IBM is committed to doing business with environmentally responsible suppliers.
The company recently announced that its "first-tier" suppliers -- those firms with which IBM holds a direct commercial relationship -- will now be required to establish and sustain a management system to address their corporate and environmental responsibilities. Specifically, suppliers are required to do the following:
- Define, deploy, and sustain a management system that addresses corporate responsibility, including supplier conduct and environmental protection
- Measure performance and establish voluntary, quantifiable environmental goals
- Publicly disclose results associated with these voluntary environmental goals and other environmental aspects of their management systems
The new requirements referenced above are in addition to the company's previous requirements. A set of Supplier Conduct Principles that outline IBM's expectations of its suppliers are at the foundation of the company's Supply Chain Social Responsibility program. IBM has undertaken hundreds of on-location supplier audits to its Supplier Conduct Principles.
As part of its own global environmental management system, IBM conducts environmental evaluations of a relevant subset of its suppliers, including all of its hazardous waste services suppliers, certain production-related suppliers and all of the company's product recycling and disposal suppliers. To address concerns about recycling in the extended supply chain, the company also evaluates certain subcontractors its suppliers may use to handle recycling or disposal operations.
While IBM continues to advance its own supply chain programs, the company strongly believes in the value of industry collaboration. As a founding member of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), IBM helped develop and launch the EICC Code of Conduct. The company accepts the EICC Code of Conduct as an equivalent and alternate to its existing Supplier Conduct Principles. IBM is also actively involved with two initiatives to analyze greenhouse gas emissions associated with its supply chain through its membership in the EICC and as a member of the Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP) Supply Chain Project. These programs are encouraging environmental leadership in the supply chain.
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