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Global Category Intelligence

Q2 2025

INSIGHTS - Shaping Indirect Procurement (Event - Big Buyers Working Together)

Sustainability

Categories: Sustainability; Global Influences
Published: April 3, 2025

Indirect procurement professionals are navigating a landscape increasingly shaped by global disruptions, from tensions over the Panama Canal to floods in Queensland, which are impacting logistics and costs. Amid these challenges, the Big Buyers Working Together (BBWT) event, held March 24-25, 2025, in Helsinki, Finland, emerges as a pivotal moment for sustainable procurement strategies.

The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI - Europe) organized this annual gathering focused on how public buyers can drive a more sustainable, social, and innovative continent. It offered insights directly relevant to indirect spending categories, such as office supplies, facilities, and professional services. This article examines the event’s outcomes and their implications for indirect procurement, focusing on sustainability, cost management, and compliance.

Event Details and Context

The BBWT event, part of a project launched in March 2023 by the European Commission, aimed to strengthen collaboration among public buyers with significant purchasing power. The event brought together all 10 Communities of Practice (CoPs), with the first day reserved exclusively for CoP members and the second day open to stakeholders. The agenda included panel discussions, interactive sessions, and study visits, focusing on strategic public procurement for innovative and sustainable solutions. According to AEIDL, the European Association for Innovation in Local Development, the event addressed unmet procurement needs by promoting collaboration to maximize market impact.

Relevance to Indirect Procurement

For indirect procurement professionals, the BBWT event is particularly compelling due to its emphasis on sustainability, a growing priority in non-core spend. Indirect categories, such as office equipment, cleaning supplies, and energy contracts, are increasingly subject to ESG criteria, driven by regulations like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The event’s focus on pooling resources among public buyers could inspire similar strategies for private sector firms, influencing how they negotiate with suppliers for sustainable office furniture or energy-efficient lighting. For instance, the event’s discussions on circular construction could extend to indirect procurement facilities management, encouraging the use of reusable materials and reducing waste.

The event’s timing, just days ago, aligns with the need for professionals to adapt to 2025’s regulatory landscape. With 80% of companies expected to incorporate ESG factors into procurement decisions by 2025, according to "The Future of Procurement: Trends and Predictions for 2025," indirect procurement teams must integrate sustainability into their contracts. This integration may potentially increase costs but also create cost-saving opportunities through innovation. The BBWT’s emphasis on social procurement, like supplier diversity, could also impact contingent labor contracts, ensuring ethical sourcing for professional services.

Impact on Cost and Compliance

The event’s outcomes could have significant cost implications for indirect procurement, particularly in energy and facilities. For example, commitments to zero-emission solutions may initially increase costs for energy-efficient office upgrades, but long-term savings could offset these, aligning with cost optimization goals. Compliance-wise, the discussions are likely to reinforce adherence to EU Green Deal targets, affecting materials compliance for office supplies to ensure they meet sustainability standards. The event’s focus on market dialogue suggests suppliers may face stricter ESG requirements, impacting procurement timelines and costs.

Global and Strategic Implications

An unexpected detail is how the BBWT’s European focus could set a global precedent for indirect procurement. Multinational firms might adopt similar collaborative models, influencing supplier negotiations worldwide. For instance, U.S. firms could leverage these insights to align with CSRD-like reporting, which could impact IT hardware procurement for cloud infrastructure. This global collaboration could also mitigate risks from recent disruptions, like Panama Canal delays, by fostering resilient supplier networks for indirect goods.

Key Takeaways

Integrate ESG Criteria: Review office supplies and facilities contracts to include sustainability metrics, leveraging BBWT insights to meet 2025 regulatory demands.
Collaborate with Suppliers: Inspired by BBWT, engage suppliers in market dialogues to negotiate cost-effective sustainable options, potentially reducing long-term spending.
Monitor Compliance Costs: Anticipate 5-10% cost increases for compliant materials, balancing with innovation to achieve cost savings over time.
Adopt Collaborative Strategies: Explore Community of Practice (CoP)-like models for indirect spend, pooling resources with peers to enhance market power and drive sustainable procurement.
Plan for Future Events: Stay updated on BBWT outcomes via Big Buyers Working Together | Public Buyers Community, ensuring alignment with emerging trends.