Procurement (sustainable operations)

AUT is a large-scale consumer of products and services, so we have a significant opportunity to work with and influence suppliers around sustainable procurement (the inclusion of social, cultural and environmental aspects alongside price considerations when making buying decisions).

What we're doing to meet procurement targets

AUT is taking action around sustainable procurement and will:

  • Develop sustainable procurement targets that relate to our suppliers and they may include CO2e emissions, waste, modern slavery and supplier diversity
  • Identify key suppliers where greatest impact can be achieved
  • Engage with existing key suppliers around AUT’s sustainability journey and our focus on sustainable procurement
  • Establish metrics around our supplier’s waste and CO2e emissions as phase one of our process

Procurement initiatives

Some of our more recent sustainable procurement initiatives are described below.

Fairtrade

AUT supports Fairtrade products by:

  • Providing Fairtrade tea and coffee in staff kitchens
  • Selling only Fairtrade coffee in AUT cafes

Supplier Code of Conduct Guidelines

AUT’s code outlines minimum standards and expectations applicable to all suppliers. The code standards include labour and human rights, health and safety, environmental sustainability and ethical business. Suppliers must maintain and be able to provide AUT with documentation which demonstrates compliance with this code on request.

What you can do

When you make a purchase, you can:

  • Choose products that have Fairtrade or other environmental certification where possible
  • Choose unpackaged or sustainably packaged products
  • Buy local where possible to support local businesses and reduce transport related CO2e emissions

AUT's sustainability targets

Learn about all of our sustainability targets, and what we're doing to achieve them, in the AUT Sustainability Roadmap.

Sustainability Roadmap