SELLAFIELD
with us to be aware of our expectations and principles in advance . Our ‘ supplier journey ’, an interactive guidance tool that describes every step of a supplier ’ s life cycle within Sellafield , includes among other useful information guidance , sustainability and collaborative working principles . We created a new market engagement strategy , introducing the ‘ principles alignment ’ and as part of the tender process , new , meaningful , sustainability questions ,” says Etoimou . “ We are seeking commitment , not perfection , and we ensure that we cover cases of existing contracts as part of our SRM model ”, she explains , “ this is as well one of the reasons we decided and recently launched an upskilling programme , initially focused on our SMEs , and we are working with our major partners on a joined socioeconomic programme , ensuring alignment and targeted actions with credible results for our communities .
“ Having said that , I still believe that despite all of these being in place , and all the interactions with the supply chain and our colleagues , in principle , all of this is necessary , but still reactive . In the procurement world , sustainability should start from the design phase , but even this is the second step for me . The first step where everything starts with sustainability , is the mindset . Only a person , a team , an organisation with a mature sustainability mindset will design or describe a need embedding these principles ; then , all the system will need to serve this need as described , without ‘ negotiations ’ in the process .”
This re-emphasises the need for a sustainability mindset at the beginning of any design process ( no matter if it is the design of a product , service or business model ) having and aligning to ESG goals in mind – from
“ I am a big believer of the impact the environment has on you as an individual ”
EIRINI ETOIMOU HEAD OF CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY & SUPPLY CHAIN DEVELOPMENT AT SELLAFIELD LTD
102 January 2024