PRESS RELEASE: 2019 Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Award Winners Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 22, 2019

Sustainable Purchasing Leaders Recognized in Portland

Leading organizations acknowledged for effective and impactful sustainable purchasing

CONTACT: Sarah O’Brien, Director of Programs and Acting CEO, SPLC sarah@sustainablepurchasing.org 802 233 1478 (m)

PORTLAND OR – On Wednesday, May 22^nd, 2019 the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) recognized seven organizations and two individuals at the Council’s annual Summit in Portland for their significant leadership in executing and supporting sustainable purchasing initiatives.

Each award winner was evaluated by a prestigious panel of sustainable purchasing experts for the breadth and quality of their sustainable purchasing strategies and impacts, based on a detailed case study of their work in a specific area or comprehensive review of their overall program.

Sustainable purchasing – where organizations use their purchasing power to advance the long term health and vitality of society, economies, and the planet – is gaining momentum around the world, as purchasing organizations recognize the social and environmental impact of their procurement, and suppliers embrace sustainability as a critical element of their value proposition.

“The winners of these Awards, and the activities they have successfully undertaken, demonstrate the power of sustainable purchasing to advance a socially just, ecologically healthy, and economically prosperous future, “ said Sarah O’Brien, Acting CEO of the SPLC. “Together with their peers around the world, the organizations and individuals honored today leverage the power of procurement to encourage, drive and support a constructive transformation that will define the global marketplace of tomorrow.”

The awards and awardees include:

Leadership Award for Overall Sustainable Purchasing Program: 
Air Liquide

SPLC’s highest honor was presented to Air Liquide for having put in place a comprehensive sustainable purchasing program that exemplifies the qualities defined in SPLC’s Principles for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing. They deployed a global sustainable procurement program that evaluated more than 1,100 suppliers by the end of 2018 using sustainability criteria. They overhauled their purchasing policies and publicly announced 2025 climate objectives, and now more than 40% of company sales are related to solutions involving life and environmental protection. More

Leadership Award for a Special Sustainable Purchasing Initiative: 
Metro, Oregon Zoo (Nominated by Multnomah County)

Presented to Metro, Oregon Zoo for their work using a public bond measure and the construction manager / general contractor process to expand conservation education and instill sustainability through the Oregon Zoo. The zoo funded habitat and infrastructure upgrades that increased animal welfare, conservation education, and sustainability. The Veterinary Medical Center received a LEED Gold certification, recycling over 90% of construction waste. More

Sustainable Purchasing Business Case Leadership Award:
Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC)

Presented to the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) for their work energizing sustainability within their staff. By establishing an internal green procurement committee and a guidebook for purchasing energy efficient motors, they were able to mandate a minimum of 30% green procurement and then exceed their own mandate by having 83% of their procurements qualify as “green.” They saved $19.4 million in energy and resource management in the process. More

Leadership Award for Public Interest Advocacy:
Responsible Purchasing Network

Presented to the Responsible Purchasing Network for developing a model green lighting equipment contract for use by the City of San Francisco. The criteria promote energy efficiency, reduce toxicity, ensure performance, support local and disadvantaged businesses and facilitate end of life management. More

Leadership Award for Supplier Engagement: 
Alameda County

Presented to Alameda County for their work focusing on advancing environmental sustainability goals locally with regional sustainable procurement strategies that have a ripple effect. They held 16 events through their green purchasing roundtable and had 13 local partners piggyback on their procurement contracts, using their collective purchasing power to enter a group bid for electric vehicles. More

Leadership Award for Circular Economy:
Rheaply

Presented to Rheaply for developing a new asset management technology that helps advance the circular economy by allowing users to track and manage assets for resale and internal/external transfer. They piloted the platform at Northwestern University in 2018 to great success. More

Supplier Leadership Award:
Vizient

Presented to Vizient for helping standardize environmentally preferable purchasing across the entire healthcare sector by developing a standard set of environmentally preferred attributes for healthcare procurement through meetings with countless members and suppliers. More

Individual Leadership Award:
Karen Hamilton

Presented to Karen Hamilton, who currently serves as the Sustainable Purchasing Program Manager for King County, Washington. Hamilton has worked tirelessly to advance the field of sustainable procurement for over 30 years. Through a recent concerted two-year effort, she updated King County’s Sustainable Purchasing Ordinance, taking a holistic approach to environmental purchasing by requiring agencies to consider sustainable impacts of goods and services. Her efforts have realized significant tangible results, including:

• Transitioning nearly all of the county’s copy paper to 100% recycled-content.
• Replacing 4,000 lamps with LED models, saving 800,000 kWh and $60k annually.
• Purchasing 1,156 remanufactured toner cartridges, saving the county $77k.

Special Award:

Sam Hummel, Departing CEO, SPLC

A special individual award was presented to Sam Hummel, the departing CEO of the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council, for his major contributions to the launch of the SPLC and work to establish its role as a center of thought leadership and movement building. Sam’s years of dedicated effort growing the Council’s membership and program offerings were widely applauded by SPLC Summit attendees.

Outstanding Case Study Awards

Thirty-three additional organizations were honored with Outstanding Case Study recognition and inclusion in the SPLC Case Study Library. Outstanding Case Study designation recognizes organizations that have documented successful and impactful sustainable purchasing efforts in detailed case studies that enable others to follow their lead. Winning case studies are published in SPLC’s Case Study Library. (See full list of Outstanding Case Study winners below.)

About the Awards

SPLC’s Leadership Awards recognize organizations that have demonstrated leadership consistent with SPLC’s Principles for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing, by:

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

About the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership 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 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.

Outstanding Case Study Recognition

The following organizations received an Outstanding Case Study Certificate in recognition of their contribution of a valuable case study to the online library of case studies in SPLC’s online Community.