Tools

Supplier engagement

The following supplier engagement tool was developed by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria, Australia as part of their life cycle management (LCM) efforts.

Engaging your suppliers in your LCM initiatives can open up opportunities for working together to reduce the environmental impacts associated with the materials they supply, developing new and more environmentally appropriate materials, and identifying opportunities for improved resource efficiency, resulting in increased profitability for both you and your suppliers.

Some information for LCM can be obtained from generic sources (e.g. data on industry average inputs and outputs associated with the raw materials you use). But it can be valuable, and sometimes necessary, to obtain information directly from your suppliers.

For example, recognizing that the life cycle impacts of your product or activities depend to some extent on your supplier’s environmental management practices, you may want information on these practices. 

As another example, some of the information needed to map your product’s life cycle, and/or to identify and quantify inputs and outputs, may best be provided by your suppliers. 

A sample letter to a supplier is provided to help you engage your suppliers. A sample supplier data form for providing information accompanies the letter. You will probably want to tailor the letter to suit your interests and needs. It is useful to indicate the level of detail you would like the supplier to provide.

Unless you are a major client, or the supplier has already developed an input/output inventory for the material in question, the supplier may not want to provide detailed information on inputs and outputs. Under these circumstances, you may wish to invite the supplier to base the response on easily available information. However, you may want to ask for detail on certain issues (e.g. the use or generation of hazardous substances).

The sample form can also be modified. For example, columns may be added for transportation-related information for inputs (e.g. transportation type/average distance/load) or information on data quality (e.g. source, uncertainty). In some cases, you may need to provide specific instructions on how to collect the data and complete the form.

Sample letter to supplier requesting life cycle information

Dear (insert name),

We are writing to you as our supplier of XXX, used in making our product(s) YYY. We are seeking to engage all our major suppliers in our efforts to maximize resource efficiency and profitability across the stages of the product life cycle. This initiative is part of our corporate commitment to sustainability/risk management/increased efficiency/lead the market/increase market access and our evolving life cycle management (LCM) program.

As you may know, LCM requires that consideration be given to product-related environmental impacts that occur not only within our own operations, but also upstream and downstream from our own site.

We would like to work with our major suppliers to better understand the life cycle of our operations, and to explore opportunities to reduce our product’s life cycle environmental impacts (e.g. alternative materials, or modifications to existing materials). The environmental profile information we are seeking includes a listing of products/co-products made, materials used and environmental outputs released.  Enclosed is a set of blank forms, outlining the information we are seeking.

We will use the results of our study to identify opportunities for improvement. Additionally, we would welcome the opportunity to work more closely together in identifying opportunities that provide mutual benefits in the future. This initiative underscores our strategic commitment and has the potential to enhance our business relationship. We will, of course, hold as confidential any information that you wish to be so treated.

We would be pleased to provide you, or a member of your technical staff, with additional guidance and materials. Please give me a call if you have any questions. I look forward to working together more closely in the future.

Yours sincerely,

John Smith

(insert contact person and title from your company)