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Green Procurement


How is your department planning to meet the objectives of the Policy on Green Procurement?
The objective of the Policy on Green Procurement is to advance the protection of the environment and support sustainable development by integrating environmental performance considerations into the procurement decision-making process.
For goods that are centrally purchased in Industry Canada, such as stocked inventory for stores, mandatory standing offers for office supplies are used in which many of the products are recycled. Continuous effort is being made to purchase green products and/or utilize recycled product programs.

The Computer Media Group is a supplier that the Industry Canada’s National Capital Region (NCR) uses on a regular basis. Industry Canada ships the supplier on average 3,500 cartridges per year. Each cartridge is sent back to the appropriate manufacturer to be cleaned and refilled as recycled toner, or recycled for its usable parts, or at the very least, is melted down to become recycled plastic.

For the purchase of executive vehicles, contracts and Materiel Management (CMM) influences the decision-making and highly encourages the purchase of alternative-fuelled vehicles. For example, Industry Canada currently has 4 executive vehicles, 3 of which are hybrid and one is an E-85 powered flex-fuel vehicle.

At Industry Canada, procurement activity is decentralized, presenting challenges in managing the kinds of products that are purchased. However, in order to have procurement delegation, staff members must follow a two-day mandatory contracting course which includes the Green Procurement Policy.

To date, Industry Canada does not have a method in place for tracking and reporting on green procurement activity. However, the following data was obtained directly from the paper suppliers in February 2008.

Since implementation of the Green Procurement Policy on April 1, 2006, the total value of paper purchased up to December 31, 2007 was $582,025.30, with the majority being purchased from NCR. Approximately 90% was recycled with a minimum of 30% post-consumer waste.

The breakdown of paper purchased in 2006–2007 across the department was as follows:

Location Total Expenditure ($000) % Recycled Third–Party Certification
Atlantic
Quebec
Pacific
Prairie
47.8 68% Environmental Choice Certification
Ontario 21.2 10% Environmental Choice Certification
NCR 513.1 100% Forest Stewardship Council Certified (responsible forestry) Environment Canada # 1C60022 issued November 18, 2003
Total 582.1  
 
Has your department established green procurement targets?
■   In Progress
Describe the green procurement targets that have been set by your department and indicate the associated benefits anticipated.
Precise green procurement targets have not been set by our department. Industry Canada is currently is working with the Integrated Financial and Materiel System to develop a method to track green procurement within IFMS in order to produce reports.

Using the same methodology for paper, CMM will solicit paper suppliers to determine the percentage of recycled paper purchased by Industry Canada. Continuous efforts to influence clients in the Regions to buy green will be achieved through CMM staying in touch with the regional finance and administration contacts.

The anticipated benefit is to have a positive impact on our environment.