» Imperial College London's Sustainable Procurement Transformation
Explore how Action Sustainability empowered Imperial College London to embed sustainability in procurement, paving the way for Sustainable Procurement integration best practice in the Higher Education sector.​
Imperial College London sought sustainable procurement support to help their Procurement and Sustainability teams deliver the sustainability section of their sustainability strategy.
A significant challenge was Imperial’s wide range of suppliers and decentralised purchasing across departments and laboratories, in addition to major central and consortium purchasing.
Imperial needed assistance to engage both internal and external stakeholders effectively, aiming to fully embed sustainability into its procurement processes and influence its supply chain. They specifically aimed to strengthen their approach to sustainable procurement and reduce their Scope 3 carbon footprint from purchasing.
Action Sustainability undertook several key actions to address Imperial’s needs:​
“Working with Action Sustainability, we have developed a new sustainable procurement strategy and guidance for all those involved in procurement across the organisation. These new documents were published in spring 2024, marking a significant step forward in our commitment to sustainability.
With the support of Action Sustainability, we have worked on refining the sustainability-related questions in our tendering processes. This ensures our procurement activities are aligned with our sustainability goals, and we are consistently considering environmental and social factors in our decision making.
With the support of the consultancy Action Sustainability and the publication of the new sustainable procurement policy, strategy and guidance, real progress has been made in embedding sustainability into our procurement practices. As a result, we are on course for meeting our 2024, 2025 and 2026 targets.”
The project outcomes include a procurement process that is better aligned with Imperial’s sustainability strategy. Imperial received guidance documents to help embed sustainability, especially low carbon considerations, into various spend categories. The initiative also fostered improved cross-department communication and collaboration.
The benefits are substantial. These include early supply chain engagement on their carbon targets, enabling Imperial to capture supply chain commitments to sustainability within the procurement process and post-contract award. The project will also lead to the segregation of spend into influenceable and non-influenceable categories, encouraging faculties and departments to be more judicious in their spending. These changes are designed to deliver tangible impact and contribute to the reduction of Scope 3 emissions, aligning with Imperial’s sustainability goals.
Action Sustainability are recognised leaders in sustainability delivery and sustainable procurement.
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