What we buy matters. Without responsible procurement, purchased goods and services can lead to large footprints, unnecessary waste, and risks to human and environmental health.

Our Sustainable Procurement Program utilizes a variety of sourcing strategies, business forums, and disclosure mechanisms to identify and leverage opportunities throughout our supply chain to reduce healthcare’s impact on the environment, while striving to improve the health of our members, our employees, and the communities we serve.

Sustainable procurement looks at the environmental, social, and economic aspects of purchasing decisions, which allows us to meet the need for goods and services while both generating benefits for the organization, society, and the economy and minimizing damage to health and the environment. Procurement decisions are made by looking at the entire lifecycle of a product, from creation to disposal, to achieve economic and environmental value.

Our Sustainable Procurement program comprises initiatives; stakeholder and strategic partnerships; specific goals; and a strategic framework.

 

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Initiative

Introduction to EPP

Environmental Preferable Purchasing (EPP) is the purchase of products and services that have been confirmed to be less damaging to the environment and to human health when compared to competing products and services.  As part of our mission to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve, Kaiser Permanente has developed and implemented an EPP framework, which comprises a holistic set of supplier expectations and environmental criteria aligned with our commitment to promote cleaner energy, safer chemicals, resource conservation, and waste reduction. We are committed to applying the EPP framework to all our major, strategic, and critical purchasing decisions and evaluating the full lifecycle impacts of our purchased goods and services.

The success of this initiative is dependent on collaboration between Impact Spending, sourcing, our Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) Vizient, our suppliers, external business forums, and other Kaiser Permanente stakeholders.  It has delivered countless positive environmental impacts over the year (e.g., latex-free exam gloves and PVC-free carpeting) and has been honored with a variety of industry awards.  The EPP Initiative within Kaiser Permanente is just one of the many ways that we seek to promote positive environmental, human, and societal health outcomes for the communities in which we live, work, and serve.

EPP Principles

Kaiser Permanente’s EPP Principles, which have been in effect since May 2006, are meant to convey to manufacturers and suppliers the importance we place on reducing the lifecycle environmental footprint of healthcare and improving overall public health. We count on suppliers and manufacturers to provide us with innovative, environmentally preferable solutions to meet our procurement needs, and expect them to complete our supplier disclosure process and provide us with honest and complete information on corporate social responsibility and product performance as it pertains to environmental and public health. Specific criteria and other guidelines can be found in the EPP Principles document.

EPP Standards

As an extension of the EPP Principles, Kaiser Permanente requires its current and prospective suppliers of products to comply with the Kaiser Permanente EPP Standard.  The standard mandates specific environmental criteria to be met in the areas of chemicals of concern and waste.  These criteria were developed with input from Practice Greenhealth, Healthcare Without Harm, Clean Production Action, and other industry professionals.

Specific details about the criteria can be found in the EPP Standard document. Standards for furniture and fabrics can be found in the Furniture & Fabrics EPP Standard document and additional guidance for carpets can be found on the Health Care Without Harm website.

3rd Party Certifications

In support of our EPP Standards, Kaiser Permanente integrates credible third-party environmental certifications into sourcing efforts. This includes but is not limited to EPEAT Certification for Computers and Electronic Equipment; ACT ^® Label for Laboratory Equipment;  GreenScreen ^TM Certified for Medical Supplies and Devices; GreenScreen ^TM Certified for Furniture and Fabrics; and GreenSeal or EcoLogo for Cleaning Products.  Additional details can be found in the EPP Criteria and Certifications document.

 

Decarbonization Initiative

Healthcare Emissions

At Kaiser Permanente, we believe it is our obligation as a health care provider to minimize our environmental impact.  Our work to protect the environment is part of everything we do, from the way we power our facilities and manage our waste to how we purchase medical supplies, food, and equipment.  In 2020, we became the first U.S. health care organization to achieve certified carbon neutral status. Now, 100% of our electricity is coming from renewable sources.

We’re also working to reduce all our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible. Any remaining emissions would be balanced by the amount we’d remove from the atmosphere. We know that our work to eliminate our greenhouse gases directly benefits the health of our members, our employees, and our communities while reducing health disparities.

Suppliers, distributors, and other partners are key contributors to this work.  We have included emissions criteria in our prospective supplier selection process, and we work with existing suppliers on their greenhouse gas reduction goals and process improvements in order to drive action and accountability.  By working with suppliers that are aligned with our decarbonization goals, we can collectively contribute to a healthier planet.  We encourage our suppliers to reduce their own carbon footprint through measurement, goal setting, and targeted initiatives.

CHARME Collaborative

Officially launched in 2024, the Collective Healthcare Action to Reduce MedTech Emissions (CHARME) collaborative tackles the emissions-intensive health care supply chain with the goal of reducing gas emissions that arise from the multi-billion-dollar U.S. medical device and equipment supply chain.  The MedTech (medical device, equipment, service, and distribution) supply chain accounts for 7% of U.S. health care greenhouse gas emissions. The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council is leading this effort in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and Vizient.

The CHARME initiative will implement key findings from the white paper Catalyzing Collective Action to Decarbonize Healthcare Roadmap for Health Systems and MedTech Suppliers, which was published in 2023 by Kaiser Permanente, Health Care Without Harm, and Accenture, with input from over 30 organizations. The participating health systems include hundreds of hospitals from across the country, and the suppliers include MedTech companies representing more than $1 trillion in combined annual revenues.

While CHARME is focused predominately on reducing overall emissions in the health care supply chain, various project workstreams that we are actively participating in, like those focusing on product durability, reprocessing, and innovation have the potential to also drive sustainable procurement through the reduction of chemicals, waste, and natural resources.

 

Strategic Partnerships

Our decades of experience and lessons learned in environmental stewardship give us the ability to build coalitions and lead the health care industry in decarbonizing operations and building health care resilience. Through our partnerships with community-based organizations, we’ve forged crucial relationships that help us listen and respond to community challenges and opportunities. We work across industries and sectors to broaden collaborations and spark insights and strategies that center health and health equity in the climate narrative and our collective action. Our environmental leadership has allowed us to cultivate strong, long-lasting relationships with diverse groups of partner organizations, including:

• Center for Environmental Health (CEH)
• Clean Production Action (CPA)
• Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)
• Healthcare Anchor Network (HAN)
• Practice Greenhealth (PGH)
• Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC)

 

Environmental Stewardship

As employees for one of the nation’s leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans, we at Kaiser Permanente recognize our obligation to steward the environment in which we live, work, play, and deliver care. Our foundational approach to stewardship is anchored in protecting and promoting the health of our communities.  For more on our Environmental Stewardship policies and initiatives, please visit Kaiser Permanente’s Environmental stewardship site.