Case Study
Pioneering sustainable procurement for a leading specialty chemical company
Developed a world-class sustainable procurement strategy for a global leader in specialty chemicals, which integrated sustainability into all key aspects of the company's supply chain decision making critical to customer value and competitive advantage.
The company needed to rapidly embed sustainability considerations and drive positive impacts from third-party spend, supply management and logistics, and other supplier decisions. This involved developing a more rigorous qualification processes, creating responsible sourcing and diverse supplier programs, partnering with operations, capital projects teams and suppliers to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and designing and engaging suppliers in new Scope 3 emissions, water and waste reduction programs.
Developed and executed a robust approach that transformed sustainability capabilities within the company's procurement function, including:
Policy and playbook development: Created sustainable procurement policies, procedures, playbooks, data partners and digital implementations to support procurement teams and business units in decision making.
Stakeholder collaboration: Engaged the business units and their customers, sustainability committee, procurement team, and compliance/risk management leaders to ensure alignment with sustainability goals.
Emissions management: Implemented best practices for reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions, including renewable energy sourcing and carbon credit management.
Supplier assessment improvement: Developed data requests, traceability methodologies, tailored scoring methods and RFx questionnaires to enhance qualification and measure supplier sustainability performance, including environmental protection, human rights compliance, conflict minerals, and other supply chain transparency.
Achieved significant improvements by integrating sustainability into all procurement processes, making it a key criterion in supplier selection and management.
Supported the achievement of published emissions targets, particularly Scope 2 and 3, by implementing strategic renewable energy sourcing and optimizing carbon credit/certificate management globally and engaging key suppliers with the new Scope 3 program.
Enhanced supplier diversity by launching a program that supported underrepresented groups, aligned with global sustainability goals, and surpassed initial expectations.
Drove global impact by deploying a comprehensive playbook across operations, leading to continuous improvements in environmental performance throughout the supply chain.
The project demonstrated how a sustainable procurement strategy can create substantial customer value and differentiation, align with corporate responsibility, and support long-term business success.
