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Online version: PDF - DTIE
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110<br />
UNIT 4: ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS<br />
ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME FOR PURCHASING<br />
ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES<br />
Along with waste management, purchasing is an easy and visible area to start<br />
environment action. Using environmentally-preferable products demonstrates a<br />
company’s environment commitment to employees, visitors and suppliers, and<br />
helps avoid and reduce waste.<br />
The purchasing inventory compiled during the environment status review indicates<br />
the best place to start. Additional considerations include:<br />
• Are products being purchased that are not being used? What are the<br />
levels of dead stock?<br />
• Can the purchase of some items be discontinued? Could a similar<br />
level of service be provided without them? Might they be resourced/<br />
replaced with materials presently ending up in waste streams?<br />
• What toxic products are being purchased? Could they be replaced with<br />
non-toxic alternatives? Consider the following examples:<br />
Environmentally-preferable alternatives to toxic products<br />
TOXIC PRODUCTS<br />
Pesticides and herbicides<br />
Oven cleaners<br />
Permanent ink markers<br />
Photocopy toners<br />
Varnish<br />
Paints<br />
Air fresheners<br />
Aerosols<br />
Pool chemicals<br />
Moth balls<br />
ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVES<br />
Biological pest-control alternatives<br />
Baking soda<br />
Water based markers<br />
Recycled toners<br />
Varnishes with lower VOC content<br />
Low VOC and water-based paints<br />
Pot-pourri and home-made solutions of vinegar and lemon juice<br />
Pump spray products<br />
Technologies such as ‘alternative’ salt, ammonia and baking-soda-based<br />
solutions, osmosis, ionisation and UV<br />
Cedar and sandalwood chips and oil<br />
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• Have any food items been genetically modified or manufactured with<br />
genetically modified raw materials?<br />
• Are items being purchased with high volumes of packaging? Can they<br />
be replaced with items with less, or less bulky, packaging? Can the<br />
packaging be returned to the supplier?<br />
• Can the purchase and use of disposable items be discontinued? Can<br />
they be replaced with more environmentally-preferable alternatives,<br />
such as starch-based disposable plates?<br />
• Can more effort be made to ‘buy recycled’?<br />
• Can more effort be made to buy biodegradable products?<br />
• Is preference given to environment certified products and services?<br />
• Is preference given to locally produced goods and services?<br />
• Are efforts being made to buy in bulk when possible?<br />
• Have efforts been made to use products that require less energy and<br />
transport to manufacture, use and distribute?<br />
• Do suppliers and contractors have environment policies?<br />
• Have suppliers been asked to provide more environmentally-preferable<br />
alternatives?