---
title: Sustainable Procurement: Definition and How It Works | Aavenir
url: https://aavenir.com/glossary/sustainable-procurement/
description: Sustainable procurement is buying in a way that weighs social, environmental and economic impact alongside price and quality, while still meeting business needs.
updated: 2026-11-07
---

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# What is sustainable procurement?

Sustainable procurement is buying in a way that weighs social, environmental and economic impact alongside price and quality, while still meeting business needs.

## What it means

Sustainable procurement brings corporate social responsibility principles into procurement processes and decisions. Beyond price and quality, buyers consider how a product is made, transported, used and disposed of, how suppliers treat their workers and communities, and whether the purchase supports the company's long term goals.

## How it works in practice

- Set sustainability criteria for each category.

- Screen suppliers for environmental, social and governance risk before award.

- Weigh whole life cost, not only purchase price.

- Write standards and reporting duties into contracts.

- Track supplier performance against those standards after award.

## Why it matters

Sustainable procurement makes sure a company's values are upheld across the life cycle of the goods and services it buys. Customers, investors and regulators increasingly expect that, and supply chains often account for most of a company's environmental and social footprint.

## How Aavenir handles it

[RFPflow](https://aavenir.com/solutions/rfp-management-software/) adds sustainability questions and weighting to sourcing events, and [ComplianceNext](https://aavenir.com/solutions/compliancenext/) tracks supplier certifications and evidence after award.

## Keep reading

[ESG compliant sourcing ESG compliant sourcing selects suppliers on environmental, social and governance standards as well as cost and quality. Read more](https://aavenir.com/glossary/esg-compliant-sourcing/)[Supply chain sustainability Supply chain sustainability is managing the environmental and social impact of goods and services across the supply chain. Read more](https://aavenir.com/glossary/supply-chain-sustainability/)[Supplier diversity Supplier diversity is a buying program that includes businesses owned by underrepresented groups in the supply base. Read more](https://aavenir.com/glossary/what-is-supplier-diversity/)

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

## Common questions

###

### What is the difference between sustainable procurement and ESG compliant sourcing?

They overlap closely. Sustainable procurement is the broad practice of buying responsibly, while compliant sourcing focuses on assessing and selecting suppliers against environmental, social and governance standards. [Read about ESG compliant sourcing](https://aavenir.com/glossary/esg-compliant-sourcing/).

###

### Does sustainable procurement cost more?

Not always. Weighing whole life cost, including energy use, waste and replacement, can show that the more sustainable option costs less over time, even if the purchase price is higher. [Read about supply chain sustainability](https://aavenir.com/glossary/supply-chain-sustainability/).

###

### How do you start a sustainable procurement program?

Pick the categories with the biggest impact, set clear criteria, add them to sourcing events and contracts and track supplier performance against them. Report progress so the business can see the results. [See ComplianceNext](https://aavenir.com/solutions/compliancenext/).

Have a question we have not answered? [Ask the Expert](https://aavenir.com/contact/)

Schedule a demo

## See your contracts run on one record.

- **1****A 30 minute walkthrough**Built around your team, whether that is procurement, legal, IT or finance.

- **2****Your contracts, not ours**Bring a few sample agreements and watch Aavenir AI extract and review them.

- **3****ServiceNow or standalone**We show the deployment that fits the systems you already run.

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