ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines some of the key features of corporate procurement. It provides some surprising similarities between end-consumer and corporate purchasing. The first point to note is that corporate purchasing operates on a vastly different scale to the consumer purchasing familiar to citizens. The second issue is that the complexity of the procurement decision may be vastly greater than that for consumer purchasing. Corporations naturally are keen to ensure that the money is spent wisely and honestly, and this means that organisations normally couch buying activity within a system of bureaucratic control. The range of possibilities implied by green supply is difficult to enumerate due to the wide spread of different types of purchasing organisation and the wide range of products and services secured. The chapter discusses a case study which concerns the green supply issues relating to one particular kind of product - medical equipment, especially relating to intravenous therapies (IV) - made from the plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
