13 May 2010 | Andy Allen

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has introduced a rating process to measure and improve the environmental performance of its vendors.

The supplier environmental sustainability scorecard will assess the environmental footprint of suppliers to the consumer goods company. It will also measure energy and water use as well as waste disposal and greenhouse gas emissions.

“In the future, P&G will use the scorecard to determine each supplier's sustainability rating as part of P&G's annual supplier performance measurement process,” said a spokesman.

He added: “Suppliers will have a full year to prepare to report their data before the rating can adversely impact their supplier rating with P&G.”

The scorecard measures suppliers according to accepted protocols from the World Resources Institute, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Carbon Disclosure Project.

P&G said it hoped to enhance supply chain collaboration, measure and improve key environmental sustainability indicators, and encourage the sharing of ideas and capabilities to deliver more sustainable products and services.

Rick Hughes, P&G global purchasing officer, said: “Our suppliers wanted a tool that was flexible yet grounded in existing measurement standards and, by working together, we developed a framework that will help drive real improvement across all industries.”