Procurement

2050 vision

Our supply chain is a powerful tool for advancing environmental, social and economic sustainability. We prioritize purchasing practices that are cost effective and reflect our values. Through strategic procurement, the UW fosters a culture of responsible spending while supporting small, minority-and women-owned businesses, human rights, environmental stewardship and local economies.

Actions

Flagship action: Sustainable procurement website and training

P1 Flagship Action: Launch a new sustainable procurement webpage and training for staff.

Building on existing efforts led by Procurement Services, the UW will expand sustainable procurement resources through the development of an updated webpage and targeted training for staff involved in purchasing decisions. These resources will provide practical guidance and tools to help units incorporate sustainability considerations into everyday purchasing across the University and its healthcare system.

The updated webpage will serve as a central hub for sustainable purchasing guidance, including product category recommendations, supplier sustainability considerations and examples of lower-impact alternatives. Staff training will introduce key sustainability concepts and provide guidance on how to apply them within UW’s procurement systems and processes. Alongside Procurement Services’ central resources, UW Medicine has its own supply chain processes and will identify opportunities to integrate sustainability into their purchasing practices.

This action will help staff identify lower-impact products and leverage existing resources, such as Washington state’s Green Purchasing Guide, to support more consistent and responsible purchasing across the UW.

Timeline: Complete by the end of FY29

2027 - Review existing procurement training (both internal and external) and identify opportunities to incorporate sustainable purchasing content and/or where new information may be needed. Develop supplementary content for training and supporting materials for education and technical assistance.
2028 - Launch training and centralized resources.

Tracked metrics:

Completion of website update
Development of training
Number of staff trained
Number of trainings held
Number of times digital resources accessed

Campus connections:

Procurement at the UW is managed through a centralized system that serves all campuses and the healthcare system.
Aligns with UW Bothell’s 2026–2036 sustainability goal to expand and update online purchasing resources and training.

Lead partners: Procurement Services, Materials & Waste Management Working Group, UW Medicine

Funding needs: UW will utilize existing sustainable procurement training from national organizations such as the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council and the National Association of State Procurement Officials, helping reduce costs.

Work with suppliers

P2: Develop strategies with UW’s high-impact suppliers to reduce the environmental impact of our purchases.

As a large research university and healthcare system, the UW works with vendors that operate at national and global scales. Strategic engagement has the potential to move the needle on product stewardship, as well as corporate environmental and social impact. Opportunities will vary by product and service, but may include lower carbon materials, reduced packaging, post-consumer recycled content, reuse or refurbishment options, and local and regional food sourcing where feasible.

The UW will identify high-impact suppliers by analyzing spend categories and contracts, as well as products with high purchasing volume, and the ability to influence upstream manufacturing and packaging. Product focus areas may include laboratory and medical supplies, food and beverage items, information technology and electronics, and other goods that contribute significantly to the UW’s Scope 3 emissions and waste stream. Additional factors in the approach to this work include supplier readiness and existing reuse, take-back or recycling programs.

Timeline: Complete by the end of FY31

2028 - Conduct an assessment to determine high impact suppliers and outline an engagement approach. Initiate supplier outreach and early environmental, social, and governance (ESG) discussions to explore opportunities for collaboration.
2029-2030 - Develop an approach for supplier data collection. Advance agreed upon strategies through contracts or supplier initiatives. Establish a regular meeting cadence to check-in and track progress.

Tracked metrics:

Number of meetings held and documentation of progress
Annual spending on contracts that meet sustainability requirements

Campus connections:

The majority of this work will be led by Procurement Services, which serves all UW campuses. Bothell and Tacoma may support implementation by helping identify relevant high-impact suppliers and sharing campus-specific context, as needed.
Aligns with UW Bothell’s 2026-2036 sustainability goal of expanding sustainable and plant-based purchasing and increasing spending with social impact suppliers.

Funding needs: Additional funding required. Requires staff time from UW Procurement to engage with high-impact suppliers to explore sustainable opportunities and strategies.

Lead partners: Procurement Services, UW Medicine, UW Athletics

Standardize criteria

P3: Standardize and integrate sustainability criteria into supplier solicitation, evaluation and contracting.

The UW already incorporates many sustainability considerations into procurement through guidance, preferred product standards, and select contract and solicitation language. However, these considerations are not yet applied consistently across the bid evaluation and scoring process. Sustainability information provided by suppliers is not always structured in a way that supports comparison for decision-making. This action will embed sustainability expectations and evaluation criteria into supplier-facing documents and purchasing terms.

Standardizing how sustainability information is requested, evaluated and weighted within procurement processes will increase consistency across purchasing categories, and help staff make more informed purchasing decisions. For example, this work may include incorporating sustainability expectations into UW’s Purchase Order General Terms and Conditions, which establish the standard terms governing most supplier transactions with the University.

Timeline: Complete by the end of FY31

2028 - Draft sustainability questionnaires and scoring criteria in select competitive solicitations and contract renewals, using feedback from procurement staff and suppliers.
2029-2030 - Coordinate with Procurement Services and UW Sustainability on an approach to integrate new materials in purchasing processes.

Tracked metrics:

Percent of total spend covered by contracts that include sustainability requirements
Percent of new bid documents that include standardized sustainability questionnaires

To the greatest extent feasible, the University of Washington will utilize existing sustainable purchasing resources developed by organizations such as the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council, the National Association of State Procurement Officials, and local government partners.

Campus connections: This action supports University-wide procurement via processes, tools, sustainability questionnaires and evaluation criteria through contracts and solicitation, where relevant.

Lead partners: Procurement Services, UW Medicine

The 2022 University of Washington Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows that purchased goods and services are by far the largest source of the UW’s overall carbon footprint, accounting for roughly 64% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable procurement means balancing cost, quality and performance with environmental and social considerations. These considerations are especially important given the scale and diversity of the UW’s purchasing, which includes office supplies, laboratory equipment, food service, construction materials, information technology and healthcare goods, to name just a few.

The UW has sustainable purchasing practices in place through Procurement Services’ Sustainable Green Purchasing Program, which integrates environmental and social considerations into purchasing guidance and contracts, and competitive solicitations. Purchasing guidance also emphasizes life-cycle thinking and buying less whenever feasible. Within UW Medicine, environmentally preferable purchasing has delivered environmental and cost-saving benefits. Using data benchmarking and supplier evaluation tools from Vizient, a national healthcare group purchasing and performance improvement organization, UW Medicine has shifted toward products that reduce waste and emissions while maintaining clinical performance and controlling costs.

These efforts have created a strong foundation, but there is still significant opportunity to expand education, tools and training to more consistently integrate sustainability into purchasing processes. The actions in this focus area aim to strengthen supplier expectations and engagement, improve visibility into product life-cycle impacts, and increase education and assistance for unit-level purchasing decisions.