We have agreed a common language of sustainability to help our buyers and suppliers understand our priorities. With nine environmental and three social priorities involved, we have set targets lasting until April 2015 and agreed which aspects of the supply chain we will influence.
Climate change priorities:
- Waste to landfill - avoiding and reducing
- Energy - the energy efficiency of products and designs
- C02 - reducing our supply chain's carbon footprint
- Materials - reducing consumption, avoiding 'sensitive' materials and using higher recycled content products
- Water - efficient use of water, particularly in areas of water-stress
- Air emissions - reducing emissions hazardous to health
- Hazardous substances - finding / using less hazardous products
- Biodiversity - protecting natural habitats and species
- Emissions to water - reducing pollution incidents
Social priorities:
- Fair treatment - how suppliers treat their employees and subcontractors, paying suppliers within agreed terms on time and providing chances for small to medium enterprises to bid for work
- Labour standards - ensuring legality, protecting human rights and raising working conditions in our supply chain
- Employment - generating new employment in our operating regions to protect local communities and businesses
In particular, we have a strong focus on the economic well-being of our supply chain and a useful measure is the percentage of payments made in accordance with agreed terms. We have been reporting and improving our supplier payment performance for over five years.
This improvement is due to an increased focus on compliance to contracts and an awareness and education programme with our key suppliers and among our own people. In addition, our supply chain website helps suppliers to get paid on time and understand how to win new business.
We value products and services from suppliers that meet our 12 focus areas – our website is the route for suppliers to make contact with our supply chain teams.