Responsible procurement

Compliance with employment legislation by suppliers and their subcontractors, fight against illegal labour:

• buyers are reminded that subcontracting regulations must be scrupulously observed, e.g. for cleaning contracts, which involve some 1,500 people working on the networks;
• Implementation of procedures (General Instructions) and checks (regular declarations by suppliers);
• Employment audits of clothing suppliers. The aim of these audits is to ensure that RATP is not complicit in human rights abuses, in accordance with its declaration of support for the principles of the United Nations’ Global Compact. The Global Compact sets out 10 commitments pertaining mostly to social responsibility.

Inclusion of the long-term unemployed:

• Specific clauses address this particular aspect of employment policy, particularly in contracts for construction work;
• An agreement has been signed with the association “Ateliers sans frontières” concerning the recycling of computer equipment and inclusive employment policy.

Purchasing environmentally accredited products:

• All new office equipment meets “green” performance standards and carries the EPEAT or Energy Star eco-label:

Protecting the environment and preserving natural resources:

• Ferrous and non-ferrous metallic waste is recycled;
• Wooden sleepers for the rail networks are sourced from sustainably managed forests;
• Selective sorting is a stipulation of all cleaning contracts.

Compliance with the REACH regulation ⁽¹⁾:

• Whenever it purchases chemical products or its subcontractors use such products on its sites, RATP ensures that its suppliers or distributors have fulfilled their declaration obligations to the European Chemicals Agency.

RATP contributes to this responsible approach through its own practices. Specifically:
 
RATP uses the “whole life cost” approach to procurement. This takes into account not only the initial cost price, but also operating costs, maintenance costs and recycling costs.

• The whole life cycle of buses, trains and other vehicles is therefore taken into account when selecting which ones to buy. The costs considered include maintenance and energy consumption.
• Contracts for the purchase of trains contain clauses on the recyclability of materials.

RATP is a signatory of the “Pacte PME”, an agreement initiated by Oséo to support innovation and provide assistance and funding to SMEs. As part of this agreement, RATP has undertaken to substantially increase the proportion of contracts it awards to French SMEs:

• In order to promote SME access to RATP contracts, an invitations-to-tender module for procurement projects that fall below the legal thresholds is available on the Suppliers section of the RATP website.

(1) The EU REACH regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of CHemical substances, which entered into force on 1 June, 2007, has been applicable since 1 June, 2008. Its aim is to provide a high level of protection for human health and the environment against the risks posed by the use of chemical substances.

The chemical substances used in chemical products or in the manufacture of goods must be registered with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).