sustainable procurement policy · importance of a sustainable supply chain. the concept of...
TRANSCRIPT
Sustainable Procurement PolicySupporting sustainable growth and cost base efficiency
Version 1: May 2020
Introduction from our Managing Director 1
Our Vision and Values 1
Strategic context 2
Objectives 2
Supply chain expectations 3
What is sustainable procurement? 3
Our operating environment 4
Our people 5
Our process 6
Supplier selection 8
UNDP Sustainable Development Goals - in action 9
Key sustainable procurement activities 10
Supporting the supply chain 11
Supplier payment 11
Key performance indicators 12
Identified challenges 14
Monitoring ongoing compliance with social standards 15
Contractor safety 16
Moving towards a sustainable future 17
Contents
Viridor
1
Sustainability is at the heart of our strategy and we are a responsible business; it is important to us to build trust and improve transparency and accountability.
Our vision is to “Bring resources to life”. At Viridor we are committed towards social impact and sustainability across our operations and every function, including Procurement. Driven by our values is our unwavering commitment in ensuring that we do what is right for our clients and customers, our people and our communities.
We are at the forefront of the UK resource sector, transforming waste into vital energy, high-quality recyclates and raw materials. Viridor continues to invest in essential infrastructure to meet our customers’ needs and work closely with them to deliver quality service and value for money.
Through our Sustainable Procurement Policy, we will be able to set objectives and action plans which support our strategic vision and objectives. It will help us identify areas of higher risk and influence within our supply chain and allow us to engage with suppliers more effectively. This policy will also allow us to prioritise suppliers who have embedded safe, sustainable and ethical practices within their organisation’s ethos and is also reflected in their supply chains.
At Viridor, we understand that improving our procurement performance is an ongoing process and that our suppliers are crucial in order for us to become more sustainable. We expect our suppliers to be cooperative and supportive in our drive for continuous improvement, by selecting sustainable solutions, innovative thinking and using industry-wide best practices in order to meet our objectives.
Introduction from our Managing Director
Our VisionBringing Resources to Life
Our ValuesViridor Procurement supports the process of Bringing Resources to Life by demonstrating the four core values within its processes and systems.
Trusted Collaborative Responsible Progressive
We do the right thing for our customers and
stakeholders
We forge strong relationships working
together to make a positive impact
We keep our promises to our customers, communities and
each other
We are always looking for new ways to improve
and make life better
Phil PiddingtonManaging Director
1
Sustainable Procurement Policy
2
Strategic context
This document should be viewed alongside the following documents:
• Viridor Sustainability Strategy
• Code of Conduct for Supply Chain Partners
• Social and Environmental Policy
• Sustainable Financing Framework
Viridor Procurement supports and empowers a wide range of internal stakeholders operating across our core businesses.
The diverse range of operations within Viridor provides Procurement with opportunities to conduct fair and transparent processes across all areas of the business.
Viridor Procurement recognises the importance of a sustainable supply chain. The concept of sustainability encompasses environmental, social and governance considerations which all play a key role when managing Viridor’s supply chain.
Objectives
The key objectives of this Sustainable Procurement Policy are:
1. To support Viridor’s commitment to sustainability issues throughout all business areas
2. To endorse sustainability principles throughout the supply chain
3. To monitor and demonstrate onward progression in line with defined sustainability standards and key performance indicators (KPIs)
4. To ensure sustainable procurement practices are adopted and maintained
5. To support alignment and consistency with additional CSR and sustainability related initiatives across Viridor
Sustainable Procurement Policy
2
Viridor
3
Supply chain expectations
What is Sustainable Procurement?
The UK Sustainable Procurement Task Force (Procuring the Future) define sustainable procurement as:
‘A process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole-life basis in terms of generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, whilst minimising the damage to the environment.1’
Viridor supports this definition, and in addition, further contextualises this to the core activities within Viridor’s operations and the markets and communities in which they operate.
Viridor considers environmental (‘planet’), social (‘people’) and governance (‘productivity’) principles (ESG). These ESG principles are therefore the primary focus for this Sustainable Procurement Policy.
Viridor expects all supply chain partners to:
• follow and comply to the principles and policies identified within the Code of Conduct for Supply Chain Partners
• acknowledge the principles and processes identified within this Sustainable Procurement Policy, and where appropriate, adopt similar measures in their own organisations
3(1) Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. 2011. Procuring the future. [online] Avail-able at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69417/pb11710-procuring-the-future-060607.pdf.
Sustainable Procurement Policy
4
Our operating environment
Viridor is one of the UK’s leading recycling, resource and waste management companies helping businesses and local authorities across the UK transform their waste into energy, high quality recyclates and raw materials.
Working in partnership with more than 150 local authorities and major corporate clients with 32,000 customers across the UK, Viridor has the UK’s largest network of 300+ advanced recycling, energy recovery and landfill diversion facilities with a waste collection service of 600+ vehicles.
This varied range of environmental infrastructure applications requires a diverse supply chain to support the progressive services provided to Viridor’s customers and clients.
Viridor Procurement supports this by applying category management structures and defined processes to govern the procurement of services and goods.
Sustainable Procurement Policy
4
Viridor
5
Our people
Viridor Procurement demonstrates a diverse, multi-skilled and highly experienced team in many different disciplines. This broad range of disciplines on offer compliments the wide range of procurement activities Viridor engages in.
The team’s key attributes include the following:
• Experience of both public and private sectors, procuring on both local and global levels
• Skillsets evidenced through the presence of Member of Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (MCIPS), PRINCE 2 Project Management, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK (CILT) and Association for Project Management (APM) accredited individuals
• Degrees in disciplines ranging from business administration to environmental sciences
• Members of the team have developed internally through structured apprenticeships and graduate schemes relevant to Viridor
• Research and analytical experience supports a wide range of tasks that sit outside sourcing exercises, such as spend analysis and supplier segmentation
• Project management experience supports the facilitation of competitive, fair and transparent sourcing processes
• Operational, commercial and business experience
In addition to the identified skillsets and experience listed, the breadth of experience within the team ranges from global to more localised areas. This is highly beneficial when managing an increasingly diverse and global supply chain.
All of this demonstrates that the procurement team is suitably experienced, qualified and positioned to support and meet strategic objectives across Viridor through value creation and cost savings.
Sustainable Procurement Policy
6
Our process
Viridor Procurement engages in various types of sourcing processes depending on the requirements of the business operations.
The primary aim for Viridor Procurement is to ensure a fair and transparent process which remains competitive to all involved and ensures that Viridor ultimately receives the most value adding solution.
1. Preliminary Justification
Defining the scope is a fundamental stage to any procurement process. Viridor Procurement aims to perform an external market review to better understand the sourcing opportunities available.
This stage is essential to better understand and engage with the stakeholder’s procurement requirements, supporting knowledge transfer regarding the current situation and future aims.
Following this, a high-level benefit indication is developed, which then supports an initial decision on how to progress.
2. Internal analysis
This stage supports the foundation of the procurement exercise by looking at current supplier relationships within Viridor, identifying a Cross Functional Team (CFT) of key stakeholders and defining the business requirements (the specification).
3. Market analysis
By conducting a more thorough assessment of the market, Viridor Procurement can identify whether the business requirements can be met by what the market has to offer, in terms of budget, capability and capacity to deliver.
This stage should be undertaken in consultation with the CFT to ensure the appropriate specification is adapted based on the current market situation.
Viridor
7
4. Define strategy
Following the internal and market analysis, a strategy can be formed (in the form of a procurement sourcing plan) that aims to confirm objectives, agree internal sponsorship and agree the approach to market. It is also beneficial to identify risks associated with the procurement, key considerations and key accountabilities.
The strategy is then signed off by the internal sponsor which supports stakeholder buy in and confirms the procurement intentions.
5. Tender process
The approach to tendering can vary based on the requirement, anticipated spend, risk, priority and type of process.
Preliminary Qualification Questionnaires (PQQs) are used to ensure potential suppliers meet Viridor’s selection criteria, which aims to encompass principles surrounding environmental, social and governance related subject matter.
Following this, a Request for Quotation/Proposal is issued against defined award criteria which focusses on the specific business requirements and commercial competitiveness.
Evaluation and interview processes then take place where applicable (with the CFT). Throughout the whole tender process appropriate levels of due diligence and segregation are applied which supports the final decision.
Following a benefit review (including environmental, social and governance criteria) a notice is issued to all suppliers, and pending successful contract development, the preferred supplier is then awarded the fixed term contract.
On award of the contract, internal principles are adopted to ensure the implementation and delivery of the contract are effective and reflect the obligations of both the supplier and Viridor.
Ongoing contract management supports the performance management and continuous improvement culture required.
Viridor’s procurement process, whilst structured, aims to be flexible and demonstrates adaptive management. This allows the procurement process to adapt to the continuously changing environment across Viridor operations.
Furthermore, through this adaptive management approach, Viridor can apply contextually accurate environmental, social and governance selection and award criteria to each procurement process, where applicable.
Sustainable Procurement Policy
8
Supplier selection
The process of supplier selection for sourcing opportunities will in most cases be determined by which process is followed. However, the following basic principles aim to be implemented regardless of which process is followed:
This, in addition to appropriate technical, commercial and sustainability criteria contribute to a comprehensive due diligence and supplier selection process prior to a fixed term contract being awarded.
Financial and governance health check
Capacity and capability to
meet business requirements
Appropriate accreditations
and certifications
Legislative awareness and
compliance
8
Viridor
9
UNDP Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) promotes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)� that combined are a ‘universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity’ (UNDP, 2018).
Viridor Procurement aims to incorporate specific SDGs into applicable processes and procurements to support this global initiative. Examples include:
• Gender equality (Goal 5)
• Clean water and sanitation (Goal 6)
• Affordable and clean energy (Goal 7)
• Industry, innovation and infrastructure (Goal 9)
• Sustainable cities and communities (Goal 11)
• Responsible consumption and production (Goal 12)
• Climate action (Goal 13)
By contributing to these SDGs, the procurement team is supporting a global standard within the context of the waste sector.
How can we demonstrate this?
Logistics and transport example:
Viridor Procurement is given a business requirement which results in the need to procure the services of a new logistics provider for haulage services across Viridor operations.
Amongst the supplier selection and contract award criteria certain aspects such as carbon emission reduction schemes are assessed. The supplier which demonstrates the most suitable and effective carbon emission reduction scheme (and providing the supplier’s commercial and technical proposal are competitive) is then awarded the fixed term contract.
This supports Goal 12 from a regional commerce perspective.
(1) United Nations Development Programme, 2016. Sustainable development goals. [online] Available at: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html
Sustainable Procurement Policy
10
Key sustainable procurement activities
Activity Why are we doing this? ESG Factor
Supply Chain Mapping
The Viridor supply chain has a global outreach. It is therefore essential to understand the geography of our supply chain, which supports value creation, risk mitigation and compliance with regulation and standards.
Governance
Contractor Safety Program
Contractors play a huge role in supporting Viridor operations. For example when supporting the construction of a new Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) – contractors are an essential part of Viridor’s supply chain. Ensuring contractors provide this service in a safe and responsible manner is Viridor’s top priority. Contractors are monitored closely for compliance against fundamental health and safety principles, which is key to the selection process.
SocialGovernance
Supply Chain Monitoring
Whether its monitoring for compliance against social standards or environmental standards – or just universal standards and legislation compliance, Viridor aims to do this proactively to minimise risk.
EnvironmentalSocial
Governance
Whole Lifecycle Costing (WLC)
WLC allows Viridor to consider all significant cost flows from either goods, services or works. WLC is a valuable approach to take when sustainably procuring capital assets with a long-term value yield.
EnvironmentalGovernance
Process Standardisation
Process standardisation allows for consistency and fosters measurable benefits that are comparable over time.
Governance
Portfolio AnalysisCategory segmentation supports Viridor’s overall procurement approach. A category management approach supports strategic planning for the procurement of services or goods that fall within that category.
Environmental Social
Governance
Gap AnalysisGap analysis is adopted to allow Viridor Procurement to identify areas for improvement against other examples of best practice / innovation. By performing gap analysis, this will allow Viridor to remain competitive in its respective markets.
Governance
Risk and Impact Assessments
This forms part of all key activities within the procurement process, both instinctively and overtly. Risk and impact monitoring has been embedded within the procurement culture due to the diverse and varied nature of the goods and services it procures, from an ever-increasing global supply chain.
Environmental Social
Governance
Spend AnalysisThis supports the identification of major spend categories which in turn supports portfolio analysis.
Governance
BenchmarkingBenchmarking forms a fundamental preliminary step to gap analysis. Benchmarking allows Viridor to identify other sustainability leading initiatives, and where applicable, measures our progress against them in a similar capacity.
Environmental Social
Governance
Viridor
11
Supporting the supply chain
Supplier payment
Providing support to the supply chain is an important activity that Viridor looks to maintain in the future. This link between Viridor and its supply chain facilitates value transfer on a mutual perspective.
Engagement initiatives are one way of building relationships. These can vary from individual supplier development activities, to larger events that aim to bring together more of the supply chain partners in a collaborative way.
Examples can be evidenced throughout the supply chain.
• Haulier supplier engagement - successful event held at one of Viridor’s Energy Recovery Facilities (ERFs), bringing together our haulage providers from across the Viridor business. Primary discussions focused on fleet compliance and value add solutions.
Viridor also seek to support the supply chain by providing a clear automated payment system, which in turn facilitates prompt payment in line with the agreed terms.
Viridor has adopted an automated invoice process which scans, validates and inputs the invoice data into the finance system the same day as the invoice arrives by email to facilitate payment.
The finance system requires a 3-way match (purchase order, receipt and invoice) to allow payment, once met the invoice is marked as approved for payment and included in the regular payment run to ensure payment is within the agreed payment terms.
Where possible, Viridor aims to facilitate earlier payment (providing the pre-conditions are met) to support cashflow throughout the supply chain. Viridor recognises the importance of ensuring prompt payment, if not early payment, as this promotes a more sustainable, fair and effective supply chain.
Viridor monitors the number of invoices that are processed within the agreed payment termsthroughout the supply chain. This provides Viridor with a quantitativebenchmark, which supports performance measurement periodically.
Sustainable Procurement Policy
12
KPI Examples Explanation Factor
% reduction of our supplier base
This metric supports Virdor’s efforts in ensuring and maintaining a competitive supply chain through closer more strategic relationships that add value to both Viridor and the supplier.
Governance
% of deliveries received on time in full
This metric supports our internal stakeholders and ensure they are receiving the goods, services or works at the right time and at the right place.
Social
Time taken for full procurement process
against defined spend categories
This metric supports the allocation of procurement resource in line with strategic priorities for the business.
Governance & Social
Cost savings versus annual expenditure
This metric aims to support procurement efforts in line with meeting Viridor saving targets. This will also be reviewed in line with new requirements for the organisation and value added.
Governance
Diversity and equality awareness
This metric provides an overview of diversity within the procurement team, which is underpinned by the Viridor vision for equality.
Social
Training and development opportunities within
procurement team and % of acceptance
This metric demonstrates the offer and acceptance rate of development opportunities within the team. This metric supports the skill set development of the team and the individual tailored requirements.
Social
Supply chain diversity (no. of SMEs etc.)
By understanding how Viridor’s supply chain is structured, Viridor Procurement can better understand how to apply specific supply chain management principles. Social
% of suppliers paid within 30 days after the
end of the month of receipt of a valid invoice
This metric provides an overview of the percentage of suppliers that are paid within the defined payment terms.
Governance & Social
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) examples
Viridor-focused Viridor Procurement will continue to review the effectiveness and appropriateness of KPIs. The following are indicative examples of KPI’s that Viridor Procurement considers.
Viridor
13
KPI Examples Explanation Factor
% reduction in supplier GHG emissions
These metrics provide Viridor Procurement with visibility over the levels of environmental effort present in the supply chain. Environmental
% purchase of recycled materials for production or
consumption
% volume of waste that is not recycled
% reduction in water usage
KPI Examples Explanation Factor
% of supply chain assessed in line with
code of conduct principles
This metric identifies the level of respondents against Viridor Procurement’s supply chain partner assessment – with the ultimate goal of a 100% response rate (this will be phased in line with the appropriate supplier group).
Social
Supplier-focused
Both Viridor and supplier-focused
13
Sustainable Procurement Policy
14
Identified challenges with sustainable solutions
Social supplier standards
Viridor has identified specific challenges that face the organisation and the procurement function. These are highlighted below, and where applicable processes and structures have been put in place to ensure the challenges all have a solution.
Due to the diverse supply chain that supports Viridor operations, Viridor Procurement must ensure that appropriate standards, specifically social in this case, are monitored for compliance and are followed up on an individual basis if any standards are not adhered to (demonstrated by supporting evidence).
Relevant social supplier standards (including but not limited to the following) should be addressed to ensure they are being observed in a compliant and responsible manner:
• Health and safety• Observing minimum living wages• Working hours• Allowing freedom of association• The right to collective bargaining• Addressing the risk and mitigation surrounding
the use of child labour• Living conditions• Non-discriminatory processes• Ensuring disciplinaries are fair, open and ethical• Addressing the risk and mitigation surrounding
forced labour.
A large proportion of the above are addressed in our Code of Conduct for Supply Chain Partners. However, to ensure comprehensive coverage of all applicable social supplier standards, Viridor’s procurement processes are developed to accommodate question areas that assess supplier’s compliance against these areas.
An extract from one of our supplier questionnaires:
• Does your company provide Health and Safety Training for employees at least once annually?
• Does your company assess the competence of your subcontractors with respect to health and safety matters?
• As a minimum do you provide the National Living Wage to all your employees over the age of 25 (within the United Kingdom)
• Does your company have an internal Modern Slavery strategy/policy?
• Do you carry out due diligence checks on your key and strategic suppliers?
• Does your organisation have an internal whistleblowing policy?
• Do you promote equal opportunities to all of your employees?
• Does your company have an internal social media policy?
Viridor
15
Monitoring ongoing compliance with social standards
Viridor recognises that the completion of a single assessment to monitor compliance against social supplier standards is simply a snapshot in time, and does not represent ongoing compliance.
To ensure ongoing compliance is maintained regarding social supplier standards, Viridor Procurement has developed the following process:
Supplier segmentation
Developcommunications
Define structure
Issue assessment
Prepareassessment
Collate results
Prepare hosting platform
Categorise
Follow up and repeat
1
3
5
7
9
2
4
6
8
A structured supplier list identified through performing spend and risk portfolio analysis.
From the portfolio analysis develop supplier groupings with associated spend and risk parameters.
Identify question areas for assessment, ensuring relevant stakeholder groups within Viridor are consulted.
Utilise e-procurement software to ensure assessment questionnaire is effectively and efficiently communicated to the supplier base for completion.
Develop appropriate communications to ensure the assessment is delivered under the right terms (i.e. why are we asking the suppliers to complete this).
Assessment issued via e-procurement software.
After a defined period, assessment results are collated, assessed, categorised and recorded.
The categorisation process allows the Viridor Procurement team to monitor how well the supplier base is responding to set questions (and conversely where room for improvement has been identified).
This will be repeated periodically which will (a) ensure ongoing monitoring (b) develop comparative results and (c) empower the category management approach (such as developing supplier development programmes when applicable).
Sustainable Procurement Policy
16
Finally, as this cycle is repeated periodically, Viridor Procurement will amend the process/assessment to support new learning and development.
Viridor Procurement recognise the need to ensure this process remains adaptive and flexible in order to efficiently respond to external factors (i.e. new social standard legislation).
The monitoring of ongoing compliance within the supply chain supports transparency and greater visibility.
As results are collated from periodic assessments, these are recorded and tiered based on threshold values for the scoring. Supplier results that demonstrate areas for improvement will (as required) be followed up by Viridor Procurement to support the supplier development process.
As identified during the key sustainable procurement activities, contractor safety is a priority for Viridor Procurement.
A challenge Viridor faces is ensuring a standardised and consistent approach to contractor safety is adopted, monitored and delivered. This applies specifically to contractors that work across Viridor’s corporate estate (i.e. maintenance, installations and support services).
To support this Viridor Procurement is collaborating with the Health, Safety, Security and Assurance (HSSA) team to develop a set of processes that aims to ensure contractor safety is controlled and maintained from a central point. This will be underpinned by Viridor’s Health and Safety program which promotes a culture of health and safety and provides defined processes and systems that are focused throughout Viridor.
These processes look at how Viridor Procurement can position health and safety considerations for contractors at the forefront of our selection process and indeed, afterwards, where we monitor health and safety performance using specific metrics (such as number of hours versus accidents for contractors specifically).
This ensures Viridor considers contractor safety at the beginning of the supplier relationship and throughout the service delivery timeframe, contributing to a more holistic overview.
The benefit of this approach will be that Viridor facilitates engagement with all contractors and that this approach is standardised. Specifically, the prequalification and post-performance management will be focused on, which supports the overall engagement process.
Contractor safety
Viridor
17
Moving towards a more sustainable future
This policy outlines current initiatives and activities that support sustainable procurement, in addition to forward thinking and progressive initiatives and activities. The following section demonstrates key areas of focus that Viridor Procurement (in collaboration with key stakeholders) aims to deliver and implement going forwards.
Sustainability compliance within our supply chain
Benchmarking to support best practice
To ensure sustainability principles are upheld and maintained to the appropriate levels, Viridor Procurement recognises the need to monitor the supply chain and to adopt a defined process thatis consistent, proportional and effective.
This process aims to ensure compliance is maintained by all supply chain partners. Due to the diversity of our supply chain there will be a number of methods implemented which will ensure appropriate application based on the supplier type. Viridor Procurement will identify the appropriate categorisation for each supplier.
Examples of this could be the mandatory monitoring of defined sustainability metrics (such as carbon emissions) that are positioned within contractual documentation for our key logistics providers.
Alternatively, for small enterprises that conduct business with Viridor there may be less onerous approaches to monitoring, such as therequest to provide annual reports on their recentsustainability efforts associated with environmental, social and governance principles.
This progressive method of assessing sustainability compliance throughout Viridor’s supply chain will ensure a fair and a contextually suitable application.
Benchmarking allows Viridor Procurement to identify additional value add activities that can support sustainability efforts within the procurement function, and throughout Viridor. This in turn will support sustainability activities within the sector and provide a more unified approach to best practice in general.
Whilst Viridor acknowledges its competitors, it also acknowledges that this competition has the potential to provide value adding knowledge and continues to encourage competitive growth within the sector.
This competitive growth filters down on not just a regional, but a national perspective, adding value to communities in all locations.
Benchmarking can be both internal and external, dependent on the comparison being sought after. From an internal perspective Viridor Procurement will
look at sustainability initiatives from within other departments, and if appropriate, implement similar initiatives within the procurement function. This in turn supports a more unified approachto sustainability.
From an external perspective, the benchmarking process can either be competitor or functional. Competitor benchmarking looks at organisations operating within the same sector, and the benchmarking process serves to identify best practice measures, which can then be contextually appliedto the procurement process if appropriate. Functional benchmarking identifies leading organisations (not necessarily in the same sector)that evidence successful sustainability initiatives.
Both these comparators support a more holistic benchmarking process.
Sustainable Procurement Policy
18
Procurement supporting sustainability efforts
Alignment with leading standards and principles
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Viridor Procurement maintains collaborative engagement with the Viridor Sustainability team.
Through this, Viridor Procurement will support and contribute to the Sustainability Strategy and ensure the key principles are communicated throughout the supply chain where appropriate. This will ensure Viridor’s supply chain are aware of key sustainability principles that are contextually applicable to Viridor operations.
Internal sustainability efforts within Viridor operations give Viridor Procurement the opportunity to add support and value where necessary.
Examples include our ERFs whereby because of the energy recovery process a significant quantity of incinerator bottom ash (IBA) remains. This IBA can be a valuable addition to the production process for aggregates for construction. As a result, certain suppliers within the supply chain take the IBA from our ERFs and turn this into a product for the construction industry to use.
This supports responsible disposal from Viridor’s perspective, and contributes to supplier’s production, fostering greater supply chain relationships that are underpinned by responsible sustainability practices.
Viridor Procurement recognise that alignment with leading standards and principles (of both a UK and international presence) is essential in order to adopt the most current and recognised standards and principles within the industry.
Examples include Sustainable Procurement standards or the United Nations Global Compact.
Moving forwards, Viridor Procurement, in collaboration with the appropriate department will review standards and principles such as this, and determine whether adoption or membership is suitable.
This approach will allow Viridor Procurement to review its current processes and systems on a periodic basis, whilst monitoring the development of external standards and principles to understand whether there is a suitable fit.
Addressed earlier within this policy, the process of incorporating selection and award criteria against specific SDGs will be an ongoing activity.
The initial phase will look to incorporate this process on a case by case basis to specific procurements across Viridor.
The widespread inclusion of this process will be determined by:
(a) whether or not there is a suitable fit and relevance to the procurement in question, and; (b) whether the business environment where the procurement activity is taking place supports this selection and award criteria application.
Procurement Skills Accord
The development of appropriate skill sets within Viridor’s business is essential to deliver the quality of the services being provided to all customers. The approach should be no different when looking at Viridor’s supply chain, and the presence of skills development and investment.
The Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership (EUSP) developed the Procurement Skills Accord to address the skills challenges in the sector specific supply chain. The Accord looks to highlight and engage sustainable investment in skill sets adopted within technical and operational roles via procurement practices.
Viridor will strive to meet the commitments set out by the Accord, and in doing so, filter and cascade these commitments throughout the supply chain to ensure a holistic application is applied.