Sustainable consumption and the handling of resources

The university’s consumption and handling of resources includes both procurement contracts as well as the way procured resources are handled during their life cycle. According to previous climate surveys done by universities such as NTNU in Norway and Stockholm University,  consumption of products and services is the one area that generates the most carbon emissions of all the university’s activities. In addition to travel and use of energy, which are covered by other objectives, consumption can involve procurement of consumer goods, technological products, furnishings, food, chemicals, consultant services, and lab equipment.

In 2019, government contracts made up one sixth of Sweden’s BNP, which is why looking over procurement contracts is an important way for University West to achieve sustainable consumption. This means that in terms of the product or service quality, the university’s contracts should include demands on sustainability that can be followed up on. Demanding sustainability is part of many of the government’s framework agreements, but often there is a possibility for the university to make further demands and push for such demands on individual contracts, such as making reservations for travel within a framework agreement. The university also has several of its own framework agreements for cleaning and catering services, where we can demand sustainability. Here we should make demands on the entire lifecycle of a product, weighing in our environmental impact on people’s social conditions during production, its use, lifespan, and recyclability.

In terms of products and services purchased, sustainable consumption of resources deals with making the most of existing resources instead of buying something new, using products with a long lifespan, and seeing to the maintenance of what we have already purchased so that it lasts as long as possible.

Objectives

• Demands of sustainability and climate demands that can be followed up on are included in all contracts for procurement where this is relevant.
• Reduced impact on the climate in the areas noted, among them, the university’s food and the serving of food, as well as IT-use.
• More efficient use of resources based on a lifecycle analysis of selected areas (longer use, fewer single-use products, etc.)
• Events and catering as well as the restaurant operations at university will take into consideration aspects of sustainability such as biological diversity, climate, health, accessibility, and the level playing field.

Strategies

• From a life cycle perspective, developing routines and systems for making sustainability, environment, and climate demands on our consumption and when signing procurement contracts.
• Information about the importance of making demands regarding sustainability, the environment, and the climate on those with whom we are contracted and giving practical guidance as to how to go about this.
• Information, education, and support concerning sustainable purchasing for those who are responsible for procurement and for event managers.
• Purchasing recyclable products when feasible (furniture, for example)
• Starting project groups in the areas mentioned, such as a food group.

Responsibility

• The University Director is responsible for heading up the efforts to develop routines and follow-up systems as well as for seeing to it that the procurement contracts that are signed within the framework agreement for the campus development project make the demands of sustainability that are required for us to achieve our set goals.
• The heads of each section are responsible for seeing to it that demands of sustainability are made when making purchases for their own section.
• Management is responsible for developing support for sustainable purchases.
• All employees who make purchases are responsible for doing so sustainably.