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Sourcing goods and services sustainably and ethically
Officeworks is committed to sourcing goods and services in responsible ways. This is underpinned by the way we work within the business and with our partners across our supply chain.
Our sourcing focuses on three main themes which ensures our suppliers work in an ethical and sustainable way:
- Sourcing goods and services ethically
- Reducing our environmental impact
- Sourcing materials sustainably
Sourcing goods and services ethically
Officeworks' has a well-established Ethical Sourcing Program, which all suppliers to Officeworks are required to comply with. The overall goal of the program is to protect and uphold workers' rights. Each year Officeworks reviews around 500 ethical sourcing audits and works with suppliers to resolve any issues that are identified. This commitment to human rights extends to all goods and services procured by Officeworks in order to operate.
To complement its ethical sourcing audit program, with an aim to improve worker wellbeing and engagement, Officeworks implements a worker survey program to better understand working conditions and employee concerns in its global supply chain. The worker survey program allows Officeworks to continuously engage with workers to identify concerns that might not have been captured during audits and to work with factory management to take appropriate actions to embed positive change for workers.
Reducing our environmental impact
We recognise the importance of reducing our environmental impact and are committed to doing our part across our entire business.
Our Sustainable Packaging Policy and Problematic Materials Policy sets the expectations for our suppliers to support the use and supply of sustainable packaging for products supplied to us and offers a roadmap to support the phasing out of problematic materials in our products and packaging.
We encourage our suppliers to create more sustainable products, and give our customers the ability to choose them through our people and planet positive range of icons. These come with strict certification or evidence requirements and form a helpful guide to make it easier for customers to identify the sustainable products within the categories they shop and why they are better for people and the planet.
Wood and paper
In line with Officeworks Sustainable Wood-Fibre Sourcing Policy , all paper and/or wood products sold, should be responsibly sourced or contain 100% post-consumer recycled material. We prohibit paper and/or wood from high risk or illegal sources and our suppliers are required to complete a forestry questionnaire and provide relevant evidence to support their sourcing claims.
Our goal is that by December 2025 there will be zero deforestation in our supply chain. This means that all products containing paper and wood in our product ranges must demonstrate they are free from deforestation. This can be done via FSC certification, being 100 per cent recycled, made from fast growing fibres with evidence that they have been harvested legally and sustainably, or through evidence of additional due diligence or responsible forestry initiatives the supplier undertakes to ensure there is no deforestation.
Cotton
We're partnering with Better Cotton to improve cotton farming globally. Better Cotton's mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. Better Cotton trains farmers to use water efficiently, care for soil health and natural habitats, reduce use of the most harmful chemicals and respect workers' rights and wellbeing.
Better Cotton is sourced via a model called mass balance. This means that Better Cotton is not physically traceable to end products, however, Better Cotton Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we source. Better Cotton Farmers are farmers who care for the environment and respect workers' rights and wellbeing.