Greening Greater Toronto

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Green Procurement

Greening the purchasing choices of business, governments and non-profit organizations can dramatically reduce waste, energy consumption and carbon emissions, and help to make the Greater Toronto Area (“GTA”) the greenest city region in North America.

Currently, commercial and public sectors generate 64% of the GTA’s waste and over 70% of total waste bound for landfill. Energy inefficiencies in the commercial and public sectors contribute almost half of the GTA’s carbon emissions. Greening Greater Toronto’s Green Procurement program is designed to significantly reduce these and other environmental impacts, and to help drive the success of Ontario’s clean technology sector and other sustainable businesses.

Our mission

Develop a program to accelerate corporate procurement of greener products and services and help drive the success of Ontario’s green business and technology sectors.

Our initiative

Green Procurement Leadership Council

• Greening Greater Toronto has convened a Green Procurement Leadership Council of decision makers and experts to identify key procurement needs, champion green procurement practices and help to raise the profile of Ontario’s green technology sector. The Council will leverage the experience and buying power of over 150 partners of Greening Greater Toronto, which include many of Ontario’s largest corporate and government buyers.

Tools, Workshops, Marketplaces and Resources

• Greening Greater Toronto will continue to develop physical events and digital tools to connect and inform buyers and sellers and support their personal greening efforts – including mentorship for sellers and case studies, best practices and testimonials for buyers.

Affecting Policy and Securing Commitments

• Greening Greater Toronto is working to coordinate joint efforts between buyers to discuss new opportunities, policies and commitments, and find ways for green choices to be easier and have a wider impact when undertaken together. Greening Greater Toronto is also exploring procurement targets for sustainable products and services and working with organizations to reach them.

Expected results

• Additional procurement of green products and services within the GTA;
• Improved environmental performance for the GTA on a variety of measures; and
• Additional jobs and local economic activity due to increased green procurement.

Progress to date

Greening Greater Toronto Marketplace: (May 12, 2009):

• Together with the Toronto Research Alliance (TRRA) and the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), we presented the inaugural Greening Greater Toronto Marketplace. This event brought together 100+ senior procurement executives with 25+ green suppliers ranging from local small-scale innovators to major well-established companies. Features of the event included concise supplier presentations, supplier booths, green talk stations, and private deal rooms, all within a marketplace setting.
• As outlined in the recent GGT Outcome Report, Buyers and Sellers Don’t See Eye to Eye, a follow-up survey of the Marketplace participants revealed a misalignment between the actual concerns of potential buyers and what suppliers believe them to be.

Green Supplier Cluster Analysis (September 2009):

• We conducted a preliminary assessment of green supplier clusters across Ontario, including green products, services, and technologies.
• The objective was to highlight regions within the province where higher concentrations of business activity around various green technologies exist, which will help inform formal cluster building and investment strategies to support the development of green industries in the Province of Ontario.
• Further analysis of this research may be pursued in conjunction with GGT partners.

Paper Buying Group (Ongoing):

• Corporate buyers focused on the issue of office paper procurement have formed the Paper Buying Group to explore opportunities for concerted action to make previously highly sustainable but impractical product and delivery options more viable for local purchasers.