The procurement or purchasing decisions will impact
the green supply chain through the purchase of materials
that are either recyclable or reusable, or have already
been recycled. The selection of vendors will also be an
important decision at this stage. Vendors who have ISO
14000 certification may be preferable since there is an
expectation that the environmental risks associated with
these vendors is lessened (which is an analogous argument
to selecting vendors that are ISO 9000 certified
when reducing risk of poor quality purchases).
Reduction of these risks improves the probability that
these vendors will also be available for the long term.
Whether or not to outsource certain processes or components
may also be a concern for the procurement department.