Impact

David Grégoire, ecosystem creator

Published on 26 November 2021

In Belgium, SPIE is committing fully to the initiatives launched by the Wallonia and Flanders regions aimed at encouraging growth of the circular economy. The company’s goal is to accelerate its transition, and show the way for its employees and all of its partners. This is a sustainable and responsible revolution started by the company’s purchasing department.

David Grégoire Purchasing director at SPIE Belgium
€100K is the amount spent by SPIE annually on office supplies (of which 32% are already “green” products).

As part of the “Green Deal on Circular Procurement”, SPIE Belgium is committed to making its vehicle fleet greener.

Since the start of this year, the new SPIE Belgium purchasing manager, David Grégoire, has been leading a team of five category managers who cover the whole of Belgium. On a day-to-day basis, his role as ”orchestra conductor” takes him far away from his office in Anderlecht, to all four corners of the country.

It is under his leadership that, at the end of November 2019, the Purchasing Department committed itself to the ”Green Deal on Circular Procurement” programme promoted by the Walloon government, launching two big pilot projects: re-imagine office supplies procurement and renew the vehicle fleet.  ”Besides buying hybrid and electric vehicles, this will also mean educating people in order to encourage eco-driving habits”,  says David Grégoire.

1,000 vehicles (cars and vans) in the SPIE Belgium fleet. Goal: a rate of 25% green vehicles in the renewed fleet.

Another major initiative from SPIE Belgium: the use of ”MVO Sustatool”, a self-assessment tool promoted by the Flemish government which allows companies to measure their performance in terms of CSR policy. ”This tool is more suited to small companies as it is easier to implement than the standard Responsible Purchasing tool EcoVadis, which we are currently subscribed to”, adds David Grégoire. “We are only in the early stages of using this tool. The idea is to push this test out to our partners to help them improve.”

Purchasing is now an important lever in the SPIE Belgium CSR strategy. Responsible purchasing can actually help reduce a company’s ecological and social footprint by ensuring that the list of suppliers used is based on criteria which are now essential to conserving resources and the planet itself.

“ We are only just starting down the road to the circular economy, but SPIE is committed to opening the way.”
David Grégoire, Purchasing director at SPIE Belgium