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ethical and ecological screening
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- Ethical and ecological screening
 
- Develop an ecological purchasing guide for use throughout the bank. TARGET ACHIEVED
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performance
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Ecological Screening of Suppliers, 2002
(via assessment of ecological impact of products and services)
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| (Source: Ecology Unit 2003)
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commentary
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Background The bank's Ecology Unit assesses the ecological
impact of a given product or service, whilst the bank's Ethical
Policy Unit assesses the ethical and environmental profile of
the company making the product or service.
Ecological screening In addition to activity relating to paper
and recycled waste, the Ecology Unit managed the screening
of 265 products and/or services during 2002 (these had a
contract value of £2.044 million). Of these ecological
assessments, the vast majority related to persistent
bioaccumulative chemicals and energy. In
98% of cases, ecological assessment led to an improvement
in the ecological impact of products and services. In the
following six instances it was considered necessary to contract
a service deemed unsatisfactory from an ecological
perspective, and where it was considered a technical
alternative existed. As described on the persistent
bioaccumulative chemicals page, due to
technical problems, 3,000 debit cards were printed on PVC.
The bank failed to source renewable electricity for two
branches and utilised standard fossil fuel suppliers. During
refurbishment of the bank's Manchester branch, a small area of
carpet containing PVC was purchased. The bank purchased
an HFC chiller and, lastly, the bank
sourced a polyester-based window film for Head Office, but
was unable to source the product without PVC based ink.
Toxics During 2000, the bank's Ecology Unit began screening
all referred supplier contracts against a range of toxic
chemicals as described on the persistent
bioaccumulative chemicals page. In comparison to some
other methodologies, the bank affords a much higher rating to
'toxicity', and a much lower rating to energy efficiency, when
undertaking ecological analysis. A variation of the Building
Research Establishment's (BRE) profiling system for building
materials and components is utilised by the bank.i The relative
importance rating attributed to factors is adjusted as the BRE
rates toxicity at just 14% and energy matters as high as 50%.
Where renewable energy is utilised (as on the bank's premises),
then net carbon dioxide emissions are negligible. Therefore,
'energy' should be heavily discounted in assessments - as is
the case with the bank's air conditioning systems which is detailed on the persistent
bioaccumulative chemicals page.
Ecological purchasing tool The bank has now developed an
ecological product specification guide. It explains the
principles and reasoning behind the bank's ecological
purchasing policy, alongside recommended suppliers and
explanations of the relevant issues. The guide includes the
following sections: an explanation of the BRE profiling system
and its application; a sample contract for specifying Forest
Stewardship Council ii certified wood products; guidance on
approved refrigerants and fire control systems; and a hierarchy
of environmentally preferable plastics when replacing PVC.
The project is actively sourcing products with a high recycled
content, and seeking assurances from suppliers that when
products are removed they are either reused or recycled.
Appendices to the ecological purchasing tool will cover all
current ecologically recommended products and services. The
ecological purchasing tool was made available to relevant staff
in 2003, and was heavily used in the refurbishment of Manchester
Branch. Follow this link for details of the 'green branch' concept.iii
Ethical screening The total value of contracts screened on
the basis of ethics was £9.5 million, of which contracts with a
value of £1.7 million were considered unacceptable. During the
year, the bank reviewed the provision of water coolers to its
branch network. As part of that review, it was decided to move
away from its existing supplier to Aqua Aid. As part of the
bank's supplier acquisition programme, two construction firms
were ruled out of a tender process for an electrical supply
contract - one for the construction of police stations in an
oppressive regime and another as part of a conglomerate
involved in the construction of mega-dams.
Sound sourcing In 2002, the bank and CIS, working with
the Co-operative Group, designed and agreed a 'Sound
Sourcing Policy'. The Policy, based on the Ethical Trading
Initiative iv, provides assurances on a range of areas, including
trade union rights, hours of work and pay. The bank is currently
seeking to determine any areas of non-compliance.
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- www.bre.co.uk/envprofiles
- www.fsc-uk.info
- www.co-operativebank.co.uk/greenbranch
- www.ethicaltrade.org
To follow any of the links mentioned within the Partnership Report 2002, please visit the links page.
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ethical and ecological value analysis
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- Estimated additional cost of pursuing ethical/ecological
best practice compared with the lowest cost option of
similar quality (excluding paper purchase) £168,000
- Annual costs relating to ethics and ecology external
research, audit and commentary £325,000
- Internal annual overhead associated with maintenance and
development of ethical and ecological management and
performance £430,000
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new target
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- Continue the development of the bank's ecological purchasing tool and distribute to relevant staff.
Jos Mister, Ecological Analyst
- Determine areas of non-compliance with the Sound Sourcing Policy amongst key suppliers and consider remedial action.
Barry Clavin, Ethical Policy Manager
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