Sustainable procurement

Sustainable procurement is all about promoting responsible practices throughout our supply chain by sourcing sustainable solutions and by building strong relationships with our suppliers.

In other words, it is about taking social and environmental factors into consideration along with financial factors while making procurement decisions. It involves looking beyond the traditional financial parameters and making decisions based on the whole life cost, the associated risks, measures of success and impacts on people and the environment.

Making decisions in this way requires having the appropriate procurement processes and tools and developing knowledge and expertise within the Procurement team.

As a Procurement Department we have a purchasing power of around EUR 700 million per year in Belgium and more than EUR 2bn globally. That means we have the opportunity and responsibility to consciously look for and provide sustainable solutions as we buy everything from vans, trucks and bikes to ICT network and devices, buildings and energy to consultancy and HR services.

“Driving sustainability throughout our supply chain is key to bring added value.”

Kurt van Cleemput, Director Group Procurement, bpost

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’ve set out a roadmap to achieve it by 2040. However, we also acknowledge the big impact of our indirect emissions, those that come as a result of outsourcing goods and services, and hence originate at our suppliers.

We set up a Sustainable Procurement Program to ensure that we are meeting the goals we have set for ourselves. This program is designed to proactively identify and address environmental and social impacts rather than simply just react to them. Taking initiatives on these 4 key focal areas will advance our program.

1. Continuous improvement

We aim to reduce our environmental impact and promote social responsibility. We are committed to integrating sustainability 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, and who can help us achieve our sustainability goals. 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
• Integrating ESG in our category plans
• 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.

Regulatory Alignment and Compliance

In Belgium, public procurement procedures are governed by national law and are followed 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, for example that bpost must comply with the European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).

The upcoming EU Directive on Corporate Due Diligence is pushing companies, including bpost, 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.

Supply Chain Risk Assessment

Supply chains are complex and involve many stakeholders with different interests and levels of sustainability.

We plan ahead in order to get in front of the potential, unforeseeable risks that third-party or suppliers may pose. Today we have a high-level risk assessment in place concerning our most important suppliers and categories. We map supplier risk based on the category, the industry risk, the geographic location and based on how important they are, in terms of spend and a strategic point of view.

Supplier Selection

We want to work with trusted and compliant suppliers who share our core ESG values. We already outline our expectations and basic requirements on ESG in the RfP stage of a sourcing project or in the General Terms and Conditions. The following commitments are standardized:

DECARBONISATION

We expect key suppliers to calculate their annual carbon footprint and set a CO₂ emissions reduction target and a strategy to execute that target.

SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT

All our suppliers are bound to our Supplier Code of Conduct. It is a set of ethical principles and standards we set for ourselves and our suppliers, their employees, suppliers and subcontractors.

SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE

Keeping an eye on supplier performance post tender is key to ensure that suppliers are keeping up with the principles in the Supplier Code of Conduct.

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

As a company, we realize that we are but one part of a larger society. We are conscious of the fact that in order to achieve the ambitious sustainability goals we have set for ourselves; we must interact and engage with other stakeholders. That is why our suppliers are given and bound by our 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 bpost must abide by these crucial principles.

Supplier Speak up

At bpost, 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 bpost’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.

Speak up policy

Supplier sustainability performance

For many years bpost has 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. 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 bpost. 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.

Supplier Audits

Bpost 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 bpost’s stated sustainability initiatives.

2. Empowering the team to act more sustainable

Building internal awareness and training on Sustainability and Sustainable Procurement is essential for all 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 bpost ESG 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 in the field of Sustainable Procurement.

Additionally, the program responsible is available to all employees for support and questions about the Sustainable Procurement Program and effective implementation.

3. 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.

Bpost is joining the BACA Supply Chain Leader group

Bpost is selected to join the BACA Supply Chain Leaders program in 2024. At bpostgroup, we are committed to achieving net zero by 2040 and decarbonizing the e-commerce supply chain. We are the biggest buyer of e-vans in Belgium, and we purchase green electricity, but we are eager to continue driving impact in our value chain that is why we are committed to exchange insights and best practices with the BACA community.

To the Supply Chain Leader Group we committed:

• To work towards integrating climate into our business strategy and recognize the importance of emissions in the supply chain.
• To formally commit to setting science-based targets to reduce emissions across our supply chain.
• To actively work with our supply chain partners, upstream and downstream, large and small, to support and incentivize them on their journey to decarbonization.
• To share our journey and knowledge with other members, partners, policymakers and the general public.

Procura+ Conference on Sustainable public procurement

The Procura+ community is one of bpost platforms to exchange ideas, share experiences, and collaborate with fellow public procurers. bpost participated in the Procura+ Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, hosted by ICLEI Europe, City of Lisbon, and Rijkswaterstaat. Over two days, the event showcased a diverse range of sessions and speakers dedicated to advancing sustainable public procurement.

It was an excellent opportunity to delve into crucial topics concerning sustainable public procurement, including change management, innovation and circular procurement agenda.