London businesses get new toolkit in relaunched Green Procurement Code
Elaine Brass
24th August 2009
London’s City Hall has relaunched its Green Procurement Code website with a ‘members-only’ toolkit, giving information and advice to help London businesses reduce their environmental impact through responsible purchasing.
The Green Procurement Code is one of the measures in place in London designed to help achieve the Mayor’s target of cutting the capital’s carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2025.
The Green Procurement Code allows businesses to reduce unnecessary purchasing as well as identify greener products that cover most areas of business activity including construction, furniture, IT equipment and transport.
Visitors to the new site can access the latest news and events listings, sustainable products and suppliers, the latest industry publications and best practice case studies.
The new toolkit includes a number of practical measures to help businesses with their green procurement, including a step by step action plan on how to introduce green purchasing to the workplace, get management support, write a policy and eco labels.
Green Procurement Code programme manager, Graham Randles, highlighted the benefits of the new site. “In the current financial climate companies don’t want to waste valuable time and resources searching for information. The new website is an easy to navigate, one-stop-shop for organisations looking to make smart green procurement decisions.”
The Mayor of London believes that the combined purchasing power of London based companies has huge potential to positively tackle the capital's waste problem and contribute to cutting the city's carbon emissions.
Since it was first launched in 2001, members of the Green Procurement Code have spent £379 million on green products and diverted 1.3 million tonnes of waste from landfill and according to the Mayor of London's office, in 2006, the purchase of green products resulted in 175,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide savings.Those signed up to the code, meanwhile, are awarded bronze, silver or gold status as a mark of their success in committing to achieve progressive environmental targets.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “We want to make it easier for organisations to make eco-friendly purchasing decisions. By doing so, businesses can not only be kinder to the planet, but can also save money in tough economic times.”
The Green Procurement Code is funded by the London Development Agency and delivered by London Remade.