Sustainability
Sustainable procurement
Within Procurement we have a purchasing power of around EUR 700 million per year in Belgium and more than EUR 2 billion globally. That means we have the opportunity and responsibility to consciously look for and provide sustainable solutions as we buy everything from vans, trucks, packaging to ICT, buildings and energy to consultancy and HR services.
Sustainable procurement at bpostgroup is all about promoting responsible practices throughout our supply chain by sourcing sustainable solutions and by building strong relationships with our suppliers. At bpostgroup we have designed a sustainable procurement program to proactively identify and address environmental and social impacts.
Next to our procurement activities, we have launched a program to support the decarbonization journey of bpostgroup. The program aims to reduce the carbon emissions in our scope 3, these are the emissions linked to our suppliers.
“Driving sustainability throughout our supply chain is key to bring added value.”
Kurt van Cleemput, Director Group Procurement, bpostgroup
Decarbonisation scope 3
bpostgroup’s ambition is to be a reference in sustainability in all markets we operate in. We are committed to achieving net zero by 2040; this shared long-term ambition encourages us to accelerate our efforts to decarbonize the e-commerce supply chain and re-use and re-cycle packaging as part of a circular economy.
We realize this is an ambitious goal, and that’s why we have set out a roadmap to achieve it by 2040. However, we also acknowledge the big impact of our indirect emissions, scope 3, those that come as a result of outsourcing goods and services, and hence originate at our suppliers.
Largest part of bpostgroup’s CO2 footprint is due to scope 3 emissions, amounting to 323 ktons CO2e in 2019 (baseline). The upstream emissions linked to purchased goods amounted to 76 ktons CO2e in 2019 and emissions linked to transport added up to 186 ktons CO2e in 2019.
By 2030 we are aiming for a 14% reduction in total Scope 3 emissions compared to 2019. Today this target is aligned with the well below 2°C trajectory of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Even though we have made these commitments to reduce our own emissions and our suppliers’ emissions, we are not there yet.
Our Decarbonisation Program in scope 3 is following a 3-step strategy. For now we have focused on maturing in the first step, improving data quality by means of data collection from suppliers or product specific data allowing us for actual monitoring of supplier emissions. We are preparing for the second step, supplier engagement, by identifying and prioritising potential initiatives and options to reduce emissions. As a third step, we plan to implement specific actions by means of collaborations or partnerships with suppliers.
Sustainable Procurement
The Sustainable Procurement Program aims to reduce our environmental impact and promote social responsibility in every step of our procurement process, from the selection of suppliers to contracting and evaluation of suppliers. We seek to collaborate with suppliers who share our vision and values.
Our actions include:
- Raising awareness on sustainable solutions and approaches with our internal customers
- High-level assessment of risks and impacts on each of the categories and defining actions
- Incorporating sustainability criteria into our tender documents and contracts
- Monitoring and assessing the sustainability performance of our suppliers, using tools such as audits, surveys and scorecards.
Supplier Selection
We want to work with trusted and compliant suppliers who share our core sustainability values. We already outline our expectations and basic requirements on sustainability in the RfP (Request for Proposal) stage of a sourcing project or in the General Terms and Conditions. The following requirements are standardized:
In most cases additional criteria are considered when selecting a supplier. Multiple criteria can be defined in the awarding criteria, along with their relative importance (weighting). Price is usually the main criterium and from that perspective the concept of Total Cost of Ownership is maintained. Other criteria to award a contract include quality and sustainability. These criteria are specific to each purchase and can vary significantly from one sourcing project to another.
Our buyers are trained on how to find the best value. Strategic sourcing ensures that we are considering environmental and social impacts of specific goods, services or works which allows to further identify suppliers that implement sustainable practices or offer sustainable solutions. Additionally, strategic sourcing can help identify opportunities for innovation and efficiency that support sustainable growth in general.
Supplier Code of Conduct
The Supplier Code of Conduct includes key principles on environmental protection, human rights and ethical behavior. Suppliers that wish to work with bpostgroup must abide by these crucial principles.
Speak up policy
At bpostgroup, integrity is paramount, and this commitment involves cultivating an atmosphere where our suppliers and partners are encouraged to openly voice potential violations or issues conflicting with bpostgroup’s key principles and compliance norms. We advocate for the reporting of potential policy, legal, or regulatory infractions, as well as any suspected breaches of our Supplier Code of Conduct, whether it is a direct or indirect stakeholder.
Supplier performance
For many years we have identified EcoVadis as a partner to conduct individual sustainability performance assessments of our suppliers. EcoVadis assesses the sustainability performance of specific suppliers on four themes: environment; labour and human rights; ethics; and sustainable procurement. The methodology effectively verifies and ensures compliance of our key and high risk suppliers with the principles in the Supplier Code of Conduct.
EcoVadis gives us insight in the high-level risks concerning our most important suppliers and categories based on the industry risk and the geographic location.
These assessments give us the needed insights in a way we can continuously improve sustainability of our supply chain. Working this way increases transparency and standardizes reporting and leads to more sustainable practices with our suppliers.
Each key or high risk supplier is requested to have an EcoVadis scorecard (or equivalent), and a score of at least 45. We expect our suppliers to annually update their assessment and share their scores with us. Suppliers that do not meet the benchmark are requested to improve their sustainability overall performance. We offer support to suppliers in setting up an improvement plan that is useful and of added value to achieve this goal. In the long term the aim is to continuously improve sustainability performance of our supply chain.
We can request an on-site audit if EcoVadis assessment results remains low or in case of identified high risk activities. Suppliers must agree to potential unannounced audits into their operations and how they are adhering to bpostgroup’s stated sustainability initiatives.
Reaching out and sharing best practices
Admitting what we don’t know and where we can improve brings us one step closer to closing the gap. That’s why we’ve partnered up with several organizations that advance sustainable procurement to constantly supply us with new and innovative ways of improving our current processes.
Procura+
BACA Supply Chain Leader Group
Big Buyers Initiative (BBI)
The Shift
EcoVadis
Empowering the team to act more sustainable
Building internal awareness and training on Sustainability and Sustainable Procurement is essential for all procurement employees, whether they are new joiners or existing staff to ensure they understand the importance of making decisions that take into account benefits to the environment and society. These trainings equip employees with the knowledge and skills to implement sustainable practices in their work and contributing to the organization’s overall sustainability goals. We conduct regular trainings depending on the role and launch internal communications where needed.
Since 2021, we’ve put into place initiatives such as an annual Sustainable Procurement Day where those apart of Procurement can come and learn about the bpostgroup sustainability strategy and latest initiatives but also focussing on developments in the field of sustainable procurement. It is an opportunity to invite external speakers who share their own experience.
Additionally, the program responsible is available to all employees for support and questions about the Sustainable Procurement Program and effective implementation.
Regulatory Alignment and Compliance
Our procurement activities are executed within the regulatory framework governing our field.
In Belgium, public procurement procedures are governed by national law and are followed adequately by bpost NV/SA. Depending on the threshold of the contract a specific procedure and procurement process is followed.
The world around us is changing. Societies and governments set agendas to put us on track towards a more sustainable world. A part of that change is new regulations, as such bpostgroup will comply with the European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and procurement will support the reporting needs.
The upcoming EU Directive on Corporate Due Diligence is pushing companies, including bpostgroup, to secure adequate duty of care when it comes to the impact of our activities and those in our value chain (including suppliers and customers). Detailed risk analysis on suppliers is new territory, the coming years we will review our processes and tools in order to identify, and prevent, monitor and report back on fundamental human rights and environmental factors in our value chain.
