A responsible supply chain

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A responsible supply chain

Our approach

We aim to raise social and environmental standards throughout the supply chain by working with our suppliers to improve their performance with respect to a social and environmental sustainability, integrating their own supply chain management. We apply recognised social and environmental sustainability standards in our procurement practices helping us to preserve our reputation and make a real difference for the future of this planet our society.

The procurement policy is an important element in Proximus' corporate involvement. The Procurement team wants to ensure that its suppliers provide products and services in such a way that they meet and even exceed the legal requirements, by integrating social, environmental, ethical and sustainable aspects. We ask our suppliers to promote the same sustainability principles with their own partners.

Proximus' supplier selection process is based on a number of predefined criteria within the framework of the "Business Principles of Procurement". Currently, these selection criteria also include sustainability requirements, detailed in the "Supplier Code of Conduct".

Our code is based on the following international standards:

Supplier Code of Conduct

The Code of Ethical Procurement has been developed to promote safe and fair working conditions and to take account of environmental and social issues.

This code is appended to existing and new contracts in the form of a mandatory addendum for suppliers to sign, as confirmation of their commitment.

A consistent approach in the industry

We use the external platform EcoVadis which offers our suppliers a tool that enables them to measure their degree of compliance with the principles of social and environmental sustainability. This platform enables us to:

A common audit approach

In September 2011, Proximus became a member of the JAC (Joint Audit Cooperation), which, besides Proximus, is also made up of 16 other global telecom service providers, representing 60% ,of the global telocom spend.  The audits are performed by third parties on the suppliers' premises.

The results of the audits are shared between the JAC members, which ensures their cost-effectiveness. However, confidentiality agreements (NDA's) mean that access to these results is limited to the JAC members and to individual audited suppliers.

 

Sustainability and Circularity as a procurement and selection criterium

Sustainability qualification process

Our aim to raise the CSR standards of our suppliers is reflected in the qualification process set out below.


Annual assessment of suppliers (Stustainability campaigns)

To ensure that our supplier assessment programs comply with our own values, our commitments towards our own customers and market expectations, we assess our suppliers through EcoVadis. EcoVadis uses a software platform dedicated to the supply chain, facilitating the social and environmental performance management of the suppliers with the aim of reducing risks and giving support to sustainable and circular innovation.

We are integrating the social and environmantal sustainability in the selection criteria of our calls for tender. Non-compliancy can be an exclusion creteria.

We add social and environmantal sustainability and circular criteria, including responsible sourcing of minerals in our calls for tender.

Integrating sustainability and circularity in our daily activities

We identify incidents and request that our suppliers take the measures that are necessary.

Sustainability is part of our procurement category plans and is part of our Supplier Relationship management score cards which we establish together with our key and strategic suppliers, which we meet on aregular basis in order to share best practices.

Our annual objectives and commitments as regards to sustainability and circularity are set out in the Proximus annual report. Interim reports are regularly presented to the ESG management committee and the Proximus Management Committee.

Investment Recovery & Waste

Within the Proximus Group, specialized teams work towards the environmental and economic optimization of surplus and waste flows. They have a profound knowledge of environmental legislation, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directives and the global market for surplus sales.

The RoHS directive (restricting the use of hazardous substances)

The Royal Decree of 12 October 2004 published in the Belgian Official Gazette of 20 October 2004, amended by the Royal Decrees of 14 June 2006 (published on 22 June 2006), 10 December 2007 (published on 18 December 2007) and 2 July 2009 (published on 17 July 2009) on restricting the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment, imposes three obligations on the producer:

First obligation

Since 1 July 2006, it has been prohibited to market new IT or telecommunication equipment, games or entertainment equipment containing lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent cadmium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and polybrominated diphenyls (PBDEs).

Second obligation

Producers are required to take such measures as are necessary to make available to users of electrical and electronic equipment for private use, through user manuals, the necessary information relating to:

The producer and the distributors are required to make this information available to potential buyers in all points-of-sale.

Third obligation

The producer is required to adequately display the following information on electrical and electronic equipment marketed after 13 August 2005.

Definition of "producer":

  1. any person who manufactures and sells electrical and electronic equipment in Belgium under his own brand;
  2. any person who resells under his own brand, in Belgium, equipment produced by other suppliers (the reseller is not considered to be the "producer" if the brand of the producer as defined in point 1, is displayed on the equipment);
  3. any person who imports electrical and electronic equipment professionally in Belgium or markets it in another EU member state.

Chemical substances and mixtures - REACH & CLP regulations

General information

In the framework of the implementation of GHS (Globally Harmonized System) relating to chemical substances and mixtures, suppliers must comply with:

These regulations also apply to the manufacturer from whom they purchase chemical products, substances and mixtures that will be delivered in Belgium.

To this end, manufacturers or their authorized agents must comply with the obligation of registration for chemical substances used in their manufacturing process (even if the manufacturer is established outside the EU).

The manufacturers or their authorized agents must comply with the labelling obligation as provided for in the CLP regulation.

Suppliers must provide Proximus with the SDS (Safety Data Sheet) as indicated in the REACH regulation by no later than 15.11.2010 for chemical substances delivered to Proximus and no later than 31.12.2014 for the mixtures and substances that they contain which have been delivered to Proximus. This obligation also applies to chemical substances and mixtures intended to be emitted by the articles. These Safety Data Sheets must contain scenarios of exposure to determine uses that have not been provided for. Where applicable, the suppliers of chemical substances and mixtures must report to Proximus any uses not provided for.

REACH

REACH is the acronym of Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of CHemical substances. REACH is a European regulation introducing a new European policy on the management of chemical substances.

Its main aim is to better protect health and the environment while strengthening competition and innovation in the European Union.

Companies must make information available relating to each substance that they wish to produce or import in volumes in excess of one ton per year. This rule applies to both new and existing substances.

(Pre)registrations, evaluations, authorizations and limitations are linked to this regulation. It is the responsibility of the producers and importers to take these steps.

Throughout the whole chain, Proximus acts only as a user of the devices in which these substances and/or preparations are integrated.

CLP

On 20 January 2009, a new regulation on labelling and classification entered into force. It is known under the abbreviation CLP, which stands for Classification, Labelling and Packaging (of substances and mixtures).

This CLP regulation replaces the provisions relating to the classification and labelling of substances (Title XI of the REACH regulation). Due to the fact that it replaces the classification and labelling system, the CLP regulation is the instrument required for the implementation of the REACH regulation.

The classification of chemical products makes it possible to identify dangers that chemical products may pose to human health and the environment. This is therefore an essential parameter in the REACH process, since numerous provisions of this regulation are based on this classification and labelling or refer to it.

The CLP regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 31 December 2008 and entered into force on 20 January 2009.

However, it provides for a transition period during which the two classification and labelling systems, the existing and the new one, will coexist. This new system entered into effect on 1 December 2010 for pure substances and will be mandatory for mixtures as from 1 January 2015.

For substances dating back to before December 2010 and which are still on the market, the old regulation remains in force until 1 December 2012. The same applies to mixtures, but the situation must be regularized by 1 June 2017.

The classification and labelling system to be adhered to is the sole responsibility of the producer and/or importer.