Procurement is often associated with hard numbers and sharp deals, but for Ron the profession has evolved. Sustainability is now a fixed element in every conversation. “I have always been interested in that side of the profession. I simply ask suppliers: ‘So, what can you meaningfully offer me as a partner when it comes to the environment?’”
Ron notices that knowledge among suppliers is often fragmented. “Many large companies we work with have great initiatives. My role is to stimulate that. What are you already doing, and what can we change ourselves to influence that? That makes my work challenging.”
Green ambitions versus the workplace
A recurring theme is practical feasibility. Partou has major ambitions, such as achieving carbon-neutral operations by 2035, but these should never come at the expense of the primary process: caring for the children.
“Our team members at the nurseries simply need to be able to do their work comfortably,” Ron says firmly. “We can come up with all kinds of ideas at the procurement table, but if it doesn’t work in practice, then it stops there. A product may look fantastic and sustainable on paper, but if a pedagogical professional says, ‘I can’t work with this,’ then we have a problem. We always look for the path of least resistance for the workplace, with the highest impact on the environment.”
He illustrates this with the example of disposable cleaning gloves. “We are now also using a variant that is produced with significantly less water. That’s a win. But we were also presented with a proposal for a fully circular system where we would collect used gloves for recycling. That sounds great, but the logistics behind it are enormous. We cannot ask a nursery manager to also sort bags of dirty gloves and prepare them for the supplier. Our organisation is not set up for that yet. You have to be careful not to make the threshold too high.”
Innovation through collaboration
Instead of complex return flows, Ron looks for gains in smart product choices and supply chain integration. A great success story is the collaboration with Raypack. They have critically reviewed and made their production process for whiteboards and magnets more sustainable. Muller Print now also works by default with more sustainable ink and paper.
“You see a snowball effect emerging,” Ron says enthusiastically. “Sometimes companies also ask us for help: ‘How do you look at this?’. We also include a chapter on sustainability in tenders. This carries significant weight in our overall assessment.”
Awareness
In addition to products, sustainability in procurement is also about behavior and logistics. Ron and his team actively work on reducing transport movements. “Every van that drives into the street causes emissions. We try to encourage locations to bundle their orders. Instead of a small box every week, preferably one large delivery per month. That has an immediate impact.”
Data is also becoming increasingly important in the area of energy. Thanks to a new portal and smart meters, procurement can monitor gas and electricity consumption per location. “If we see an unexplained peak somewhere, we raise the alarm. Is the heating set lower in the evenings and weekends? Are all power-consuming devices switched off when possible? By making this visible, we create awareness without costing employees extra time.”
Code of Conduct
In the near future, the focus will be on embedding these agreements. An important spearhead is the Code of Conduct. “In 2026, we want all our key suppliers to have signed it. With this, we commit to international conventions. As a modern organisation, you cannot afford to have misconduct such as child labor anywhere in your supply chain. We are very strict about that.”
Ron concludes that the role of procurement has changed for good. “In the past, price was leading. Now we work with four equally important pillars: availability, quality, sustainability, and price. It is now part of our DNA to ask with everything we purchase: can this be more sustainable? Ultimately, we do it for the world of the children we care for every day. And that change can only be achieved by working together with our partners.”
For a resilient society
Impact is often found in the smallest moments. Each of those moments may seem small, but together they make a world of difference. For children, parents, colleagues, and the society of tomorrow. In our annual report, you’ll read how we work every day to create a warm and safe place for every child.