Anna varsity to follow sustainable practices in procurement

CHENNAI: To meet the country’s ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2070, the Anna University is all set to implement an environmental sustainability vision policy and strategy to focus on sustainable procurement practices.

In its recent policy note, the university said that the it will be aligning its investment portfolio with ethical, social or environmental values by excluding companies or industries that do not meet predetermined standards.

Accordingly, it has decided to switch to suppliers that divulge chemical ingredients, seeking them to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, procuring products composed of recycled materials, purchasing green energy-saving materials, commissioning of new construction from renewable materials and procurement of organic food ingredients for the canteen.

The policy further said that the institution will look for re-usable, returnable or recyclable packaging for all procurement. For buying furniture, the materials used in the procured product must have various attributes including hazardous air pollutant free, non-toxic surface coating, recycled content for steel components, etc., and that composite wood products must contain recycled materials and plastic components must be recyclable at the end-of-life.

Additionally, the varsity has decided to consider the procurement of hybrid electric vehicles, battery vehicles and fuel-cell vehicles rather than conventional types. Fuel consumption and greenhouse gases emission values should be calculated and included in financial evaluation.

To reduce paper waste, the University has decided to e-order through a web portal, use digitalised service-related reports and user guides to be available online.