
Sustainable Procurement Case Study: Delivering well-being goals through procurement
10th September 2018
In partnership with WRAP Cymru, the NPS embarked on a process to manage the sustainability impacts associated with a new food services framework, and demonstrate their commitment to the delivery of Well-being goals.
Key Facts
The Welsh public sector spends an estimated £74m per year on food and drink services
Each tonne of food waste typically costs a business an average of £2,800
Reducing the impacts of food waste is a key priority of the Towards Zero Waste Strategy and the Well-being of Future Generations Act
Summary
In 2017 the National Procurement Service (NPS) started to refresh its national food and drink services framework, which makes the supply of food services available to more than seventy public sector organisations across Wales. Driven by commitments set out in the Well-being of Future Generations Act and the Welsh Government Towards Zero Waste Strategy, the NPS have worked in partnership with WRAP to embed sustainability requirements in the tender specification, evaluation and contract management process. This case study shows how the carefully considered NPS procurement strategy will improve the sustainability of food and drink services used by the public sector in Wales.
Context
The National Procurement Service (NPS) recognises it has an important role in managing the sustainability impacts associated with the delivery of its services, and through expenditure on goods and services.
In partnership with WRAP Cymru, the NPS embarked on a process to manage the sustainability impacts associated with a new food services framework, and demonstrate their commitment to the delivery of Well-being goals.
The delivery of food manufacture, processing and distribution services typically results in the following environmental impacts:
In recognition of these impacts, WRAP worked with the NPS to embed sustainability requirements across its procurement strategy.
Tender process
The framework tender specified particular requirements for prospective suppliers to demonstrate:
Framework providers will also be expected to take steps towards supplying sustainable food packaging options, including:
Supply chain reporting
Driven by a desire for continual improvement and to report performance against well-being goals, sustainability measures were introduced to the framework contract management process.
Key performance indicators (KPI) developed to monitor and evaluate sustainability performance over the life of the framework contract include:
WRAP has also worked with the NPS to develop a ‘Sustainability KPI Tool’ to enable the NPS to track supplier sustainability performance across the lifetime of the framework, and report against national Well-Being goals indicators.
Lessons learnt