ERA creates sustainable supplier guidelines

The European Rental Association (ERA) has created a Sustainable Supplier Framework to make it easy to assess a suppliers’ sustainability credentials.

Michel Petitjean, Secretary General of the ERA, said, “This common approach will reduce the administrative burden of supplier assessments for rental companies and suppliers, raise standards across the industry and allow rental companies to consider suppliers against a common set of sustainability requirements.

“Furthermore, it will give rental company customers, such as contractors and public procurers, a clear idea of how the rental industry approaches supplier assessments and demonstrate that the industry is committed to responsible business practices and high standards of sustainability.”

The Framework provides a set of minimum requirements and aspirations for sustainability, covering: human rights and working conditions; health and safety; responsible sourcing of components and raw materials; environmental performance; business ethics; and product sustainability performance.

Mark Bradshaw, Chair of the ERA Sustainability Committee, said, “The ERA Sustainable Supplier Framework is an important initiative to raise standards of supplier assessments across the rental industry, as well as eliminating the need for repeat assessments.

“As Chair of the ERA Sustainability Committee, I am delighted to see this simple and easy-to-use Framework, which is adaptable to the needs of rental companies and complementary to existing initiatives offered by national associations, being delivered by ERA for the benefit of rental companies and their suppliers.”

It was developed by an independent consultant based on interviews with rental companies and suppliers, and on relevant international standards.

Rental companies can adopt the Framework as a code of conduct for their suppliers, and suppliers can post adherence to the Framework on their websites or submit it directly to rental companies.

The ERA is also offering an extended version of the Framework, which enables rental companies to assess different levels of adherence to the Framework and opens the possibility of auditing suppliers.

The Framework can be downloaded from the ERA website.