CR Week 2008: Marketplace Day, Monday 6th October

Sustainable Procurement ‘Crucial' for Business Sector in Ireland - BITCI

October 6th 2008: Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI), the country's leading corporate responsibility advisory group, has called on major Irish corporations and retailers to set new standards in sustainable procurement practices in order to minimise the impact of the business sector on the environment.

BT, ESB Independent Energy, Sodexo, Bord Gais and Marks & Spencer all presented at Sustainable Procurement in Action, a BITCI event - to outline details of current sustainable procurement practices. This event takes place as part of BITCI's Corporate Responsibility Week 2008 (Oct3rd-9th).

Carmel McQuaid, Climate Change Manager with Marks & Spencer plc talked about Plan A, their global approach to sustainable procurement across 35,000 of their product lines. Sustainable Raw Materials, Climate Change and being a Fair Partner have all been incorporated into every aspect of their global business to enable them to ‘grow in a sustainable way'.

Marks & Spencer has introduced Fairtrade and organic cotton, organic linen and recycled polyester into their clothing range, removed artificial colourings and flavourings from 99% of the range of food they sell and have increased sales of organic food by 48%.

Dr Glenn Edwards, Head of Procurement, Governance and Supplier Excellence with telecommunications firm BT, said it had focused on sustainable procurement processes by adopting an all-island solution to its energy needs. Working in partnership with ESB Independent Energy, the energy supply of BT's Headquarters in Belfast's Riverside Tower is derived entirely from renewable resources. BT is working to reduce its global carbon emissions by 80%.

Sodexo, one of Ireland's biggest food and facilities management firms, provided detail on its commitment to the use of organic and locally sourced materials. In 2007, the company spent €15.5 million on locally sourced produce. All of the firm's outlets are certified to Bord Bia's Feile Bia and only use products from the Quality Assurance Scheme, which includes beef, lamb, pork, bacon, chicken and eggs.

At a seminar today, at AIB headquarters in Dublin, Tina Roche, CEO, BITCI, said: “There is a wide range of reasons why businesses should increase their adoption of sustainable procurement practices. Not only do such practices curtail the impact of business on the environment and preserve scarce resources, there are also notable economic benefits, in terms of cost savings and it supports growth and innovation”.

“Companies across all industries in Ireland need to move towards the use of these practices as a matter of policy, as sustainable procurement is a crucial means of addressing the very real concerns of climate change, energy management and sustainable development,” said Ms. Roche.

Notes to editors: Business in The Community Ireland (www.bitc.ie) is a unique movement of companies within Ireland committed to continually improving their positive impact on society.

For further information contact:
Moira Horgan
Marketing Manager
Business in the Community Ireland
T: 01 874 3812 / Mobile: 086 172 2105
E: mhorgan@bitc.ie