PRESS RELEASE: 2016 Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Award Winners Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Cuchulain Kelly, 202-607-2600 x202, cuchulain@sustainablepurchasing.org

2016 LEADERSHIP AWARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING

Twelve Organizations Recognized by Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council

See photos of the Award Winners and the Awards Ceremony.

WASHINGTON DC – On Wednesday, May 25^th, the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) recognized twelve organizations and one individual for their leadership in the sustainable purchasing movement, a growing trend in which organizations are using their purchasing power to advance the long term health and vitality of society, economies, and the planet.

The award winners employed a wide range of sustainable purchasing strategies and documented the resulting environmental, social, and/or economic benefits. The awards and awardees include:

Leadership Award for Overall Sustainable Purchasing Program:
The District of Columbia 

SPLC’s highest honor was presented to The District of Columbia for having put in place a comprehensive sustainable purchasing program that exemplifies the qualities defined in SPLC’s Principles for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing. DC conducted extensive market research and stakeholder engagement to develop sustainable purchasing guidance and specifications for more than 100 priority products. Hundreds of employees have been trained on the guidance, which DC shares publicly. More about this case study.

Leadership Award for a Special Sustainable Purchasing Initiative:
Commonwealth of Massachusetts & the Responsible Purchasing Network

Presented to The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Responsible Purchasing Network for leading the establishment of a cooperative contract through which agencies in multiple states can now buy independently certified green cleaning products at favorable pricing and with specialized training and outreach. More about this case study.

Market Transformation Leadership Award:
Together for Sustainability & EcoVadis

Presented to Together for Sustainability and EcoVadis for harmonizing supplier sustainability assessment and audit procedures across sixteen chemical companies, which dramatically simplified and focused sustainability efforts within the chemicals market. More about this case study.

Individual Leadership Award:
Dana Arnold

Presented to Dana Arnold, who currently serves as the Director of the Program Analysis Division at the U.S. General Services Administration. Over 20+ years and in roles at three agencies (US Environmental Protection Agency, White House Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, and now the US General Services Administration), Arnold’s vision, leadership, and dedicated effort have been fundamental to the growth of the sustainable purchasing movement in the federal government and beyond. Her accomplishments include drafting several related Executive Orders, Chairing the White House CEQ Sustainable Acquisition and Materials Management Working Group, and developing US EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines Program.

Sustainable Purchasing Business Case Leadership Award:
Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Presented to Commonwealth of Massachusetts for documenting over $28 million in annual savings and 190,000 metric tons of carbon emissions reduced as a result of its comprehensive Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program. More about this case study.

Leadership Award for Public Interest Advocacy:
International Campaign for Responsible Technology and the GoodElectronics Network, and
Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance

Two NGO collaborations were recognized this year with the Public Interest Advocacy Award:

• Presented jointly to International Campaign for Responsible Technology and the GoodElectronics Network for organizing the “The Challenge to the Global Electronics Industry”, which has been endorsed by more than 200 organizations and individuals in 40 countries. The Challenge calls on the global electronics industry to respect human rights, workers’ rights, and community rights, including the right to a safe and healthy workplace, and to healthy communities and a safe environment. More about this case study.
• Presented to the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance for bringing together a coalition of businesses purchasing minerals and metals, mining companies, NGOs, affected communities, and trade unions in order to promote a world where the mining industry respects the human rights and aspirations of neighboring communities, provides safe, healthy and supportive workplaces, minimizes harm to the environment, and leaves positive legacies. Through the many years of collaboration, IRMA has developed the Standard for Responsible Mining, which is currently being piloted. More about this case study.

Leadership Award for Purchasing Innovation:
King County, and
Philips Corporation

Two organizations were recognized for leveraging sustainability to find and promote innovation.

• Presented to King County (Seattle, WA) for purchasing battery-electric busses for its Metro Transit fleet and documenting significant cost savings and environmental benefits associated with this new technology. More about this case study.
• Presented to Philips Corporation for innovative procurements that have enabled the company to achieve carbon neutrality in its North American operations while saving money. The Philips’ Procurement and Sustainability groups have collaborated on energy efficiency, onsite renewables, renewable energy certificates, and long-term Power Purchase Agreements for wind power. More about this case study.

Leadership Award for Supplier Engagement: 
Lockheed Martin

Presented to Lockheed Martin for joining and helping to grow five existing, collaborative supplier engagement programs, enabling broader marketplace transformation than would be achievable with in-house initiatives. Through these programs Lockheed pursued leadership on a broad spectrum of issues, including supplier diversity and environmental performance. For example, via the SupplierPay Initiative, Lockheed reduced its average time-to-pay small suppliers to 14.8 days, which has a direct positive impact on the viability of these small businesses. More about this case study.

Supplier Leadership Award:
Waste Management

Presented to Waste Management for its work to enable the PGA’s Phoenix Open – a weeklong event with more than half a million attendees – to achieve zero-waste. Waste Management’s careful planning and thorough collaboration with the PGA and event vendors ensured all event materials were recyclable, reusable, or compostable, and that they were collected for diversion. More about this case study.

The Leadership Award winners were selected by a prestigious jury from government, the private sector, and civil society:

• Akiva Fishman, Senior Program Officer, Forest, WWF
• Betsy Hayes, Chief Procurement Officer, State of Minnesota
• Bjorn Claeson, Director, Electronics Watch
• George Schutter, Chief Procurement Officer, District of Columbia*
• Jim Butler, Chief Procurement Officer, State of California*
• Justin Troy, Sourcing Manager, FedEx Corporation
• Lynne Olson, Corporate Scientist, Global Sustainability, EcoLab
• Matt Swibel, Director, Corporate Sustainability, Lockheed Martin*
• Tim Hopper, Responsible Sourcing Manager, Microsoft
• Yolanda Miller, Deputy Purchasing Officer, City of Austin

During the Awards Ceremony, the Council also honored several organizations with Outstanding Case Study Awards. These awards recognize organizations for documenting their sustainable purchasing efforts in detailed case studies enable others to follow their lead. Winning case studies are published in SPLC’s Case Study Library. (See list full list of Outstanding Case Study Award winners below.)

SPLC’s Leadership Awards recognize organizations that have demonstrated or actively supported the kind of leadership envisioned in the SPLC’s Principles for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing. The Principles state that an organization demonstrates leadership in sustainable purchasing through:

• Understanding. Understanding the environmental, social, and economic impacts of its purchasing.
• Commitment. Taking responsibility for the environmental, social, and economic impacts of its purchasing by committing to an action plan.
• Results. Delivering on its commitment to improve the environmental, social, and economic impacts of its purchasing.
• Innovation. Actively promoting internal and external innovation that advances a positive future.
• Transparency. Soliciting and disclosing information that supports a marketplace of innovation.

“The winners of these Awards have each demonstrated their commitment to leadership in sustainable purchasing,” says SPLC Executive Director Jason Pearson. “Collectively, they focus the powerful purchasing influence of organizations — in public and private sectors alike — to advance a socially just, ecologically robust, and economically prosperous future. The winners of SPLC’s Leadership Awards exemplify, encourage, and support a constructive cycle of innovation that will define the global marketplace of tomorrow.”

About the Council:
Founded in 2013, the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council convenes buyers, suppliers, and public interest advocates to develop programs that simplify and standardize sustainable purchasing efforts by large organizations. The Council has quickly attracted, from a wide variety of sectors and regions, more than 150 members with over $200 billion in collective purchasing power. In 2015, SPLC released Guidance for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing v1.0, which has been called the “most comprehensive literature to date” on sustainable purchasing. More than one hundred organizations are now using SPLC’s Guidance, resources, and online community of practice to create strategic sustainable purchasing programs, or enhance existing ones.

About the Awards:                  www.sustainablepurchasing.org/awards
About the Principles:               http://www.sustainablepurchasing.org/principles
About the Guidance:               https://www.sustainablepurchasing.org/guidance
About SPLC’s members:          https://www.sustainablepurchasing.org/members

List of Outstanding Case Study Awards:

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* Jurists whose organizations had a case study in competition were assigned to be judges in categories other than those in which their organization’s case study was in competition.