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Sustainability Program

Sustainable Acquisition and Procurement

Promoting economic longevity for future generations

Argonne’s Sustainability Program works across the laboratory to support the purchase of goods and services that are both cost effective and environmentally sensitive.

These efforts address the Department of Energy’s goals for sustainable acquisition and procurement, which is defined as acquiring goods and services to create and maintain benefits in energy security, environment, health, and economic longevity for future generations.

Argonne’s goal is for products and services to be energy-efficient, water-efficient, bio-based, environmentally preferable, and non-ozone depleting, and to contain recycled content and non-toxic or less-toxic alternatives. Argonne actively tracks sustainable acquisition and procurement and works to improve efforts each year.

Argonne also tracks recycled content for products, supplies and services:

  1. Newsprint: 100% of dollars spent
  2. Packing Drums, Industrial (Steel, Plastic, or Fiberboard): 96% of dollars spent
  3. Furniture, Office: 84% of dollars spent
  4. Signs, Advertising Displays: 99% of dollars spent
  5. Furniture and Fixtures: 96% of dollars spent

In addition to recycled content, Argonne considers products with green certifications from Energy Star, Water Sense, Green Seal, GREENGUARD, Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI), and Safer Choice.

Argonne’s Sustainable Acquisition efforts also improve purchases of materials to manage Argonne’s 1,500 acres of natural resources. To support bio-based and environmentally preferred objectives, Argonne will use seeds that were locally grown and harvested to improve habitats around the site.