Sustainable Purchasing

Sustainable development is integrated in Purchasing approaches in three main ways:

• "responsible purchasing actions" or the integration in family purchasing policies: through the choice of "green" products where relevant, product LCA (life-cycle analysis), TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), definition of strategic directions aimed at promoting responsible conduct by operationals and suppliers, etc;
• buyers' commitment: by integrating sustainable purchasing in all the company's purchasing standards, the development of regular awareness campaigns about the issues at stake and the provision of appropriate training courses, buyers develop awareness of sustainable purchasing and the rollout of best practices;
• relations with suppliers: through the evaluation of how and to what extent sustainable development issues are taken into account in suppliers' management systems, the deployment of audits, satisfaction surveys, the integration of contractual clauses, etc.

In order to improve the way these company objectives and actions plans are managed with regard to these issues, specific sustainable purchasing performance indicators have been implemented. The results are published in the performance section of the company's Annual and Sustainable Development Report.

The company is focuses on measuring the extent to which its suppliers take social and environmental factors into account. Purchasing has therefore rolled out a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) evaluation system for its suppliers, in cooperation with Ecovadis. The aim is to:

• measure its suppliers' CSR performance,
• cover the majority of expenditure and categories of risk purchases,
• implement action plans incorporating these audits, if necessary, and support suppliers in their improvement approaches.

To meet the expectations of its internal and external customers, the company's Purchasing Department expects its suppliers to comply with the following commitments:

• comply with the Veolia Environnement purchasing procedures,
• promote respect for ethical rules regarding labor law, the principles of diversity and equal opportunity, and the company's Health and Safety policy,
• develop an environmental management system,
• contribute to the ongoing improvement to products and services,
• maintain good commercial relations, based on transparency and information sharing.