NEWS ADVISORY: 2017 Leadership Awards for Sustainable Purchasing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 4 2017

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

NEWS ADVISORY:

2017 LEADERSHIP AWARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING

DENVER CO – On Tuesday, May 9^th, the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) — a non profit organization with more than 180 members representing over $200 billion in collective purchasing power — will recognize thirty six organizations and nine individuals who have leveraged institutional 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 measurable environmental, social, and/or economic benefits. Examples include:

• The State of New York’s comprehensive interagency approach to sustainable procurement resulting in 43 green specifications being developed covering 86 different commodity, service or technology products.
• The State of California Department of General Services’ work analyzing the environmental impacts of over $97 billion in spend using a life cycle analysis approach;
• Shaw Industries Group, Inc.’s unique collaboration with suppliers and customers to develop a commercial carpet tile product made largely from reclaimed materials, which uses significantly less energy and water than standard carpet, and which is fully recyclable; and
• A collaboration between University of Pennsylvania and Wash Cycle Laundry to process and deliver laundry in the most sustainable way possible, while also generating upwardly mobile job opportunities for vulnerable job seekers in the area.

Winners of the Council’s Outstanding Case Study Award will be honored for documenting how they achieved these results in detailed case studies that are published in SPLC’s Case Study Library. (See full list of the Outstanding Case Study Award winners below.)

The winners of the Council’s highest honors – nine juried Leadership Awards – are selected from this pool, and will be revealed and presented with their awards during the ceremony on Monday the 9^th May. A single individual will also be selected to receive the Council’s prestigious Individual Leadership Award. 

The Leadership Award winners were selected by a prestigious jury from government, the private sector, and civil society. When case studies were submitted by judges’ own organizations, the judge did not review any cases in that category.

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 the environmental, social, and economic impacts of its purchasing.
• Taking responsibility for the environmental, social, and economic impacts of its purchasing by committing to an action plan.
• Delivering on its commitment to improve the environmental, social, and economic impacts of its purchasing.
• Actively promoting internal and external innovation that advances a positive future.
• 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 SPLC:
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 180 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. Hundreds of 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 Awards

The following organizations or individuals will receive an Outstanding Case Study Award in recognition of their contribution of a valuable case study to the online library of case studies in SPLC’s online Community.

Individual Awards Nominees

The following individuals were nominated for the Individual Leadership Award.

Download this news advisory as a PDF or Word document.