Many big companies are now pushing triple bottom line and corporate social responsibility requirements deep down into their supply chains, Smart Company reports.

This means suppliers must have answers to environmental questions -? reduced packaging, less pollutants, energy efficiency, water conservation and the like. They also need to treat their workers fairly, offer a safe workplace and purchase their own inputs in a sustainable fashion.

Experts advise SMEs seek independent verification of specific green claims that can be scientifically substantiated in order to get the attention of newly trained green procurement officers.

Another option is to consider ISO 14001 certification for environmental management systems, although for most SMEs this is too time-consuming and expensive, according to the article. Another approach is to use the guidelines as a model to develop your own EMS.