Purchasing and Negotiation Training

Robert Menard, Certified Purchasing Professional, Certified Professional Purchasing Consultant

Editor’s note:  This is Part V in a series of eight that will explore Sustainability and green purchasing’s leadership role.  Part I explains how Sustainability is driven by the cost savings of green purchasing, Part II deals with the heart of Sustainability, energy and fuels, Part III with the 3Rs of Reduce/Reuse/ Recycle and  Part IV with construction and facilities in green purchasing.

In concert with the American Purchasing Society, I am developing a green procurement course that will have far more extensive material available in online, print, and CD media.  We will update quarterly so companies can build on successes.  We will offer discounts to those who sign up early so send me an email at RobertMenard@RobertMenard.com stating your interest and I’ll respond with particulars. 

Chemical/Environmental management is another area in which the touch points for purchasing can be many or few, scattered or continuous.  Because of this broad spectrum, we will concentrate on those areas in which purchasing is most likely to be involved such as Polices and Procedures of a program and awareness of the pushback so as not to micro-manage the program. 

Purchasing’s supply chain position means that it is involved in the Chemical/Environmental management program.  The data contained in material safety data sheets (MSDS) from suppliers is the starting point for creation of Policies and Procedures.  Techniques for calculating Green House Gas (GHG) or “carbon footprint” as well as conversion to dollars, numbers, and Sustainability gains are available in the up coming online course on Green Procurement. 

Policies

These bullet points are steps to writing a Chemical/Environmental supplier management policy. 

Suppliers shall:

• Proceed cautiously in all issues affecting the environment
• Detect as early as possible, identify, and evaluate potential environmental risks
• Take appropriate measures to mitigate those risks or eliminate them when possible
• Continuously develop and improve a Chemical/Environmental management system to minimize their impact on the environment
• Reduce energy and water consumption as well as the use of non-renewable natural resources

 These bullet points are steps the minimum of a supplier Chemical/Environmental Sustainability program management policy. 

Procedures

Click here for online or CD/print media versions of "Green Purchasing" course

 

• Hazardous materials (hazmat) that present a danger to the environment shall be identified, labeled and managed to ensure safe handling, movement, storage, recycling or reuse, and disposal
• Emergency procedures shall be written and implemented should accidents occur that could present an environmental danger
• GHG emissions, in particular CO₂, must should be identified, monitored, reduced, and treated as required prior to discharge
• Waste of all types must be identified and reduced, reused, or recycled whether by process improvements, materials substitution and resources conservation initiatives
• Emissions of noise, dust, odor, particles and any others local pollution shall be minimized
• Suppliers are encouraged to design products with a minimal environmental impact throughout their lifecycle, taking into account the Life Cycle impacts from the conception, production, transportation, usage, and disposal 

Because the nature of Chemical/Environmental management is so controversial, purchasing pros must take into consideration the great and growing pushback by business and the public against what can be considered as extremism.  In February of this year, Conoco Phillips, BP America, and Caterpillar quit the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of more than two dozen giant energy companies and environmental groups.  Within days, the state of Texas announced a suit against the EPA’s GHG ruling, citing “tainted data” and warning that Texas’ economy could suffer as a result.  

At the heart of the issue is the authority of EPA to regulate GHG in automobile emissions.  Texas argues that the EPA’s decision to declare CO₂ and other GHG public health threats can’t be defended legally or scientifically.  Texas further cited the reliance by federal regulators on research by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Climatic Research Unit at Great Britain’s East Anglia University.  This research has largely been exposed as fraudulent and manipulated. 

The moral this story for the purchasing pro is that little of the Sustainability movement related to Chemical/Environmental management is settled science or politics.  Rather, a green purchasing program must pursue more proven, less contentious matters to make green purchasing gains in the Chemical/Environmental arena.