Procurement Practices
Making responsible choices and requirements when choosing suppliers
PwC recognizes the importance of sourcing products that reflect our firm's approach to corporate responsibility. Underlying this responsibility is our Supplier Code of Business Conduct, an outline of our ethical, environmental and social expectations in the development and sale of their products.
In FY2011, we reviewed some of our procurement policies and conducted stakeholder engagement sessions within the firm to better understand these policies and gain feedback on where we can improve. As a result of the review and these sessions, we updated our Sustainable Paper Procurement and Usage Policy. We also updated our Sustainable Events Guidelines, an internal document for event planners to help them reduce the environmental impact of events and increase their social and economic benefits to the surrounding communities where the events are hosted. We’ll continue to review and update these policies over the coming year and have developed regular review schedules for each document. As well, the review of the procurement policies and stakeholder engagement sessions helped us develop our Energy and Carbon Reduction strategy.
Paper Procurement
As part of PwC's Environmental Program, we have implemented a sustainable paper procurement and usage policy that guides our paper purchases. Some highlights of the policy include:
- Sustainable forest management: PwC is committed to source paper from responsibly managed forests with a preference for paper that has been certified under credible, internationally recognized Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) certification standards.
- Efficient use of wood fibre: We will give preference to lighter weight papers and those containing post-consumer waste for office and publishing use. Paper type will vary depending on availability and the production requirements for printed materials.
- Environmentally responsible paper production, printing and distribution: PwC will give preference to paper suppliers, printers and other vendors who follow sound environmental practices.
- Reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: To reduce the levels of GHG emissions associated with the production and distribution of paper and printed material, PwC will give preference to paper manufactured using alternative and carbon-neutral energy sources and those that emit fewer GHGs during their production and distribution.
Green technology
PwC has implemented purchasing practices that incorporates energy efficiency, e-waste, hazardous materials usage, packaging, and paper-use criteria into our national procurement process for new electronic equipment. Vendors are asked to present product roadmaps with highlights of their "go green" strategies and results. For instance, we applied these practices to select new environmentally friendly laptops and printers being phased into our operations. Additionally, some of our new laptops are now shipped in multipack boxes, reducing the shipment weight and the amount of packaging material.
Supplies for our offices
PwC is working on other initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of the products and services we source. Examples include:
- Green kitchen supplies: We purchase EcoLogo certified cleaning products, 100% recycled paper towels and napkins to reduce the environmental footprint of the company’s kitchen supplies.
- Fair-trade coffee options: Our hot beverage selection to staff includes fair-trade coffee choices.
