In advance of the upcoming Green Purchasing Summit in November in Miami, Florida, EyeForProcurement has released their Green Purchasing Report that summarizes the results of the Green Purchasing Survey they conducted in June – July 2007.
The survey, which polled 188 procurement professionals primarily across North America, Europe, and Asia across the automative, electronics, chemicals, apparel, and transportation sectors among others, found that while eco-friendly purchasing is a growing trend, few companies are realizing any spin-off benefits in terms of reduced costs. Furthermore, the cost of implementing environmentally friendly purchasing is seen as one of the primary barriers to adoption.
The report found that only 31% of respondents have policies and are actively practicing. An additional 21% have written policies on green purchasing but are not actively practicing green purchasing but an astounding 48% still do not even have green purchasing policies in place. For those that are actively practicing, or at least have established policies, 46% noted that the key driver was a larger corporate responsibility program. Other drivers were customer satisfaction and following the industry trend, at 13% each.
The key benefits that were cited were support of corporate environmental sustainability, strategy, and vision at 67%, responding to customer interest in eco-friendly products and practices at 49%, and reduced accident risk, liability, and health and safety costs at 19%. In contrast the major obstacles to implementation are costs for 43% of respondents, suppliers’ lack of environmental awareness for 42% of respondents, and insufficient green purchasing knowledge for 37% of respondents. The good news is that 98% of respondents believe that the practice of green purchasing will continue to expand. This indicates that the obstacles will eventually be overcome.
For those of you thinking of attending the EyeForProcurement Green Purchasing Summit in November in Miami, Florida, please note that EyeForProcurement is offering a 20% discount for all delegates who register and quote “Sourcing Innovation“.
In addition, in advance of the upcoming Green Transportation and Logistics Summit in San Francisco, California, EyeForTransport has released their Green Transportation and Logistics Report that summarizes the results of the Green Transportation and Logistics Survey they conducted in June-July 2007.
The survey, which polled 271 transportation and logistics professionals found that while some still view supply chain greening as a necessary evil, the most innovative and successful companies have discovered the business case for going green. It also found that 79% of companies believe supply chain greening is at least fairly important and that 69% believe that green issues will become more important over the next three years. Unfortunately, for the majority of respondents (66%), green initiatives are not yet seeing improved supply chain efficiency, but since a reasonable minority (27%) are experiencing more efficiency, this should improve as time goes on. Furthermore, 36% of respondents expect to see a financial ROI within the next three years while 74% expect to see a public relations payback.
The survey also reviewed some of the general transport and logistics initiatives being undertaken by respondents to green their supply chain. These initiatives include emissions measuring and/or reductions, energy efficiency improvements, switching to alternative fuels, reducing air transport, strategic warehouse and DC placement, vendor re-routing to reduce miles travelled, and the use of more environmentally friendly logistics provider. Some of the more specific initiatives being reported by respondents include product design and packing improvements, recycling programs, sustainable buildings, waste reduction & asset recovery, and reductions in toxins and hazardous chemicals.