bankmecu recognises supply chain as a challenging area in terms of utilising products for business purposes with minimal environmental and social impact, while balancing budgetary and contractual constraints.
bankmecu made a commitment to develop a supply chain management system as an outcome of implementing its EMS. In 2010/11 bankmecu revised its Procurement Policy and Procedure to include specified sustainability criteria when engaging potential new suppliers. Where the Procurement Policy requires due diligence, a supplier will now be assessed for sustainability performance in any Request for Proposal (RFP) questionnaire by a minimum of two people using an internal evaluation form. The system has been trialled across an RFP for works to be undertaken at bankmecu’s Morwell service centre and is being refined for formal use across all RFPs.
The RFP questionnaire requires the supplier to respond to various questions related to three key areas:
- Profile and Governance
- Capacity and Continuity
- Environmental and Social Impact
Scores are based on how well the respondents answer the questions.
bankmecu’s major supply chain impacts are linked to the use of office supplies, printed materials and service centre refurbishments.
Paper
Printers
bankmecu continues to upgrade printers and photocopiers with duplexing capabilities.
General office paper
In 2010/11 bankmecu purchased 3,881 (2009/10: 4,817) reams of paper for office use, equating to 1,940,500 (2009/10: 2,408,500) sheets in total or 6,313.44 (2009/10: 7,683.11) sheets per employee or 12.63 reams per employee (2009/10: 15.37) . Paper usage decreased 19% compared to 2009/10. This is attributed to staff overcoming post merger changes, which required an initial need to print more through the learning process for new procedures.
Of bankmecu’s purchased paper, 95% had 80% recycled content, 0.5% had 30% recycled content, 0.5% had 50% recycled content and 4% had 100% recycled content.
Figure 8h: Total paper sheets used by bankmecu for office purposes
Printed material
All printed material supplied through VEGA press is printed on ENVI 100% carbon neutral paper from the mill. Printed material includes letterheads, member statements and promotional material.
VEGA use soy based inks and their printing process is alcohol free. Their presses use water based aqueous coating, an environmentally friendly alternative to UV coatings, and their state of the art equipment results in more efficient printing.
Vega Press became 100% carbon offset in 2009.
Minimising paper sent to members
bankmecu member statements are printed double-sided. In 2010/11 bankmecu continued to encourage members to use electronic banking and the option for electronic statements rather than hard copies. The bankmecu member newsletter is available electronically.
bankmecu also encourages members to read the Product Disclosure Statements and other product and service information in electronic form rather than hard copy.
Key statistics:
- hard copy letters sent to members - 1,250,000, down 2% from 2009/10
- hard copy statements sent to members - 1,894,249, down 2% from 2009/10
- sheets of paper per member - 25.18, down 2% from 2009/10
- total paper sent to members decreased by 9% from 2009/10.
The decrease in paper sent to members is attributed to more members subscribing to electronic statements and receiving their statements via internet banking.
Stationery
In 2010/11, 41.48% of stationery purchases had a recycled content, an increase of 30.19% from 2009/10. The increase is due to a rise in service centres using more recycled content products following the merger with RegionalOne and Maroondah credit unions and conversion to a preferred product list across all service centres.
bankmecu will continue to work with supplier Office Max to increase the percentage of Australian made products with low environmental impact supplied to bankmecu, where it is financially feasible to do so.
Cleaners
During the development of bankmecu’s supply chain management system, a questionnaire was utilised for the procurement of a cleaning provider for the new Brisbane service centre. Questions which subsequently ended up in bankmecu’s RFP questionnaire were used, with additional questions added in relation to the type of cleaning products utilised, to ensure best practice in line with bankmecu’s sustainability commitments. bankmecu will continue to work on this aspect of the supply chain across all service centres as new contracts arise to improve performance in this area.
Refurbishments
bankmecu recognises the potential efficiency savings and responsible resource use opportunities for any building works undertaken across bankmecu service centres, by incorporating environmental and social considerations.
During 2010/11, bankmecu refitted a new location for its Brisbane CBD service centre using sustainable practices and materials wherever possible.
Some examples of environmental considerations included:
|
Item
|
Environmental consideration
|
|
Carpets
|
All carpet laid throughout the premises was made of recycled tyres.
|
|
Walls
|
Eco Panel divider walls were made of recycled plastic bottles.
|
|
Timber
|
All timber used was eco-ply from sustainable forests.
|
|
Joinery
|
All joinery was made of 'ezero board', which is made from off-cuts from sustainable forests.
|
|
Glue
|
All glue used was low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which means reduced impact on the environment and human health.
|
|
Paints
|
All paints were water-based and low in VOCs.
|
|
Furniture
|
All loose furniture was either recycled or recyclable with a green star rating.
|
|
Lighting
|
All energy efficient sensors or timers meeting high level of Section J of the Building Code (the lighting meets low energy emission standards).
|