Procurement Data

Objective O13:

By 2020, evaluate life cycle cost and require sustainability disclosure from suppliers for all purchasing decisions over $100,000

Progress: Completed
Completed Icon

Description: In 2020 and in early 2021, Waterloo launched a disclosure regime for succesful respondents to all Request for Proposals to improve supply chain transparency and enable further action in understanding the sustainability of campus vendors.

In addition, the University developed and published a new lifecylce costing guideline for energy consuming purchases, in order to more strategically integrate long-term cost management in purchasing decisions.

Indicators

13major suppliers participated in pilot sustainability disclosure process

COMPLETED

Development of lifecycle costing and disclosure guidelines

Actions and Accomplishments

2021

10 companies participated in supply chain disclosure checklist
Lifecycle costing guideline was approved and published

2020

Sustainability Office worked with Procurement to finalize disclosure checklist
Sustainability Office worked with Procurement and Plant Operations to design lifecycle costing guideline and calculation tool

2019

Developed draft disclosure checklist and piloted with 3 large campus vendors for ability to complete information about basic corporate sustainability practices
Sustainability Office drafted Life Cycle Costing approaches and guidelines for preliminary review

2018

The Sustainability Office researched and developed best practice information on the integration of Lifecycle Costing considerations

Objective O14:

By 2018, establish baseline data and targets to improve the percent of campus-wide purchases that meet third-party standards for paper, electronic equipment, and cleaning supplies

Progress: Mostly complete
A pie chart three-quarters full, illustrating that the objective is mostly complete

Description: Baselines are established for the three defined purchasing categories. Waterloo aims for 92% of all cleaning and janitorial supplies to bear an environmental certification by 2025.

No targets have been set yet for paper purchases or electronics.

There were significant performance swings in 2020 given changes to campus operations from the pandemic. It is expected that the paper and janitorial products decreases are temporary. The increase in sustainable electronics purchasing was largeley from better data collection.

Indicators

77.9%

Of paper purchases have FSC certification and/or contain recycled content

82.7%

Of all major electronics purchases are certified to a minimum of EPEAT Silver

51.7%

Of all janitorial cleaning products and paper products bear an environmental certification

Interactive Data

Actions and Accomplishments

2019

Custodial Services and Campus housing developed a target for cleaning products and janitorial paper products
Custodial Services phased out some intensive cleaning chemicals for vinegar as a natural alternative
Initial discussions took place with IST on integration of a target for EPEAT certified electronic equipment

2018

The Sustainability Office worked with Procurement and Contract Services to update the 2017 data for paper purchasing.
The Sustainability Office worked with Procurement and Contract Services to develop a 2017 baseline for sustainably certified electronics purchases.
The Sustainability Office worked with Housing and Residences and Custodial Services to develop a baseline for all sustainably certified janitorial cleaning and paper products.

Boundary

All University of Waterloo, excluding Affiliated and Federated Institutions of Waterloo.

Methodology

Limitations and Exclusions:

This does not include materials purchased and used by students, or through on-campus services such as Print and Retail Solutions.
Paper purchases through Staples were not included in 2014 due to lack of data availability.
Data on paper purchasing was not available in 2015.

Office departments that purchase paper, electronics, or cleaning products through a supplier other than centrally-managed processes were not included, as there is no tracking currently available.

Paper Product Criteria: STARS criteria for paper classifications were given to Waterloo’s main paper suppliers, who provided a breakdown of which overall paper purchases fit within each tier of recycled content and/or FSC certification. FSC Stands for the Forest Stewardship Council, which ensures a chain of custody on certified products that source paper from either recycled or responsibly managed forests. In 2020, Waterloo adjusted its subcategorization of "FSC-Label Only" paper to blend with the 70-89% Recycled" paper, to align with reporting changes in STARS 2.2 for the same, now labelled as "70-89%/FSC-Mixed". This had no change to the overall indicator outcome.

Cleaning and Janitorial Product Criteria: Cleaning and janitorial paper products included all chemical cleaners and solvents used across campus, as well as paper towels and toilet paper. Staff from Custodial Services and Housing cleaning services identified any certified products carrying the Greenguard, Green Seal, or UL ECOLOGO designations.

Electronic Products Criteria: Procurement and Contract Services contacted major electronics suppliers for the campus and requested a report on products that had received a minimum of EPEAT Bronze or higher certification. EPEAT stands for the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, and is a comprehensive framework for evaluating the lifecycle impacts of electronic equipment, developed and managed by the Green Electronics Council.