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Statistics Canada, with input from Public Works and Government Services Canada and subject matter experts, will develop an action plan.

To continually improve and maintain existing initiatives, we will evidently need to combine expertise of commodity managers, contracting officers, project authorities/ program managers and users.

Examples of elements that are being considered in the development of the action plan and in Statistics Canada targets to achieve the environmental improvement involve:

• Reduce consumption (re-think the purchase) – ensuring that the volume requested is really the volume required.
• Alter specification/contract terms to detail measures or product attributes that will reduce impact of purchase during use.
• Seek alternative goods or raw materials (always based on a cost benefit analysis).
• Incorporate environmental criteria into supplier selection processes.
• Incorporate environmental design issues into specifications.
• Include environmental clauses in conditions of contract.
• Include environmental performance criteria in contract monitoring requirements.
• Reducing energy resources consumption.
• Reducing greenhouse gas and other air polluting emissions.
• Environmental performance of the vehicle fleet.
• The greening of the 2011 Census office supplies.
• Reducing of carbon footprint, through reductions in logistics shipping activities.
• Rethinking – e.g. service instead of product; make or buy; new or used; combining or standardizing requirements across multiple users as a means of increasing the potential to acquire environmentally preferable goods and services that reflect value for money.
• Eliminating – e.g. hazardous material content.
• Reducing – e.g. demand for goods and services, energy consumption, quantities of natural resources used.
• Re-using – e.g. packaging, existing equipment.
• Recycling – e.g. paper, glass, metals, plastic, fluids.
• Disposing – e.g. minimize quantities, divert from land fills through resale or donation.
• Alternatives – e.g. finding an alternative for hazardous materials has a significant cost benefit. Hazardous materials disposal costs are high and employees also require costly regular training to legally handle it.

These are the 5 high impact goods and services that we plan to target our Action Plan against:

1. Greening the purchase of office supplies.
2. Purchase of recycled printer paper.
3. Returning packing materials to suppliers (i.e., in Request for Volume Discount (RVD) processes).
4. Recycling of printer cartridges.
5. Sharing and dissemination of documents via electronic scanning to reduce printer paper consumption.

Other:

1. Green Procurement Training and Reporting: The Government of Canada wide green procurement training materials have been updated to reflect the requirements of the Policy. The majority of the Statistics Canada procurement staff has taken this course over the past 12 months.
2. Reporting: The policy requires that deputy heads monitor and report annually on green procurement performance through the report on Plans and Priorities.