Sustainable procurement is about procurement that takes environmental and social factors into account in purchasing decisions. It is about looking at what products are made of, where they have come from and who has made them.  And it's about looking at whether the purchase needs to be made at all. 

A definition is: “A management process used to secure the acquisition of goods and services in a way that ensures that there is the least impact on society and the environment throughout the full life-cycle of the product". 

Procurement of goods and services that are completely dependent on sustainably managed renewable resources, that have no non- recyclable end product and have no adverse impact on the workers or communities that are engaged in their provision, is very difficult. But there are steps what all businesses can take to move towards these ideals and some of them are quite straightforward.