Smeal MBAs Develop Sustainability Scorecard For Campus Paper Needs
In an effort to use more environmentally friendly bathroom tissue and other janitorial paper supplies on campus, Penn State's Office of Physical Plant (OPP) turned to a group of eight Smeal College of Business MBA students to develop a method for identifying more sustainable paper products.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (February 4, 2009) – In an effort to use more environmentally friendly bathroom tissue and other janitorial paper supplies on campus, Penn State's Office of Physical Plant (OPP) turned to a group of eight Smeal College of Business MBA students to develop a method for identifying more sustainable paper products.
The project arose from a meeting between Duane Bullock, manager of supplier diversity and environmentally responsible purchasing for Penn State, and MBA student Matthew Holtry, president of Penn State Net Impact, an MBA student organization committed to socially and environmentally responsible business. The two met in May 2008 to discuss the role of environmental considerations in University purchasing decisions.
Penn State Procurement Services' current contract with its janitorial paper supplier expires this summer, and for its next contract, the unit wants to find a supplier that can provide it with products that meet environmental requirements in addition to price and performance standards. But with conflicting industry standards regarding how to measure environmental sustainability, Procurement Services needed an objective method to assess the environmental impact of potential suppliers.
During the fall 2008 semester, eight Smeal MBA students accepted the challenge in a one-credit "Sustainable Procurement Practicum" led by Terry Harrison, professor of supply chain and information systems, and Judd Michael, an associate professor in Penn State's School of Forest Resources. After conducting research throughout the semester, the group presented its final report to Procurement Services and other University officials in mid-January.
The students developed a six-part sustainability scorecard after considering the needs of the University and various measures of environmental impact of the paper products.
The scorecard takes into account six measures of sustainability: the percentage of pre-consumer recycled content, the percentage of post-consumer recycled content, whether the product is forest certified, how much of its packaging uses recycled material, whether the product is chlorine free, and whether the product is processed chlorine free.
The binary scorecard is designed so that each product being evaluated will be labeled "yes," if it meets the specification, and "no," if it falls short. The MBA group recommends that Procurement Services only consider products that meet all six specifications.
Pre-consumer content includes scrap materials leftover from the manufacturing process and leftover finished products that never reached the consumer, including print overruns and obsolete inventory. Post-consumer content includes materials that have been used by consumers and are then recycled. The scorecard uses recycled content values developed by the Environmental Protection Agency for various paper products.
The forest certification attribute determines whether the product manufacturer is endorsed by the Forest Stewardship Council or the Sustainable Forestry Initiative for its efforts to maintain and improve the conservation of the forests where it sources its raw materials. Ideally, the MBA group recommends that products are certified by both organizations.
The remaining three specifications on the scorecard require that the product's packaging be made from 100 percent recycled content and that the product and its processing be chlorine free.
The group's complete report also included data on a local paper supplier, recommendations for other sustainability initiatives within Procurement Services, and a case study of a similar undertaking at the University of Vermont.
The students write in the report that implementing its scorecard to evaluate janitorial paper products is a "key step" toward sustainable procurement, but much more can be done. The authors recommend extending the sustainability efforts to other procurement needs, additional supplier contracts, and social and economic issues.
While the focus of the student project was on sustainability, Procurement Services must also be concerned with the price and performance of the product. For this reason, the MBAs suggested that OPP institute a pilot program to gauge user feedback and also consider the hidden costs involved with differing products, including disposal costs, labor expenses, and consumer usage.
Joyce Haney, director of purchasing services, told The Daily Collegian that she was impressed with the work done by the MBAs and with their recommendations. "From our standpoint, it is something that we can manage and it is not subjective," she told the newspaper.
Harrison agreed that the students' report was well received, and he's looking forward to seeing some of their recommendations put into action. "This was a great experience for these students because they were truly serving as consultants to the University," he said. "Not only were they learning as they explored sustainable procurement, but, in the end, they have contributed to the betterment of the University by simplifying sustainable purchasing and raising awareness about environmental issues on campus."
For more information on Penn State Net Impact, visit mbastudents.smeal.psu.edu/student-organizations/net-impact.
