May 6, 2008 - Motorola upped the environmental ante on its suppliers last year with self-assessment questionnaires, a new eco-responsibility training program, and a broad mandate to keep pushing green goals upstream, according to the company's latest sustainability report.

Motorola reports significant progress in 2007 on its supplier conduct policy, first outlined in 2003. With an eye toward "reducing risks in our supply chain by engaging proactively and candidly with suppliers," the company last year implemented a supplier self-assessment program focusing on its 75 biggest vendors. Though falling short of its 100% participation goal for top suppliers, Motorola received self-assessments from 63 of the 75 and a total of 294 responses from suppliers providing about 60% of the company's directly sourced materials.

In addition, the company conducted 75 on-site supplier audits, up from 20 in 2006, and plans to conduct another 75 this year.

Motorola also turned its attention to providing environmental and social responsibility training to suppliers. In 2007, the company held 23 supplier training sessions in India, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the U.S.

Finally, Motorola says it is emphasizing the need for suppliers to engage with their own supply chains. "We also require them to provide a list of their suppliers (our tier-two suppliers) on request," the report states. "In 2008, we will develop key performance indicators to assess our suppliers’ programs for monitoring their own suppliers."

"Motorola is training its suppliers — not just policing but actually collaborating with them," says Cornis Van der Lugt of the United Nations Environment Program. "We need to see more collaboration with suppliers on environmental and climate performance."

Download Motorola's 2007 corporate responsibility report here (PDF).