02 Jun Green Tender Requirements
There’s always one part of a tender document that will make your heart sink. It could be the health and safety section, or the question that looks identical to the one you just answered. For many it will be the environmental requirements section.
This is something that many companies will have to address over the coming years as the new Environment Bill for the UK is published, bringing with it ever more demanding conditions for businesses and for local and national government. You might think that this area is over-regulated, but that doesn’t really matter – it’s an area you will have to address and – if done properly, it will benefit your business.
First of all, if you have certification to ISO 14001, the chances are you will merely have to stick a tick in a box and move on. It will also give you a huge advantage if you’re answering the environmental section of the Social Value questions because you will be doing most of what the tenderer requires as part of your environmental management system.
If you don’t have certification to ISO 14001, there are a number of steps you can take to ensure you answer the questions fully and to meet the requirements of the tendering body. These are our three top tips:
- Analyse what the question is really asking
Take a look at what you are doing. Most businesses are meeting some environmental requirements without realising it. The majority of environmental requirements in a tender will be covered by good business sense – reducing energy, waste and water will inevitably reduce costs.
- Take a look at their website
Do they have an environmental statement or policy available? What seems to be their main area of focus – is it waste transport, biodiversity, carbon emissions? Are they working with specific initiatives or organisations – environmental charities, the Woodland Trust, or local organisations?
Once you have found these, you can focus on what you are doing in those areas in your own business, and arrange to join in with any initiatives or organisations while you are running your contract.
- Provide case studies and give examples
If you’ve run campaigns or taken part in initiatives, give examples, add pictures and show your staff involvement. If you have evidence of what you’re doing, it adds to your credibility.
It’s obviously much easier to deal with the environmental section of a tender with ISO 14001, but it’s not essential for you to have it to provide a great answer.
