in
What is the Green Procurement Code?
The combined purchasing power of London based companies has huge potential to positively tackle the capital's waste problem, reduce carbon emissions and contribute to the Mayor of London’s target of cutting the capital’s carbon emissions by 60% by 2025.
London's businesses, as major consumers of products and producers of waste, can sign up to the Mayor of London’s Green Procurement Code to commit to reducing the effects of their activities on the environment.
History
The Mayor of London’s Green Procurement Code was launched in 2001 and its original purpose was to help create a market for recycled products. The Code was re-launched in Oct 2007 with a new emphasis. The new programme recognises that management and behaviour change are as important as technical product specifications and the sourcing of green products. We have also increased our remit to refelect the broad range of environmental considerations in procurement, from energy efficiency to the use of sustainable natural resources and from buying recycled content products to minimising vehicle emissions.
Services
The Mayor of London's Green Procurement Code is a support service for London based organisations committed to reducing their environmental impact through responsible purchasing. We provide practical advice and online resources to help embed green purchasing into all aspects of an organisation, including sourcing green products.
The Green Procurement Code is unique in the UK and Europe. No other green procurement initiative combines a support service with an extensive survey that leads to performance benchmarking, sharing of best practice and recognition through awards for the leading participants.
Achievements
Organisations signed up to the Green Procurement Code commit to achieving progressive environmental targets and can be awarded bronze, silver or gold status as a mark of their success.
Since October 2007 members of the Green Procurement Code have spent over £742 million on green products and diverted 191,131 tonnes of waste from landfill. This represents a saving of 78,863 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Our signatories also make a valuable contribution to the green economy – reported purchases from over 680 suppliers have supported more than 1300 jobs.
