Environmental Considerations in Procurement Decisions: A Literature Review

Abstract

Public organizations have the potential influence of procuring environmentally preferable products because such organizations are often the biggest customers within a country. Public organizations are required to take environmental considerations in all phases of the procurement process. The need to improve organizational efficiency, reduce waste, overcome supply chain risk, and achieve competitive positions have made companies to start considering environmental issues from a competitive point of view. Procuring organizations are more seriously involved in designing and implementing sustainable procurement policies by focusing on how environmental issues can be integrated in the procurement process activities. However, a clear understanding of environmental considerations and how it can be applied to the procurement process is still lacking, especially in a developing country like Ghana. This paper is a literature review which seeks to examine the environmental requirements applied in the procurement of goods in order to enhance sustainable public procurement in a developing country like Ghana.