The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) has released a report entitled 'Balancing commercial and sustainable issues', which claims: "Organisations need to realise that being commercial and sustainable go hand in hand.

"Buyers need to champion the need for organisations to consider the total value of a product rather than the price paid," said the report.

However, it also said that: "One of the repeated concerns… is that sustainable procurement inevitably costs more – at least in the short-term, even if it offers long-term savings. This is seen as one of the key barriers to sustainable procurement."

Susan Walby, head of production at the British Museum, agreed that higher costs of environmentally friendly materials could conflict with sustainable procurement.

"But it's becoming less of an issue because the prices are getting better between the two," added Walby.

EDF Energy marketing services manager Richard O'Brien admitted some print buyers might find it more difficult to procure sustainably in the current economic climate.

"Sometimes there's a cost for choosing the most sustainable method of communication. For example, some of the substrate choices can have a cost factor. But it's mostly the logistical problem of availability rather than cost."

O'Brien added that he would "turn this on its head", explaining that customers' growing awareness of ethical and sustainability issue offered the opportunity to boost market differentiation.

"There's a commercial benefit to sustainable procurement. It's the harder route but provides dividends in the future rather than the short-term view," he added.

Click here to download the paper.

Click here to read this week's CIPS blog on sustainable procurement

What's your experience of the sustainability versus commercial debate? Has the economic downturn put green materials outside your budget? Or does resource efficiency mean the ecologic option is also the economic choice? Post your comments below.