Sustainable procurement of mobile phone service contract

Transcription

1 Sustainable procurement of mobile phone service contract Summary Key Facts WRAP delivered a programme of providing technical procurement support to public sector organisations on behalf of Defra during 2014/15. The programme was designed to assist public sector organisations realise cost savings as well as environmental benefits through procuring products and services in a more resource efficient or sustainable way. This case study highlights information developed in collaboration with Steve Wallace of Wallace Environmental for use within service contracts for mobile phones and focuses on incorporating resource efficiency (RE) and circular economy (CE) considerations. Although the information was developed for a specific procurement, the procurement did not go ahead as planned for unconnected reasons and therefore the benefits of this approach can not be quantified. The information provided is for use by government departments as well as the wider public sector as part of the procurement of a mobile phone service contract. Early market analysis identified handset Ecorating. Eco-rating scheme enables environmental performance of handsets to be compared.

2 Aims and objectives WRAP provided support to develop content to ensure that a service contract for mobile phones included best practice RE and CE considerations. This would ensure that Government would lead by example achieving both cost savings and environmental benefits. The WRAP support involved development of appropriate environmental criteria and questions for inclusion within tender documentation, relating to: the environmental policies of the manufacturers; and data to be reported on handset sustainability/re (e.g. material use, components, End of Life management, take-back, reuse etc.). The criteria and questions were based on an initial review of environmental data reported by mobile phone service providers based on an understanding of what the market is able to offer in terms of product / service sustainability. The support also identified that it would be feasible for the procuring authority to work in collaboration with the appointed contractor. Together they can develop guidance on potential ways to support and restrict call off arrangements to environmentally preferred handsets. It also proposed a metric for individual public sector departments to aid selection and procurement. Vodafone and O2 to help customers compare mobile devices based on their environmental credentials. The scheme will be adopted by other network operators around the globe so the networks can share a common eco rating across all of the devices on offer. The Eco-Rating 2.0 is based on a number of key principles: Accuracy Simplicity Completeness Transparency Comparability Equitability Relevance. It was proposed that potential tenderers would be asked to include details within their bid on the use of Eco-Rating 2.0, or equivalent, which rated devices based on the above key principles. WRAP proposed that once the contract had been awarded, the service provider would support each procuring department to identify the most suitable, yet sustainable device for their needs. This approach would allow the procuring department to either provide: information to individual users so that they could make their own informed choices, or departmental buyers could choice restrict for their department if they felt that it was appropriate. Results Eco-Rating 2.0 The WRAP support identified that some service providers have a form of eco-rating for mobile phones. Eco-Rating was developed by Forum for the Future, 1 has-arrived/

3 End of Life Management The review also identified that most manufacturers only complied with the WEEE Directive in terms of the legal requirement for recycling devices via the producer compliance schemes and that whilst only a handful offered direct take back of devices, all UK service providers offered a take back scheme via a third party recycler / reseller. Most manufacturers offered a repair service. Sustainability criteria and questions WRAP recommended a series of questions for inclusion within the tender documentation based on: Use of Eco-Rating 2.0 or equivalent Sustainable materials Durability and life extension Functionality End of life management. through the service contract across the procuring authority. Supporting information The proposed questions are provided in Appendix 1. However, the wording is provided for guidance only and legal advice should be taken before proceeding with specific actions. It is also recognised that procuring authorities will already have existing environmental based questions for inclusion within Invitation to Tenders. The contents of Appendix 1 are therefore provided to be additional questions and should be reviewed to ensure they are relevant and proportionate to the procurement before being included. Outcome The guidance documents developed by WRAP are aimed to assist and inform procuring authorities approach to including environmental criteria and performance within the service contract. Impacts To estimate the impacts the inclusion of environmental criteria could deliver through the service contract, it would be necessary for either the procuring authority or the appointed service provider to compare the devices they would have purchased, versus the devices they were opting to purchase. Information such as the environmental impacts and lifetime of the devices can then be analysed using the Eco-Rating 2.0 scheme to estimate the benefits. This could be used as a typical example and extrapolated by the anticipated number of devices procured annually

4 Appendix 1 sample procurement wording The information and sample procurement wording are provided in good faith and we believe at the time of issue to be legally and commercially accurate. However, the wording is provided for guidance only and legal advice should be taken before proceeding with specific actions. The contractor shall issue, on a monthly basis the current device catalogue. Our preferred measure of sustainability for handsets is the Eco-Rating 2.0 scheme (administered by Vodafone/Telefonica but accessible on a free licence basis for all service providers). The contractor will provide a rating for each of the mobile devices that they supply in accordance with this scheme or some equivalent scheme which provides an aggregate score across the following main topic areas: Overall corporate sustainability commitment of the handset manufacturer Product durability and life extension Energy use and global warming impact Raw material depletion/sustainable materials (e.g. recycled content) Restriction of hazardous substances (beyond compliance with RoHS and REACH) Water depletion (embodied water) Packaging and logistics efficiency End of life impacts (reuse, recycling etc.) Functionality (e.g. where displacing another device such as a camera or sat nav) provided by the manufacturer to check its validity where possible and provide evidence of the process. The contractor will require the manufacturer to take reasonable steps (for example using the EICC conflict minerals reporting template 2 (CMRT) and related procedures) to ensure that its supply chain only uses tin, tungsten, gold and tantalum from compliant smelters and refiners authorised by the GeSI/EICC Conflict-Free Smelter Program and within the valid period for that smelter/refiner. Evidence of the process used is required. The contractor shall offer a repair service for the handset, both within warranty and beyond the warranty period for at least 4 years after the handset model has ceased being supplied under this contract. The price for such a service must be specified separately within the tender document. Response (state Compliant OR Not The contractor will support the Customers in the disposal and recycling of devices; including security aspects regarding deletion of data contained on devices prior to collection or as a part of the disposal service. Note: where data is not available from a handset manufacturer, a zero score should be applied. The contractor will take steps to review the Eco-Rating 2.0 (or equivalent) score as 2

5 Sustainable procurement of mobile phone service contract 5 The Contractor will offer Customers a financial or other suitable incentive to encourage the return of used handsets. This will be facilitated by a free-post return envelope or on site collection service. The Contractor will provide a facility for Customers to dispose of their old working devices in a way that the device can be wiped clean of all data so that it can be fully reused as a working mobile phone in its existing or refurbished state. The Contractor shall include an option for such devices to be used for charitable purposes as well as for commercial resale. The Contractor will provide information, at a minimum of every 6 months, on handset recycling, including but not necessarily limited to: An overview of the recycling/material reprocessing of devices that are returned by customers, including; o % of handsets reused whole for their original; o Number of and type of each key component recovered (e.g. PCBs, chips, screen) for reuse as a % of handsets [or some other measurement to allow benchmarking]; o % of main materials recovered by reprocessing (plastic, steel, aluminium) o % of precious metals recovered by reprocessing (e.g. from PCBs and chips) o % of other rare minerals recovered through reprocessing (e.g. from PCBs and chips) Strategy implemented to maximise recovery of materials, including rare and precious minerals. The Contractor will maintain and provide to customers upon request and at a minimum every 6 months, up-to-date environmental and sustainability information (openly available from the manufacturer) on all devices available. The Contractor will provide support to Customers to assist the Customer and users make more sustainable / environmental choices with regards to their mobile service. This will include as a minimum a standing Sustainability / Environmental Agenda item for the regular Service Review Meeting to review the performance of the eco-rating, device disposal and recycling requirements. The Contractor will provide a service which will allow Customers to have their devices repaired outside the manufacturer s warranty period. The price for such a service must be specified separately within the tender document. While we have tried to make sure this case study is accurate, we cannot accept responsibility or be held legally responsible for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This material is copyrighted. You can copy it free of charge as long as the material is accurate and not used in a misleading context. You must identify the source of the material and acknowledge our copyright. You must not use material to endorse or suggest we have endorsed a commercial product or service. For more details please see our terms and conditions on our website at

6