Whether your sustainability journey is just beginning or well underway, it remains critical to understand your organisation’s role in medical supply chains, especially when it comes to environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments.
The COVID-19 pandemic drastically increased global PPE use, highlighting its environmental impact and prompting a shift toward sustainable procurement in healthcare. As a result, PPE purchasing moved beyond cost and compliance to incorporate ESG considerations as part of broader sustainability commitments.
Ultimately, conscious PPE procurement often rests on your ability to strike a balance between cost and compliance. Here’s how to get started on your journey toward more mindful PPE procurement.
What does ESG mean in the context of PPE procurement?
ESG refers to the environmental, social and governance frameworks a business implements to ensure its meeting sustainability promises. While the term ESG has been around for some time, in the context of PPE, there are specific criteria that sustainability and procurement practitioners should understand when selecting suppliers.
For sustainability and procurement professionals, these factors can include:
Environmental factors
- Reducing waste through sourcing sustainable, reusable and recycled products.
- Mitigating emissions in the production of products.
- Lowering the environmental footprint in the supply chain and production touchpoints.
Social factors
- Ensuring ethical labour practices in product selection criteria to mitigate risks throughout supply chain touchpoints.
- Creating secure working conditions by supplying staff with safe products to use, reducing workplace risks.
- Driving positive community impact through ethical products to reduce pressure on healthcare systems.
Governance factors
- Transparent sourcing to strengthen brand reputation and a genuine alignment with customers, employees and other stakeholders.
- Traceability within your supply chain to reveal gaps and manage them without risk to your business.
- Ensuring compliance with ethical standards is critical to avoid financial penalties as reporting becomes stricter and is enacted into law.
Both sustainability and ESG reporting are increasingly tied to supplier performance and risk management. There are emerging teams of experts specialising in ESG consulting to help businesses establish their frameworks and plans. But what if your business doesn’t need to report?
Even if your business is small and doesn’t meet the criteria necessary to formally report under specific legislation, you will most likely form part of a bigger medical supply chain that will need to provide evidence of sustainable practices. With this in mind, it’s critical to determine your processes and sustainable procurement strategies now.
With growing pressure from various stakeholders, including investors, regulators, and consumers, there is a need for ESG-aligned procurement that extends beyond regulatory compliance. As this demand for corporate responsibility beyond regulation continues to increase, your brand reputation will depend on it.
Why should healthcare and industrial organisations include ESG in their PPE purchasing criteria?
Ethical PPE manufacturing plays a key role in maintaining a strong brand reputation and fostering stakeholder trust, particularly in a competitive business environment. With consumer ethical expectations increasing, meeting sustainability promises goes further than just a statement on your website. Instead, it needs to be built into your business model.
Common approaches to PPE purchasing criteria include:
- Diversifying suppliers,
- Sourcing from local Australian businesses,
- Incorporating technology to create efficiencies and redirect labour to improve other parts of the business,
- Building long-term partnerships, and
- Adopting circular economy principles, such as sourcing recyclable materials and creating action plans against resource shortages.
Committing to sustainable practices at every touchpoint in your healthcare supply chain will lead to overall improved outcomes for your business, including attracting more customers, investors and employees who prioritise sustainability and a genuine commitment to ESG policies
Key sustainability and ethical factors to assess when choosing a PPE supplier
When assessing your PPE supplier and sustainable PPE sourcing, it is important to consider factors such as supply chain transparency, environmental impact, ethical practices and proof of those impacts. For example, does the organisation have sustainability objectives?
So, what are the best practices for PPE procurement, and how can you ensure you’re meeting them to choose the right supplier? Below is a checklist for getting started:
Environmental factors
- Are the materials biodegradable?
- Are the products made in energy-efficient production facilities?
- Does the business operate in a carbon-neutral environment?
- Does the organisation have goals to be carbon-neutral?
- Social factors
- Have the staff been fairly paid?
- Are the workers operating in a safe, hazard-free environment?
- Does the organisation participate in community activities?
- Is the organisation ensuring it showcases diversity in its supply chain to help encourage inclusivity across minority groups?
Governance factors
- Have you considered whether the supplier is B Corp registered?
- Have you checked them against ISO20400 criteria?
- Do they have effective end-to-end process management?
- Is there strong leadership in place to implement those processes and regulations?
By assessing your PPE supplier against these key considerations, you’re taking a critically important step in driving value beyond compliance while making a strategic and sustainable business decision.
How Detmold Medical demonstrates ESG leadership in PPE manufacturing
As part of your ESG and sustainability commitment, it’s essential to partner with a local, ethical PPE supplier who confidently commits to ESG leadership in their PPE manufacturing. Sustainability is a key objective of Detmold Medical, especially as an Australian PPE supplier and family-owned business.
With a continued commitment to sustainable materials, localised production, employing an Australian workforce, protecting our workers, fostering community partnerships, maintaining transparent supply chains, obtaining certifications and adhering to responsible business practices, Detmold Medical is committed to a sustainable and ethical future.
Aligning procurement with purpose
Healthcare and medical supply chains can’t afford to delay their sustainability commitments when lives are on the line. As a procurement professional, it’s up to you to ensure alignment with ethical processes by partnering with value-driven suppliers.
Learn more about Detmold Medical’s sustainability objectives to see how we can support your organisation’s ESG goals with our range of high-quality face masks and respirators
