Green Procurement

What are Green Procurement and CSR Procurement?

What is Green Procurement?

Green procurement is the procurement of materials with minimal effect on the environment, and it is essential to reducing the environmental impact of supplying the market with our products and services. Based on this understanding, the Mitsubishi Electric Group targeted green procurement as one of the priority goals of its corporate Environmental Plan, and formulated the Green Procurement Standards Guide in September 2000. Since then, chemical substance regulations have expanded worldwide, such as Directives on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS)1, the ELV directive, the REACH2 and CLP regulations, Japan's J-Moss system, and China's version of RoHS. The Group has taken this global trend into consideration, and has continued to revise the Green Procurement Standards Guide. Issues such as the preservation of biodiversity, reduction of greenhouse gases, and management of water risks have also been included in the Green Procurement Standards Guide in response to existing situations. The latest editions of the Green Procurement Standards Guide and other documents are available from the Document Downloads (Green Procurement / CSR Procurement) page.

In 2008, the European REACH regulation came into full effect, requiring the assessment and management of more types of chemical substances than before. In response, the Mitsubishi Electric Group adopted the information communication scheme provided by the Joint Article Management Promotion-consortium (JAMP). The Group ensures strict compliance with relevant laws and regulations by examining the content of chemical substances in procured materials and registering the information in an in-house database.

The Mitsubishi Electric Group conducts surveys on the status of our suppliers' environmental management systems as well as their compliance with laws and regulations. Suppliers that are outstanding in these areas are granted Green Accreditation, and as a policy the Group procures materials from suppliers who have obtained such accreditation.

  1. RoHS: A directive issued by the European Union restricting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products. From July 2006, it has become illegal to sell products containing any of the six designated substances in the EU. Another four substances will be added to the hazardous substances from July 2019.
  2. REACH: An EU regulation which requires approximately 30,000 types of chemicals that are produced and imported within the EU to be registered and subjected to risk assessment. Substances of very high concern because of their potential negative impact on human health or the environment must have prior authorization, and substances that pose an unacceptable risk to human health or the environment are restricted from production, import, and use.

What is CSR Procurement?

In order for an organization to fulfill its social responsibilities of respecting human rights, promoting health and safety, and ensuring legal compliance, it must promote CSR procurement, or take measures to appropriately address such issues throughout the supply chain, not just with its employees. The Mitsubishi Electric Group surveys and evaluates the status of suppliers' CSR initiatives, and promotes improvement actions of issues that were given low ratings. Furthermore, we formulated the CSR Procurement Guideline in June 2018 so that the suppliers could appreciate our philosophy and their compliance matters about CSR initiatives. To confirm that our suppliers take action follow this Guideline, we request to sign "Consent Confirmation Form", which is attached in final page of this Guideline, by the responsible person.