What is ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement?
ISO 20400 provides organisations with guidance on sustainability within procurement, applicable to businesses of any size or industry. As environmental issues have come to the forefront in recent years, Sustainable Procurement via an ISO 20400 certification has become vital for many organisations. Sustainable Procurement considers the environmental, social and economic consequences resulting from provided products and services and aims to minimise negative impacts while encouraging positive outcomes.
ISO 20400 is the standard for Sustainable Procurement, it provides a comprehensive framework on how to adopt sustainable procurement principles and practices into your organisation no matter the size or type.
The standard ISO 20400 takes an ethical and holistic approach to ensure that fair contract prices and terms are applied and human rights and employment standards are met.
Benefits of ISO 20400 Implementation to your company include
- Improved performance
- Improved competitiveness
- Improved sales and marketing opportunities
- Strengthening communication and morale company-wide
- Uniform approach to reporting and measuring Sustainable Procurement
- Encourages a marketplace for innovative sustainable products and services
- Reduced environmental and compliance costs
- Open up new markets
- Reducing the production of waste and improving recycling, reuse, remanufacturing and recovery of waste
- Preventing pollution and the use of hazardous materials where practical
- It reduces supply chain risks and enhances opportunities for innovative products and services
- It ensures compliance with relevant environmental legislation
Benefits to your clients include:
- Adds value to products and services
- Assurance of quality of product and service to the customer
- Commitment to continually improving products/services
- Increases perception of your company’s culture and image
ISO 20400 and the Sustainable Development Goals
The world is facing a crisis: poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change are just some of the issues we need to address.
In 2015, world leaders came together to create 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) which aim to tackle these issues, to build a better world by 2030.
ISO 20400 can be used to meet the following goals

How we can help
Blackmores specialise in helping you to implement and maintain your ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement Management System across London, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, and UK-wide. We can also assist with international locations, having experience of working in 27 other countries.
- Conduct an ISO 20400 Gap Analysis – To help establish your strengths and weaknesses.
- ISO 20400 E-learning – Learn at your own pace with our online courses via the isologyhub.
- ISO 20400 isologists® – We have a skilled team of consultants to help you implement a Sustainable Procurement Management System. From London to the UAE, we have experience working internationally across many sectors.
- Internal Audits – We can help you to plan and conduct Internal Audits to verify your compliance with ISO 20400.
- On-Site Support – We can provide support during External Audits carried out by Certification Bodies.
Further Resources
We have a Podcast episode available which explains ISO 20400 in more detail, listen Here.
If you need assistance with ISO 20400, simply Contact Us.
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