Sustainable Procurement

APUC aims to be a leader, on behalf of its client institutions, in driving forward the sustainable procurement agenda, delivering best value for institutions whilst being committed to embedding and effecting advanced sustainable procurement. APUC shall, with the help of its client institutions' collaborative buying power, strive to bring about positive impacts on supply chain sustainability, reaching as far into its supply chain as reasonably possible. APUC is committed to working sustainably and to support the sustainable procurement duty brought into force by the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. To meet these obligations and to demonstrate APUC's commitment to achieving economic, social and environmental benefits in its procurement activity, APUC has developed policies and tools and launched a web portal to assess its supply chain. APUC encourages SMEs, third sector businesses and supported businesses to bid for contracts. More information on this can be found in the Supplier section of the website.			Quick links Strategy Tools Life Cycle Impact Assessment and Sustainability Test (Members only) A Guide Protecting Human Rights in the Supply Chain ITT Tools Supply Chain Code of Conduct CEPWG PIACC Guides CEPWG Energy PIACC Guide CEPWG Food PIACC Guide CEPWG Furniture PIACC Guide CEPWG ICT PIACC Guide CEPWG Laboratories PIACC Guide CEPWG Travel Guide Contract Management Tools EcoVadis Policies: Supply Chain Sustainability Policy Supply Chain Code of Conduct APUC Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
Strategy Tools Risks and opportunities in Ethical, Social and Environmental areas should be considered at the beginning of the tender process. APUC staff and its members can access some useful tools from the Quick Links section.	ITT Tools APUC and its member institutions embed the Supply Chain Code of Conduct in its tender processes. If applicable, suppliers are then assessed against this post-award. Consider also how to address the risks and opportunities identified at the Strategy stage - minimum standards, specification, criteria, clauses, SLA/KPIs etc.	Contract Management Tools Post contract award, suppliers can be assessed through 'Sustain'. Suppliers/Contracts should be prioritised in order for resource to focus on key areas (See 'Sustainability Test' tool earlier).

EcoVadis

As sustainability and social responsibility are key drivers for APUC and Member Institutions, we have recently partnered with EcoVadis, an independent sustainability ratings agency, to assess supply chain sustainability practices within the HE/FE Sector. Amongst other things, this includes commitment to fair and ethical trade, minimising environmental impact and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion. More information is available here

Carbon and Sustainability Category Guides

Carbon and Sustainability Category Guides are being developed in the sector to target carbon reduction and sustainability in the supply chain. These guides aim to help fully explore the possibilities as part of the strategy development, tendering and contract management stages of the procurement cycle.