Management

Meeting Agencies’ Supply Chain Sustainability Expectations

CDW Government manages its environmental impact internally and externally with science-based goals.

Beau Perna is Senior Director of Supply Chain Strategy at CDW.

Conner Austin is Director of Supply Chain Strategy, Risk and Compliance at CDW.

Government customers expect the technology resellers they work with to employ certain sustainability practices, such as IT asset disposition, to maintain compliance with environmental, cybersecurity and human rights regulations.

IT asset disposition refers to the handling of retired IT equipment, whether it’s recycled or repurposed for reuse, which extends the life of the hardware.

For its part, CDW Government does some of that work in-house or otherwise relies on a vast network of partners delivering such services, and our environmental, social and governance program continually evaluates all of our science-based sustainability goals and adjusts them based on new research.

Agencies also want resellers to sustainably procure the goods they buy and ensure the manufacturing countries aren’t engaging in human rights abuses, concerns that CDW Government takes seriously.

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A Sustainability Intelligence Platform for Rating Supply Chains

CDW Government consistently re-engages with its supply chain partners to gauge where they’re at in their sustainability journeys and the returns they’re seeing on their policies. UPS, FedEx and TForce Freight are used to transport IT assets, and we want to know what they’re doing to reduce their carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions more broadly.

Regarding the products we procure, we’re in regular contact with our original equipment manufacturer and distribution partners about strengthening sustainability.

To that end, CDW Government uses the EcoVadis sustainability intelligence platform to rate our supply chain system, and we’ve introduced it to many of our partners. EcoVadis awarded us its gold medal, scoring us in the top 5% of companies that use the product.

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Sustainable Resellers Have the Right Certifications

Internally, CDW Government monitors waste reduction; recycling; cooling; and energy consumption, use and procurement among its distribution centers to improve their impact on the environment and climate.

CDW Government’s sustainability efforts are further strengthened by its attainment of the International Organization for Standardization’s 14001 certification, recognizing its commitment to sound environmental management.

This article is part of FedTech’s CapITal blog series.