Sustainability in consumables: (not) a contradiction in terms

How can procurement align itself sustainably in the face of these challenges? This is a question that also concerns the Lyreco Group. With 12,000 employees, it is active in 42 countries on 4 continents. The Lyreco Switzerland AG delivers around 7000 customer orders every day. The company attaches great importance to sustainability and is constantly optimizing its logistics with the aim of creating an overall process that is as ecological as possible, as Tina Kempf, Head of Sustainability Management at Lyreco Switzerland, explains in the following interview.

Ms. Kempf, 7000 order deliveries a day is quite a lot. What are the most popular or most frequently ordered product groups?

Tina Kempf: Coffee capsules are clearly one of the most frequently ordered items.

However, coffee capsules are not necessarily considered sustainable...

I have to disagree. This example in particular shows that sustainability is not so trivial. But strictly speaking, any type of consumable is not sustainable per se. As a retailer, we are also aware of this. That's why our strategy is to focus on sustainability, especially when it comes to shipping. The use of e-vans and cargo bikes for deliveries contributes to this.

Sustainability has now also reached procurement. How does this affect your customers' ordering behavior? Are they focusing more on sustainable products?

We realize that sustainable products are important to more and more customers. But we would actually like it to happen faster. Unfortunately, however, large public and private organizations too often completely ignore sustainability in tenders or only give it very low priority. As a result, the issue continues to fall by the wayside. In the end, price is too often the only decisive criterion. As a retailer, we are in a "sandwich position"; however, we can support our customers by gradually phasing out less sustainable products. We also proactively approach companies - especially large ones that are subject to reporting requirements - and advise them on how they can make their procurement more sustainable. It depends on where they want to set their priorities: Less CO2 emissions or fair trade. Our own vision is to find as many levers for more sustainability as possible. However, data on the CO2 footprint of many products is still missing.

And how sustainable is your own procurement system? What criteria do your suppliers have to meet?

We check all our suppliers for sustainability. Either they already have a certificate themselves, e.g. from EcoVadis or B Corp, or they have to carry out a self-assessment by answering our ESG questionnaire. We only look at their products once this has been completed. All new products that we add to our range must be verified by us as sustainable. We also work according to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and have set ourselves Scope 3 (emissions caused by companies' supply chains and other activities that are not under the direct control of the company, editor's note) as a target. We are now in the process of obtaining the necessary data for our products. We still have some products that do not meet our sustainability criteria, but we aim to have streamlined our range by 2026.

What role do new legal regulations, such as the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, also play?

We are hardly affected by this law because we are a retailer and not a manufacturer. In addition, the Group headquarters are located in France, where other regulations apply. Overall, however, we have a concentrated load of resources at our disposal to implement regulations. We also implement regulations that do not actually apply to Switzerland, such as the ban on single-use plastic. In other words, we are voluntarily doing away with single-use plastic and removing manufacturers who do not do so from our range. However, it remains clear that creating transparency in supply chains is still a major problem.

And this is also the topic of Sustainable Procurement Day. Your company is a partner of this event. What prompted you to enter into this partnership?

We can use this conference to present a few good practical cases, precisely because we are both buyers and sellers. We would be happy to share our experiences.

And what recommendations can you pass on to companies that are only just starting to make their purchasing more sustainable?

The topic must be tackled strategically. First of all, the question must be asked: Where can and do we want to be sustainable? This must start with the core business, after which we can derive how we can make purchasing more sustainable. The circular economy must be seen as the measure of all things, and this must also be demanded from suppliers.

That's probably easier said than done. What are the biggest stumbling blocks?

These are human habits! Almost all buyers have their "favorite suppliers". If one of them no longer fits in with the company's sustainability concept: How do I let them know? That is difficult. That's why we held the "Lyreco Unboxed" conference for the first time in January 2024. We invited Swiss SMEs and other business representatives to report openly and honestly - in other words, "unboxed" - about how difficult it is to make supply chains more sustainable and to admit that you can also fail at first. It is simply important that suppliers and buyers communicate transparently.

Transparent communication: This is also your core message that you would like to convey at Sustainable Procurement Day?

Yes, absolutely. We don't want to sell customers something that isn't sustainable. How is an expensive ballpoint pen made from biopolymers that writes 5,000 meters but is only used once supposed to be more sustainable than a cheap model with a range of 500 meters? This is precisely the kind of question that needs to be addressed.

Sustainable Procurement Day: First Swiss business conference for sustainable procurement

Pandemics, resource scarcity, stricter climate and biodiversity laws, growing social inequality and new technologies are just a few examples that will increasingly concern companies and their procurement departments and for which they need to be prepared. How can procurement align itself sustainably in the face of these challenges? This is exactly what the Sustainable Procurement Day  with buyers from a wide range of industries. With the Sustainable Procurement Day Push, öbu and procure.ch has launched a new event that focuses on the risks and opportunities of sustainable procurement.

Tickets can be ordered here