Sustainable Procurement Policy & Guidelines for Suppliers

The UC Sustainable Practices Policy outlines goals for sustainable procurement along with requirements for UC sustainable procurement practices (activities of UC buyers) under Section III: POLICY TEXT, Letter G, and Section V: PROCEDURES, Letter G.

The UC Sustainable Practices Policy prioritizes waste reduction in this order: reduce, reuse, and then recycle. Sustainable procurement means first reducing unnecessary purchasing, next prioritizing purchases of surplus or multiple use products, and lastly, purchasing recyclable or compostable products.

The UC Sustainable Procurement Guidelines are a companion to the Sustainable Practices Policy. The Guidelines outline University standards for sustainability at the product, product category, service or industry level, including minimum sustainability requirements and product attributes that are strongly preferred, if not mandatory.

The Guidelines set these major targets for campus procurement spend: 

• Reach 100% compliance with Required Level Green Spend criteria within three (3) fiscal years of adding a product/product category to the Sustainable Procurement Guidelines.
• Reach 25% Green Spend as a total percentage of spend per product category within three (3) fiscal years of adding a product/product category to the Sustainable Procurement Guidelines.
• Reach 25% Economically and Socially Responsible Spend as a total percentage of addressable spend within five (5) fiscal years.