used in the tendering process for the 'Supply of Frozen Food', a twenty one month contract.

The suppliers were asked to provide evidence that they could provide baseline data for packaging, waste and transport carbon emissions for the supply of frozen food; this will help to measure progress against the SOGE targets.

Some of the contents of the table below break new ground. Details in the table have been adapted from various examples of good practice such as the European Commission Toolkit on Green Public Procurement and the Office of Government Commerce Quick Wins list.

MOJ SUPPLY OF FROZEN FOOD SUSTAINABILITY SPECIFICATIONS

Sustainability and the environment

• The Supplier shall maintain and implement a sustainability and environmental plan (hereinafter called the "Sustainability Plan") that conforms with the Authority's ethical and environmental policies and to avoid the use of any goods or packaging materials that have been produced by means of exploiting human labour or that involve a disproportionately adverse effect on the natural environment. 
• The Sustainability Plan shall set out in detail how the Supplier will progressively reduce the adverse effect on the natural environment the performance of this Contract causes in an eco-efficient manner. Eco-efficiency is defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development as reducing environmental impact through wise procurement, efficient use and responsible disposal of resources. Achieving these efficiencies will have social, environmental and economic benefits. In particular this plan shall include but not be limited to achieving the following targets with reference to the information contained in Appendix E to this Specification: 
• Up to 60% by volume of frozen food products to be used by the Authority shall be supplied, whenever possible, in packaging that can be easily recycled. This shall result in a reduction in the amount of waste paper, cardboard and plastic being sent to landfill or incineration, and reduction of the amount of virgin fibre used in product packaging. 
• Fuel consumption in providing frozen food to the Authority shall be reduced, wherever possible, by 2%. This shall result in a reduction in CO2 emissions. 
• Suppliers shall be expected to include objectives of the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative within the Sustainability Plan. Broadly, these are: raise production and process standards, increase tenders from small and local producers, increase consumption of healthy and nutritious food, reduce adverse environmental impacts of production and supply, increase capacity of small and local suppliers to meet demand. 
• The Sustainability Plan will be formally reviewed and amended by the Authority on a regular basis and not less than once each Contract Year. The Authority shall on request, be permitted access to the Supplier to check compliance with the Sustainability Plan.

Benefits

Below is a list of benefits of this project, to MoJ, participating partners and society:

• Increased efficiency over the lifetime of the contract will lead to a reduction in costs 
• Setting specific targets for sustainability has made it clear to suppliers that MoJ knows that sustainable procurement is good procurement and that it is part of normal business practice 
• Assistance, from the supply chain, to deliver the sustainable operations on the government estate targets 
• Educating others that sustainability and cost savings aren't mutually exclusive so a more sustainable approach can lead to cost savings 
• Setting SMART targets ensures that sustainability will be managed throughout the lifetime of the contract, it's not just a contract that one can just 'let and forget'.

Lessons learned

Below is a list of the lessons learned from this project: 

• Research, well in advance, to understand where the market is going with sustainability issues in order to know that the targets being set are helping to achieve your targets and those of the suppliers 
• Recognise that a number of private sector companies will have their own sustainability plan and ways of delivering that plan. Try not to accept the standard marketing information about your suppliers sustainability performance and ask specifically for evidence they are delivering on your sustainability requirements 
• Knowing about the range of sustainability advice services and groups across government can take some time to establish 
• Educating the market about the quality and standard of goods and services we require (e.g. in the prison service) has been an issue.