GERP case study 1
Last updated on June 19, 2025Read the case study below about buying paper products. The buyer followed the rules for environmentally friendly purchasing. After reading, answer the questions to check what you learned.
Case study 1 - paper sourcing
Case study 1 details
Tomas works for the Ministry of Information Technology. He is working hard to promote environmental considerations in his department. He knows this is important to the government right now. One area he’s focusing on is how much his department relies on paper materials. There are many paper materials that are printed and shared in the office. Tomas has already worked on digitizing some materials to reduce paper use. Still, there are important records and data that need to be printed and stored for auditing.
The paper supply in his department is now running low. Tomas’ director has asked him to organize a new order of paper supplies. Tomas recently read the updated Guidelines for Environmentally Responsible Procurement (GERP). He is eager to use what he learned in this procurement process.
While planning, Tomas uses the guidelines to think about the whole life cycle of the paper. Before, he only considered the initial purchase. He knows where to find the guidelines on the BC Procurement Resources website. He decides to have them open during a meeting with his team and refer to them during the discussion. Tomas and his team also look at both the environmental and financial risks. While planning, they talk about ways to reduce them.
Tomas begins writing the details of the procurement. He includes questions in the solicitation that support the environmental goals. He finds examples of questions in the guidelines and adds them to the procurement. One question he includes is: “if using paper-based materials, provide details on how the materials will be produced.” He also includes questions about recycled materials and renewable resources.
Tomas then uses the guidelines to create his evaluation handbook. The team will give preference to suppliers that use sustainability in paper production. Tomas makes sure to include how proposals will be evaluated. This way, suppliers know this is an important factor when they submit their proposals.
After finishing the planning and preparing the solicitation, Tomas posts it on BC Bid. Now the competition can begin.
Case study 1: questions
Question 1
Tomas is supporting an environmentally friendly procurement. What did Tomas do well during the planning stage to support this?
Question 1 - answer
Tomas recently read the updated GERP, and he learned new information about sustainability. He used this knowledge to plan the procurement. Tomas kept the GERP open for reference while he and his team planned the procurement. This included using environmentally friendly RFx questions. He continued to use the Guidelines while planning the evaluation. He also gave preference to more sustainable paper products. Finally, he and the team discussed sustainability and the risks for this procurement. They then looked at ways to reduce these risks.
Question 2
What did Tomas do well in the solicitation stage that supported a sustainable procurement?
Question 2 - answer
Tomas used the Guidelines for Environmentally Responsible Procurement as a reference and found examples of environmentally friendly RFx questions. He read the examples and added one of the suggested questions to his solicitation. He also focused on recyclable and renewable resources. He included RFx criteria from the document that focused on these elements.
Question 3
Tomas continues to focus on sustainability. What did Tomas do well during the evaluation stage of his procurement?
Question 3 - answer
Tomas followed one of the GERP guiding principles. He decided to choose sustainable paper products and services. In his evaluation handbook, he gave preference to suppliers who used sustainable practices. He provided details in the RFx that explained the value of detailing a response that demonstrates sustainable practices. He then indicated what point values will be available to be assigned to responses that show this. This way, suppliers knew this was an important factor to include in their proposals.