ICT suppliers will soon have to meet sustainability standards if they want to sell products or services to the government and the wider public sector. If businesses don’t make the grade, they may not win government business.
The Ministry of Economic Development (MED) is devising a sustainable procurement policy, which it expects will become mandatory for central government agencies — and with the expectation it will be adopted by the wider public sector, including local councils.
The MED says it has begun consultations with its suppliers on the policy, which will apply to a public sector procurement market estimated by the OECD to be worth $14–$20 billion.
However, ministry staff are unsure what might happen to these plans and guidelines should there be a change of government. Prime Minister Helen Clark announced the Sustainable Procurement Project in February 2006 as part of a six-pack of environmental initiatives.
The project comes as the Ministry of the Environment is also developing new regulations on waste disposal, which will affect all organisations. The government has already agreed standards and targets in other industry sectors, such as paper, and work is “well underway” with ICT, whiteware and building categories, Andy Woodwark, senior analyst in the government’s procurement development group says.
Wooodwark says it is essential to develop standards and guidelines that are relevant and achievable. This includes using standards such as Energy Star and RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directives, which are also being adopted globally.
He accepts it is sometimes unhelpful to provide hard and fast rules about the weighting of sustainability factors but offerings must still remain “fit for purpose” and offer value for money, he says.
Government would also be aware of suppliers making “greenwash” claims for their products and advises vendors to keep alert of such claims from their own suppliers. It would expect the use of third-party verification and the use of international standards such as ISO:14000 or recognised eco-labels to verify sustainability claims.
Source: computerworld.co.nz